With the blessing of L.A. County health officials, the Lakers will reopen their practice facility on a limited basis Saturday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic suspended the NBA season March 11 and subsequently shuttered team training centers, reported the Athletic’s Shams Chanaria on Friday morning. The facility will be open to players…
Lakers’ practice facility will reopen on limited basis Saturday — Press Telegram
Danny Ainge shares the same hope of every NBA fan. The Celtics president of basketball operations joined ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s “The Lowe Podcast” on Thursday to talk all things basketball, including how he hopes Boston’s practice facilities will re-open next week if Massachusetts loosens the stay-at-home restrictions. “Massachusetts has been one of the slowest in…
Celtics’ Danny Ainge Hopeful NBA Will Finish 2019-20 Season, Open Practice Facilities — NESN.com
As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to make an impact around the world, Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner has concerns about the National Hockey League’s possible return to the ice. Read More
Marner ponders impact of coronavirus on NHL, Leafs re-sign Brooks to two-year pact — Toronto Sun
As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to make an impact around the world, Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner has concerns about the National Hockey League’s possible return to the ice.
While playing an online video game with a group of players, the subject of the NHL resuming action was raised.
“What my thought on this is, OK, I’m all down for starting everything back up, let’s rock. But what if someone gets sick and dies?” Marner said on the video, which was posted to Twitter on Wednesday. “What happens? It’s awful to think about, but still.”
While that could be a question on the minds of some, the NHL, if it does wind up resuming the 2019-20 season, or starting the playoffs some time in the coming months, would have every possibility in regard to the coronavirus explored and answered, to the best of its ability.
“Interesting to see what will happen,” Marner said on the video of returning to play hockey in general. “It’s the same with the NBA. If one league plays, then all leagues have to play. If we don’t play, the amount of money we’re going to lose is going to be …”
Marner also raised the issue of players such as the Montreal Canadiens’ Max Domi, who has Type 1 diabetes. Domi was a teammate of Marner with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.
“If he gets it (the coronavirus), he is in one (situation), like bad,” Marner said.
more…….
Marner ponders impact of coronavirus on NHL, Leafs re-sign Brooks to two-year pact — Toronto Sun
Jimmy Butler says Miami Heat rookie Tyler Herro has been talking trash to him during team workouts.
Terence Davis once tried trash-talking Westbrook and it went all wrong — The Rookie Wire
Canada’s last chance at a berth in next summer’s Olympics has been rescheduled and thus the likelihood of any NBA involvement is almost certainly gone. Read More
NBA involvement in last-chance Olympic qualifier highly unlikely now — Toronto Sun
Canada’s last chance at a berth in next summer’s Olympics has been rescheduled and thus the likelihood of any NBA involvement is almost certainly gone.
Canada needs to win it’s six team-qualifier to get in and the chances of that happening were given a huge lift when Victoria was named one of the four tournament sites for the four remaining Olympic berths.
Under normal circumstances the tournament would not start until the NBA playoffs were over but that’s unlikely given the expectation that the 2020-21 season likely won’t be starting until December because of the coronavirus pandemic that shut the league down back on March 11.
Canada is in a group with Greece, China, Uruguay, the Czech Republic and Turkey and already had NBA commitments from the likes of Jamal Murray, Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, R.J. Barrett, Dwight Powell and Chris Boucher among other Canadian-born NBA standouts. But if the tournament overlaps with the NBA regular season or playoffs as it appears it would, none of those players would be available.
There is also the likelihood that Nick Nurse, the head coach of Canada’s national men’s team will not be able to fulfill those duties as the expectation is he will still be running the bench of the Raptors.
The tournament will now be played June 29-July 4 in Victoria.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared on CNN Thursday evening to discuss the league’s approach if and when the 2020 season finally begins.
Rob Manfred outlines testing plan when MLB comes back — HardballTalk | NBC Sports
Baseball is planning for a July 4th return to the diamond. The owners and players are once again arguing over money. Arguing over money at a time when 36 million people have lost their jobs. Millions of people have had their salary cut by 20,30 even 40 percent. Blake Snell comments show how tone-deaf he […]
Snell alienates Rays fans with comments about money — TampaBayProSports
Major League Soccer could be back in action as soon as the end of June with a tournament in Orlando involving all of its 26 teams, according to multiple reports Wednesday. The league’s proposed competition, which would need to be approved by the MLS Players Association, would have players and coaches assemble at ESPN’s Wide…
Reports: MLS proposes June 1 return for a league-wide tournament in Orlando — Press Telegram
Major League Soccer could be back in action as soon as the end of June with a tournament in Orlando involving all of its 26 teams, according to multiple reports Wednesday.
The league’s proposed competition, which would need to be approved by the MLS Players Association, would have players and coaches assemble at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex for 3-4 weeks of training on June 1. Then a series of matches would be help without fans and take place at the Orlando complex.
The LAFC and the Galaxy, are among a few teams — including Earthquakes in Northern California — that have yet to be cleared to hold workouts because of stringent shelter-in-place orders in their area due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ESPN reported obstacles will need to be overcome for the plan to come to fruition, most notably with testing. Players, coaches and support staff would all need to regularly tested. The league’s plan would prohibit family members from traveling with teams.
In addition, the players association and the league are currently involved in sensitive negotiations over salary cuts. Owners have asked that all players agree to a 20 percent salary reduction, among other concessions.
