Louisa Thomas

United States

@newyorker staff writer. Author of 3 books, including Louisa: The Extraordinary Life of Mrs. Adams. Co-editor of Losers.

Articles

A Big-League Bet on Pro Softball

6 days ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

Kim Ng had big plans. For more than thirty years, ever since she was an intern for the Chicago White Sox, she had spent her summers working long hours. She eventually became an assistant general manager, first for the New York Yankees and then for the Los Angeles Dodgers, before becoming a senior vice-president at Major League Baseball. In 2020, she was named the general manager for the Miami Marlins—making her the first woman ever to serve as a G.M. in a major men’s sports league.
Gaël Monfils Is Winning in His Own Way

1 week ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

Gaël Monfils made his first appearance at the French Open twenty years ago. He was eighteen years old, and one of the most promising players of his generation. The previous year, he had won three out of the four junior Grand Slams. (Andy Murray won the fourth.) His speed was astonishing, as was his charisma. He had a preternatural connection with the crowd, wowing and delighting people wherever he went.
What’s Really Startling About the Bill Belichick Affair

2 weeks ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

Bill Belichick, one of the winningest coaches in N.F.L. history, and currently the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took the title of his new book, “The Art of Winning,” from “The Art of War,” an ancient Chinese treatise about military strategy, attributed to Sun Tzu.
What’s Really Startling About the Bill Belichick Affair

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Louisa Thomas

Describing each NFL team with 1 word ahead of the 2025 seasonLet's describe each NFL team with just one word! We are slowly getting close to the 2025 NFL Season, so let's describe each team using just one word. …
What if the Mets Are Winners?

3 weeks ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

The Mets are heading to Yankee Stadium, with Juan Soto on their side. What does the showdown means for baseball in New York? Plus:No one can call Juan Soto a loser. He was only sixteen years old when he signed with the Washington Nationals, in 2015; nineteen when he made his big-league début; and twenty-one when the team won the World Series, partly owing to Soto’s blistering performance in the post-season. By then, he was among the best hitters in the league.
Why Basketball Is Different in the Playoffs

3 weeks ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

On Wednesday, the day after the Golden State Warriors defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game One of their second-round playoff series, Chris Finch, the Timberwolves coach, shared some thoughts with reporters about the Warriors’ style of play during the post-season. The Warriors, he said, “do a lot of fouling, holding, shoving, pushing and tackling Rudy”—as in Gobert, Minnesota’s center. The Timberwolves were forced to take matters into their own hands, he added.
Rudy Gobert Takes Out the Trash

3 weeks ago | businessandamerica.com | Louisa Thomas

It happened again during the first half of Game Two in the first round of the playoffs this year, at the end of April. Dončić, now a Los Angeles Laker, flowed and feinted around Gobert, faking a shot and then, off balance, finally lobbing the ball over Gobert, who just stood there like a stanchion. As he ran back up the floor, the camera caught Dončić shouting “Sub him out!” Dončić attacked the big man again and again, and had twenty-two points in the first half of the game alone.
Mets Aim To Be 'Sustainable' Despite Juan Soto's Record Contract

1 month ago | baseball.realgm.com | Louisa Thomas

Juan Soto received a standing ovation from New York Mets fans during a recent game against the St. Louis Cardinals despite struggling at the plate. Soto responded with a game-tying single in the fifth inning against the Cardinals. "I really appreciate what they did," Soto said of the fans' support.
If the Mets Are No Longer Underdogs, Are They Still the Mets?

1 month ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

On a sunny day in late March, Michael Matteo, Jr., lounged on a grassy berm beyond the right-field fence at Clover Park, a minor-league stadium set amid the sprawling strip malls of Port St. Lucie, Florida, about an hour up the interstate from the tony confines of Palm Beach. On the field, a New York Mets split squad was comfortably beating the St. Louis Cardinals in a spring-training matchup.
Rudy Gobert Takes Out the Trash

1 month ago | newyorker.com | Louisa Thomas

It was not enough to beat a man—not enough to bait Rudy Gobert in the closing seconds of a playoff game, while down by two, and step back into a game-winning three shot high over his long, outstretched arm. Luka Dončić had to humiliate him. “Motherfucker!” Dončić yelled, as the delirious crowd in Dallas celebrated the Mavericks’ Game Two victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals last year.