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We Want a Rematch

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Despite tense moments between the Boston Celtics and Charlotte Hornets during parts of their Friday night game, lots of love was displayed afterward.

They teams get together for a rematch Saturday night in a game that also will be held in Charlotte.

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Many of the Celtics know Hornets coach Charles Lee well. He was a Boston assistant coach last season when the Celtics captured the NBA title.

“I think he definitely has his work cut for him,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said, “but I think he’s handling it with grace. I wish him well, just not in (this series).”

Jayson Tatum tallied 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics won 124-109 on Friday. Lee exchanged hugs with several of the Celtics on the court following the final buzzer.

So now it’s back-to-back nights for the Hornets to try to breakthrough against the Celtics.

Charlotte’s Grant Williams and Miles Bridges were both ejected Friday night, and the Hornets’ LaMelo Ball also was whistled for a flagrant foul. Williams’ foul on Tatum could have led to bigger problems.

“I’m glad that he’s fine,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum. “What I like most is that he jumped right up, didn’t lay around, didn’t really faze him. … I’m happy that he’s OK. I just like how JT handled it.”

Still, the Celtics were irked by Williams — who played for Boston from 2019-20 to 2022-23.

“It was for-sure intentional,” Brown said. “Y’all see the same play? He hit him like it was a football play, like Ray Lewis coming across the middle.”

Williams told NBC Sports Boston, “Probably not a hard foul, definitely not intentional. Not trying to hurt anybody. We all know that’s one of my closest friends in the league.”

Lee has a tight connection with Mazzulla, so maybe that helped prevent larger-scale problems.

“He is just so open-minded, so creative,” Lee said of Mazzulla. “He just goes with his guts. If it’s something that he believes in, that he believes is going to help the team, he does it with full-on passion. I really admire that about him. It’s something that I try to do myself.”

The Celtics responded from their first loss of the season to win two nights later in Charlotte. They outscored the Hornets 24-10 across the final 7 1/2 minutes, with 15 of those Boston points coming on free throws.

Lee was assessed a fourth-quarter technical foul after he complained about a no-call when Charlotte’s Tre Mann drove into the lane.

Perhaps it was part of the Hornets’ frustration. By game’s end, there were 47 free throws attempted, but of those only 12 taken by the Hornets.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Mazzulla was assessed a technical foul with the Celtics holding a one-point lead.

The Hornets had to like the performance of Ball, who put up 31 points in 31 minutes, though he fouled out. His four turnovers weren’t overly troublesome, but he had only four assists.

The Hornets will be interested in seeing more from Tidjane Salaun, a 19-year-old rookie who scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench Friday night.

“I loved his energy tonight, I thought he gave us a great boost,” Lee said. “He’s grasping the speed of the game. … I really like him out there because he brings another layer of length and athleticism.”

The Celtics will want to check on their perimeter defense after surrendering 19 3-pointers. Six Charlotte players had two or more treys.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 27

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“Walking on the sidewalk, roundball under my arm

Everybody knows how you play is who you are,

Walking down the road, looking for a game or two

The real moves come through, no matter what they’re gonna do

It’s down to you.”

“Take me to the old playground

Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time

Take me to the old playground

Where the talk is cheap

And the restless stalk the baseline.”

“The old sage frowns, he says just pass it on around

But all-world junior’s pulling up from downtown

For some it’s a way out, for some it’s a way in

Most of us don’t even care

We’re just looking for another gym to get in.”

“Take me to the old playground

Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time

Take me to the old playground

Where some play from dreams

And the rest just play for pride …

The old man said stop running with those boys

But they know what to do and their folks don’t mind the noise

Say hey now, everybody’s gonna get along

Just call your own foul when you break the rules

If you make it, take it, so make your move.”

– Music and lyrics by Bruce Hornsby, John Hornsby

By TERRY LYONS, Editor in Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The great Bruce Hornsby burst on to the rock scene in 1986 with his hit song, “Just the Way It Is,“ which paved his way to a GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist of ‘86 and a solid new “Virginia Sound,” combining rock, jazz and bluegrass all into one. Hornsby wrote a few other incredible songs, including Mandolin Rain in 1986, Jacob’s Ladder (for Huey Lewis and the News) in 1987, End of the Innocence (for Don Henley) in 1989 and one of my all-time favorites – The Old Playground – in 1990.

Around or about 1989 or 1990, I had the great fortune to meet Hornsby and his band and witness a dozen shows from his concert right at St. John’s University to shows at the Westbury Music Fair to summer tours at Jones Beach and one memorable concert in Philadelphia with Don Stirling, he of “The School of Rock,” and outposts such as the Golden State Warriors, NBA Properties, Mitt Romney’s Governor of Massachusetts’ office for sports, and later the Utah Jazz senior staff. We reminisced and recalled every detail of that Philly show just two or three weeks ago when a number of former NBAers met in Chicago.

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While running my first NBA All-Star event for our Communications department, I had little time to chit-chat as the specific events unfolded, but the foundation of the Lyons-Hornsby relationship was solidified at the 1991 All-Star Weekend in Charlotte when Hornsby and Branford Marsalis combined for one of the most beautiful and meaningful National Anthem performances of our time. At that event (just a week or two after the Gulf War broke out), the challenge was getting Bruce’s BALDWIN grand piano onto the basketball court without putting a divot into the hardwood. And, as I recall, the bigger challenge was removing the piano in the two minutes we had after the anthem was completed. (I still thank many of the still photographers who went out of their way to help us get that done right in the middle of their own courtside set-ups.

Fast forward a number of years to the 2000 NBA Finals, and we snuck a small tip cup/glass onto Bruce’s piano just before he did his sound check at the Pacers’ Field House in Indianapolis. Hornsby was invited to perform by his fellow pianist and Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. After Bruce played an impeccable “practice” National anthem a couple hours before tip-off, we tucked a couple $1 bills into the cup and made a request which – of course – he played just a few bars of as we all laughed.

One other day, years later, when UNC-Asheville played at Northeastern, Bruce’s son, Keith, was lighting up the Huskies at Matthews Arena in Boston and I was able to snap a halfway decent still photo and I e-mailed it to Keith’s Dad in real time. Bruce was astonished and ever appreciative that I thought of him.

Over the years, there were many a meet-up, including backstage at Madison Square Garden for a Grateful Dead show, a few solo shows in New York City and Boston, and one night, in particular, when I left him a simple email at about 6:00pm for an 8:00pm show, simply to say I had purchased great seats and would be in the audience, figuring he’d read my message a day or two later.

Of course, Bruce replied to the email in 10 minutes and said there’d be backstage passes awaiting. He had a number of meet-and-greet obligations after the show and I stood aside, figuring I’d just say thanks, congratulate him on an amazing show and be on my way.

Nope!

Bruce wanted to review some basketball highlight tapes of Keith and we went into a back dressing room where he brought out his laptop. Keith had transferred from UNC-Asheville to LSU where he slid over to the “2” guard spot to accomodate Ben Simmons playing the point. Keith improved his three-point field goal shooting and avaeraged about 13 points a game, good enough to get looks at Portland and Dallas, where he later signed on to play for the Texas Legends, the Mavs’ G-League squad.

Keith played in Poland, Germany and then moved up the European ladder to play in France and Lithuania before settling in with Bilbao Basket (Spain) in the highly competitive ACB.

Rightfully so, Bruce was quite proud of his son, Keith, but was always hoping for that NBA break.

It never came and Bruce and Keith played on.

PLAYING DEAD: There’s a pretty good Grateful Dead cover band that tours around, and they’re called “Playing Dead.” I’ve heard they’re pretty good but haven’t had the chance to see them perform. … The problem and reality we’re all facing is the fact that two of the original members of the real Dead are now playing dead. Yes, another member of the original band, Phil Lesh, passed away this week. In a prominent obituary, The New York Times wrote, “Key to the dynamic of the Grateful Dead was the way Mr. Lesh used the bass to provide ever-shifting counterpoints to the dancing lines of the lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, the curt riffs of the rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, the bold rhythms of the drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, and, in the band’s first eight years, the warm organ work of Ron McKernan, known as Pigpen. … Lesh joins Garcia in the afterlife, and you can only pray, they’re writing new music for a legion of fans, including our bud, Ramrod (Larry Shurtliff), the president of the incorporated band, and his wife, Francis, both frequent guests at the NBA All-Star Game and an occasional Finals. Ramrod passed away in 2006 at the young age of 61. Everyone who ever met him misses him (and Francis) greatly.

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Now, we return to 99.9% sports notes.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The 2024 World Series began with an “Instant Classic” on Friday night when Dodgers 1B Freddie Freeman hit a game-winning, extra innings grand slam home run. Trailing the NY Yankees 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning, a hobbled Freeman came to bat, reminding many of the 1988 feat by Kirk Gibson against the Oakland A’s. There were even side-by-side comparisons posted to social media outlets.