There hasn’t been an indication yet whether the tournament games would count toward the regular season standings or not. The tournament winner’s prize could be a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League, according to ESPN.
The league’s proposed tournament would have teams divided into groups, followed by five games in group play. Then a knockout stage will follow, that would include consolation games so all teams played the same amount of games.
With each passing day, there is a new development between NBA players and owners, with both sides working on resuming the 2019-2020 season. And on Monday, some of the league’s biggest stars came together for a conference call to help provide a united front for the players in their quest to finish what they started. Yahoo Sources: […]
An NBA superstar conference call was oddly missing the game’s greatest scorer, James Harden — Onboard 2020
With each passing day, there is a new development between NBA players and owners, with both sides working on resuming the 2019-2020 season.
And on Monday, some of the league’s biggest stars came together for a conference call to help provide a united front for the players in their quest to finish what they started.Chris Haynes✔@ChrisBHaynes
Yahoo Sources: NBA superstars LeBron James, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Curry held private conference call on Monday and established united front in favor of resuming season. https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-nba-superstars-establish-united-front-on-private-conference-call-to-resume-season-210518262.html …
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The call featured Chris Paul, the President of the National Basketball Players Association, as well as former league MVPs LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But there was one noticeable omission that immediately caught the eyes of fans and pundits alike.
There hasn’t been any explanation for why 6-time All-NBA performer and 2018 NBA MVP James Harden wasn’t on the conference call, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation, with some wondering if he was excluded due to his rocky relationship with Paul, his former teammate in Houston.
The two played together from 2017-2019, and their first season together produced a league-best 66 wins and a trip to the Western Conference Finals, where they would lose in seven games to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
After an injury-riddled second season in Houston, in which Paul would miss 24 games, the Rockets would once again be eliminated by the Warriors, this time in six games in the 2019 Western Conference Semifinals.
In the postgame press conference after Game 6, Harden alluded to changes that needed to be made to the roster.
David Samson says team owners should ask players whether they’re interested in sitting out the 2020 season
Samson: MLB owners should see if their players agree with Blake Snell’s ‘just not worth it’ comments —
Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell is not planning on playing the 2020 MLB season on a reduced salary. On a Twitch stream this week, he became the latest player to speak out against the proposed 50-50 revenue split that MLB has offered the MLBPA in a potential plan to start the season, which has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Snell believes that the risk of contracting the coronavirus is “just not worth it” — especially for less money than his contract says he should be earning.
During Thursday’s edition of “Nothing Personal with David Samson,” David Samson weighed in on Snell’s recent comments and believes that owners should press their players to see if they agree with what Snell is saying.
“The union looks at what Blake Snell says and doesn’t even give it a thought,” Samson said. “The owners look to see what Blake Snell says and they latch onto it because if they see one little fissure in the union, what they would try to do as I would try to do. I would get to my players and say listen ‘Do you believe and agree with what Blake said? Do you not understand that A.) We’re trying to take care of the health aspect? and B.) Do you understand that you’re getting older and you’d have a full year of not playing making no money. Blake Snell says you’re all fine with that.”https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=CBS5990299485
The players’ union has yet to agree to the proposal, and many stars have said they are not on board with the new revenue split plan. Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer called the proposal “laughable.”
It’s going to be interesting to see if many players side with Snell as the process of resuming baseball rolls along. Samson thinks this will be a great opportunity to see if the majority of the players truly feeling this way in regards to playing with COVID-19 still being in everyone’s minds.
more:
Doc Rivers says LeBron James ‘may have been the greatest football player ever’ How many times have you heard the question asked, “What if LeBron James had chosen football over basketball?” Even at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where James was one of the top football recruits in the state of Ohio, it was clear […]
Doc Rivers says LeBron James ‘may have been the greatest football player ever’ — My worldwide
Even at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where James was one of the top football recruits in the state of Ohio, it was clear his future was on the hardcourt. His run of dominance in the NBA has been so profound since 2003, however, that even today, at 35 years old, James has people thinking about what might have been.
So it is for Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who interviewed with Austin Rivers on Wednesday and said that James “may have been the greatest football player ever” had he chosen that route.
“Michael (Jordan) was a super athlete, so was Kobe (Bryant), so was Kawhi (Leonard),” Rivers said. “I don’t know that there’s ever been an athlete like LeBron James in our league. I really believe if LeBron James had have played football, he may have been the greatest football player ever, at whatever position.”
Austin Rivers & Doc Rivers agree on LeBron James being the greatest athlete of all-time
“I really believe if LeBron James had to play football, he may have been the greatest football player ever.”
(🎥 @uninterrupted ) pic.twitter.com/T48KRneg0z
— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) May 13, 2020
MORE: Jordan vs. LeBron — the key stats you need to know in the GOAT debate
Per this news clip James shared to his Instagram page, he caught 60 passes for 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior (The New York Times reports that he actually caught 61 passes for 1,245 yards and 16 touchdowns; an improvement from his 42-catch, 820-yard, seven-touchdown season as a a sophomore).
With James standing at a listed 6-8, 232 pounds, it’s easy to see how he would have been one of the most coveted high school recruits in the nation, regardless of position. It stands to reason that James — an Akron, Ohio native — probably would have gone to powerhouse Ohio State had he chosen football as his career choice. James’ football career ended the summer before his senior year after he broke his wrist in an AAU game.
The view from left field 