The NBA playoffs and multiple motorsport series, including IndyCar, kicked into high gear this past month as the soccer season came to a fiery end. Here’s the best athlete, team, and moment from May.
Athlete of the month: Bruno Fernandes
Manchester United’s team captain and midfielder, Bruno Fernandes, broke the record for the most assists in a single Premier League season with 21, surpassing legends like Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. In Manchester United’s first game of May, Fernandes captained his team to a 3-2 win against rivals Liverpool. Later in the month, against Nottingham Forest, he struck a powerful low-driven cross toward the penalty box. Striker Bryan Mbeumo smashed it into the net to give the captain his 20th assist, tying Fernandes with Henry and De Bruyne for most assists. The final game of the Premier League season saw Manchester United take on Brighton in what would turn out to be a historic game for Fernandes. A perfect corner delivery from Fernandes in the 33rd minute gave full-back Patrick Dorgu the perfect opportunity to head the ball home and give Fernandes his 21st assist. To cap off his historic game, Dorgu assisted Fernandes on a great goal in transition, and Manchester United ended its season with a win. The midfielders’ heroics carried Manchester United to third place this year, securing Champions League football just one year after the team’s terrible 15th place finish.
Team of the month: New York Knicks
In May, eight games meant eight wins for the Knicks. They took care of both the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers, sweeping each series en route to the NBA Finals. Coming off the back of two losses against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, the Knicks began a massive win streak that carried them to their first NBA Finals since 1999. After falling just short in the Eastern Conference finals last year, the Knicks can now redeem themselves and win a long-overdue NBA championship for New York City. In the first game of their second round series against the 76ers, the Knicks jumped to an early lead before halftime, giving the 76ers no chance in a massive 39-point loss. Games 2 and 3 of the series were much closer, but the Knicks dominated Game 4 to close out the series in style. Against the Cavaliers, the Knicks started the series with a hard-fought win in overtime, spurred on by an insane 22-point fourth-quarter comeback. In their next Game 4 blowout — this time a 37-point win — the Knicks swept another series. Star guard Jalen Brunson averaged over 27 points this past month to lead his team to the Finals, and New York’s dominant performances from May will give them some valuable extra rest before taking on the Spurs.
Moment of the month: Indy 500 close finish
This year’s Indy 500 produced the closest win margin in the race’s history. Though he had gone into the final lap in third place, Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist beat out second place driver David Malukas by a little more than 0.02 seconds. After quickly sweeping around the outside of Marcus Armstrong, the driver in second place at the time, Rosenqvist pulled ahead of Malukas to narrowly crown himself the winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Rosenqvist stuck to what worked for him, completing two elegant, simple passes around the outside in that pivotal final lap to make up the massive deficit. Although Spanish driver Álex Palou remains in the lead of the IndyCar 2026 standings, Rosenqvist’s incredible final lap performance in one of the biggest racing events of the year will be immortalized in IndyCar history.
This month’s must-watch: France vs Norway
On June 26, the French national team will take on the Norwegian national team in one of the most exciting group stage matches of this year’s World Cup. For years, it seemed as though a rivalry between French striker Kylian Mbappé and Norwegian striker Erling Haaland would be the next main rivalry in soccer after the reign of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While the rivalry between Mbappé and Haaland has not quite lived up to the massive expectations, the two strikers remain some of the most impressive, if not the best, players in the world. Mbappé has found tremendous success with the French national team in the World Cup, making it to two back-to-back finals in 2018 and 2022. For Haaland, it’s a completely different story. The Norwegian is competing in his first World Cup, looking to finally make his mark on the international stage. France unquestionably has the better team in this matchup, but this game will likely produce some impressive goals and moments from both sides and has the potential to revive the Mbappé versus Haaland rivalry.