Game 2 is underway as WWYI is being posted and then, the Series will continue with Games 3, 4, and (if necessary) 5 in the Bronx. … As in the past, our friends at Strat-O-Matic have crunched the numbers and run the computer simulations for the Series.

The result?

The LA Dodgers bested the NY Yankees in a seven-game series (the same number of games this and many other pundits are predicting this year).

In the StratO-Matic simulation of the decisive Game 7, Teoscar Hernandez’s single plated Series MVP Mookie Betts with the go-ahead run that gave L.A. a 2-1 edge. The hosts would add another in the bottom of the sixth on a solo home run by Dodgers catcher Will Smith, and on a bullpen day, pitcher Blake Treinen tossed two perfect innings, fanning four, as the last of eight Los Angeles pitchers in the game. Treinen registered his third save of the series.

Los Angeles rallied from a 3-1 series deficit, getting five-inning starts from SPs Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Games Five and Six to send it to the winner-take-all contest in L.A.

Betts hit .370 in the seven games with a home run and seven RBI. In the battle between probable league MVPs, New York’s Aaron Judge (.346, two home runs, three RBI) and Shohei Ohtani (.231, two HR, six RBI) were fairly even, while Giancarlo Stanton had three home runs and drove in six in the series.

TIDBITS: The Westchester Knicks selected Matt Ryan (6-6, 215, Tennessee-Chattanooga) with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA G League Draft, which was held Saturday, Oct. 26. The Knicks also selected six-year NBA veteran Landry Shamet (6-4, 190, Wichita State) with the second overall pick, while the Cleveland Charge took Sean East II (6-3, 180, Missouri) with the third pick. … Boston’s affiliate, the Maine Celtics, (once known as the Red Claws) selected Eric Gaines, a 6-2, 23-year old rookie guard. Gaines, a former LSU (Louisiana State) and UAB (Alabama-Birmingham) collegiate player, was the ninth overall selection in the G League Draft.

In pro golf circles, there are significant rumors and multiple reports that legend Greg Norman is set to be replaced as LIV Golf’s CEO, with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund actively looking for a replacement for the Australian tour star.

The two-time major championship winner, age 69, has been the most vocal figure and ambassador for the controversial breakaway LIV Golf since its formation in 2022. Reports note Norman will stay within LIV even after his replacement is hired. According to Sports Business Journal, Norman will simply be moved into another role as his replacement is sought. … Norman was named CEO of LIV Investments in October of 2021 in a 10-year deal that reportedly pays him $50m a year.

SPORTS BIZ: In the “can’t make it up category” also known as “Sign of the Apocalypse,” as once penned by Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum, this came across the sports wire on Thursday: The National Basketball Association and Wingstop announced a multiyear partnership making Wingstop the Official Chicken Partner of the NBA and NBA G League. The agreement marks Wingstop’s first official partnership with a major U.S. professional sports league. … The “chicken partner” is traded on NASDAQ. No word on a pork partner.

NBA PREDICTIONS: I usually await the 10-game mark before making any predictions, looking for some early season trends and observing the various new combos (Klay Thompson at Dallas should work) or injuries/return from injuries (Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis won’t be back until Decemberish). This year? What the heck, not all that much is going to change between two games and 10 games.

Here’s the scoop, and it’s nothing you haven’t seen elsewhere:

Eastern Conference:

  1. Boston Celtics
  2. Milwaukee Bucks
  3. New York Knicks
  4. Philadelphia 76ers
  5. Cleveland Cavaliers
  6. Indiana Pacers
  7. Orlando Magic
  8. Atlanta Hawks

Boston over Milwaukee in the ECF.

Western Conference:

  1. Oklahoma City Thunder
  2. Denver Nuggets
  3. Dallas Mavericks
  4. New Orleans Pelicans
  5. Phoenix Suns
  6. LA Clippers
  7. Memphis Grizzlies

Denver over OKC in the WCF.

Boston over Denver in the 2025 NBA Finals (unless Porzingis is OUT).

WNBA: Sides Pitched by the Fever

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever fired head coach Christie Sides on Sunday after a 20-20 season that ended in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

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“We are incredibly thankful to Coach Sides for embracing the challenge of leading us through an integral transition period over the last two seasons, while also positioning us well for future growth,” said Kelly Krauskopf, the team’s president of basketball operations, in a statement.

Sides is the sixth WNBA coach to be fired since the end of the regular season. The Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks and Washington Mystics also are looking for new head coaches.

The Fever could be looking to turn back the clock to 2016.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday that the Fever were one of three teams Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White could lead in 2025. While she is under contract through the 2025 season, per the report, the Sun could choose to make her available to other teams.

