Sports

Durant buys small piece of MLS’s Philadelphia team, report

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Two-time NBA finals MVP Kevin Durant has purchased a minority stake in Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, the US media reported on Thursday night. The Brooklyn Nets player bought a piece of the team worth between one percent and five percent, according to Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sports Business Daily. This is not the first time Durant, who has won two NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors, has tried […]

NBA poised to approve 22-team return for virus-hit season, report

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The NBA is finalizing details of a plan which is expected to be approved by the league’s Board of Governors on Thursday, paving the way for a return from the coronavirus shutdown. The board is poised to give the green light to commissioner Adam Silver’s return of basketball which would begin July 31 with a 22-team format, and end in mid-October with a champion being crowned, ESPN reported. The […]

NBA targeting October finish for virus-hit season

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The NBA is aiming to complete the 2020 season by mid-October, reports said Tuesday, as the league edges towards a return from the coronavirus shutdown. ESPN reported that according to a timeframe due to be voted on by NBA’s Board of Governors on Thursday, Game 7 of the NBA Finals would take place no later than October 12. The NBA and NBA Players Association are still finalizing the details […]

Kobe Bryant’s induction to hall of fame postponed: report

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The late Kobe Bryant’s induction into America’s basketball hall of fame has been postponed to 2021, US media reported on Wednesday. Bryant, who died along with eight others in a helicopter crash in January, was schedule to be inducted into the Massachusetts-based Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on August 29. Former NBA stars Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and six others are also slated to be enshrined next year due […]

NBA great Ewing out of hospital

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — NBA great Patrick Ewing has left hospital and is recovering at home after being diagnosed with COVID-19, his son said on Monday. The 57-year-old Hall-of-Famer was hospitalized last week after announcing he had tested positive for the coronavirus. However the former New York Knicks star and current Georgetown University coach is now on the mend at home, his son Patrick Ewing Jr. said on Twitter. “I want to thank […]

NBA to issue guidelines around June 1 on recalling players – report

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — NBA teams expect the league office to issue guidelines around June 1 allowing teams to begin recalling far-flung players in anticipation of resuming the coronavirus-disrupted season, ESPN reported Wednesday. The US sports broadcaster said teams expect to be told about the same time when they can expand individual workouts — already underway at some clubs — to include more team personnel. And ESPN said, citing unnamed sources, many owners […]

Jordan: ‘Maddening’ Bulls dynasty couldn’t seek ’99 crown

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Michael Jordan believes the Chicago Bulls 1990s NBA dynasty would have stayed together for at least one more season if team chiefs had backed coach Phil Jackson. The retired legend made his comments in the last chapter of hit documentary “The Last Dance”, saying he would have re-signed a one-year deal had management kept the team together, including Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Jackson. “If you asked all the […]

Kai Sotto signs with G-League club

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Filipino prospect Kai Sotto has decided to bypass US college basketball and sign with a development G-League team for next season. The 2.18 meter (7-foot-2) center has signed with a new G-League team that is unaffiliated with any NBA franchise. The new club does not have a name yet. Sotto joins other high school recruits Jalen Green, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix on the new team. Sotto is trying […]

NBA to wait 2-4 weeks before deciding on return: reports

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — NBA commissioner Adam Silver will study coronavirus outbreak and testing developments for another two to four weeks before the league decides about a return to competition, according to multiple reports. The timetable, shared in a conference call between Silver and club owners, was the first indication about when the league might return from the coronavirus shutdown that began March 12, The Athletic and ESPN reported. “Health is number 1. […]

Smash hit Jordan documentary fills TV void for NBA fans

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A new Michael Jordan television documentary has become a smash hit for NBA fans whose hope of watching the playoffs these days was scuttled by the coronavirus pandemic. “The Last Dance” details the career of the NBA legend who led the Chicago Bulls to six titles in the 1990s, with editions three and four of the 10-part saga telecast on Sunday. It was the top ESPN telecast in the […]

Japan virus expert ‘pessimistic’ Olympics can be held in 2021

by Sara HUSSEIN Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese expert who has criticised the country’s response to the coronavirus warned Monday that he is “pessimistic” that the postponed Olympics can be held even in 2021. “To be honest with you I don’t think the Olympics is likely to be held next year,” said Kentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious diseases at Kobe University. Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed last […]

Celtics’ Brown pens message of unity amid COVID-19 crisis

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown urged people to “come together” amid the coronavirus pandemic, even as he used an essay in The Guardian to point out that the virus has highlighted inequality in America. Noting that more than 30,000 have died from COVID-19 in the United States — it was 40,000 by Sunday afternoon — the Georgia native added that of “those heart-wrenching numbers, the percentage of African Americans […]