The Sun, Fever and Sky are rumored as teams she could coach next season.

White was the head coach of the Fever in 2015 and ’16, with the first team losing to the Minnesota Lynx in five games in the WNBA finals. She owns a 92-56 career record in the regular season and 13-13 mark in the playoffs over four seasons with the Fever and Sun.

White, 47, previously spent four seasons as an assistant coach and five as a player with the Fever. She starred in college at Purdue.

–Field Level Media

Wizards Focused on Deconstructing?

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WASH DC – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Washington Wizards kick off their 2024-25 season Thursday night with a home game against the Boston Celtics. The Wizards finished last season 15-67 — the worst record in team history — and the rebuild is ongoing.

Washington’s offseason additions include first-round draft picks Alex Sarr (No. 2), Carlton “Bub” Carrington (No. 14) and Kyshawn George (No. 24). The Wizards also added veterans Jonas Valanciunas, former Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey, although Bey is expected to miss much of the season while he recovers from a torn ACL.

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Brogdon will also miss Thursday’s game because of a torn thumb tendon.

“If we’re really to think about it — the phases of the rebuild — there’s the deconstruction phase. There’s the laying-the-foundation phase. There’s the building it back up, and then there’s fortifying what you build,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said during the team’s media day. “We’re still focused on deconstructing and laying that foundation.”

Jordan Poole, who is entering his second season with the Wizards after being acquired from Golden State, is expected to play more point guard this season. Poole’s role as a ball handler increased when Brian Keefe replaced Wes Unseld Jr. as the team’s head coach last January.

“Being able to get into transition, building confidence into my teammates — it’s something I’ve always been able to do, especially with the ball,” Poole said. “Guys are open, just get them the ball and try to put them in situations to be successful.”

Defending NBA champion Boston opened its season Tuesday with a 132-109 victory over the visiting New York Knicks. The Celtics tied an NBA record by making 29 3-pointers in the win.

Al Horford made the 29th 3-pointer with 8:54 to play, but Boston missed its next 13 shots from behind the arc to end the game. Boston tied the record set by the Milwaukee Bucks against the Miami Heat in 2020.

“It’s almost like we got jinxed or something,” Boston’s Jaylen Brown said. “When we were just playing, having fun, playing our style of basketball, everything was going in. And then once the crowd got into it and we started hunting them, we couldn’t even hit the broad side of the barn. Everything was off. We got a bunch of great looks and it was like a lid on the basket.”

Jayson Tatum made eight 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 37 points. Boston also received multiple 3-pointers from Derrick White (six), Brown (five), Jrue Holiday (four), Horford (three) and Sam Hauser (two). Payton Pritchard connected on the other 3-pointer.

“The biggest thing I’m proud of us is the mindset of the guys,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We weren’t stuck in the past. … We were physical on defense and were together on offense. It’s a great start.”

Washington hasn’t won 50 games in a season since 1979, which was the last time the franchise advanced to the NBA Finals.

“This is the best team I’ve been around in terms of chemistry, camaraderie and character since I’ve been in Washington,” Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma said.

–Field Level Media

Give Me Liberty

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BROOKLYN – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – New York'[s Nyara Sabally picked a good night to play one of the best games of her life.

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In the first overtime winner-take-the title Finals game in WNBA history, Sabally had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench — and connected on a breakaway layup in overtime that proved to be crucial game-sealing points — as the host New York Liberty defeated the visiting Minnesota Lynx 67-62 in Sunday night’s Game 5 to win their first championship in franchise history.

It was the first double-digit scoring performance of the postseason for Sabally. Her steal and fast-break bucket with 3:14 to play put the Liberty ahead 65-60. The Lynx would knock down two free throws to trim the deficit to three points, but never got any closer. Sabally blocked Napheesa Collier’s layup attempt with 1:18 to play, and Breanna Stewart later padded the Liberty lead with a pair of free throws.

The Lynx had the ball with 18.4 seconds to play in overtime with a chance to tie, but Bridget Carleton’s 3-point attempt missed the mark.

Stewart, who never came out of the game, finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists. Two free throws from her at the end of regulation sent the game into overtime. The Liberty also got 17 points from Jonquel Jones, 13 points from Leonie Fiebich, and five points, eight assists and seven rebounds from Sabrina Ionescu.

Jones was named Finals MVP after averaging 18 points and eight rebounds per game throughout the series.

The Liberty won despite Stewart and Ionescu — its two Olympians — combining for 5-of-34 shooting from the floor.

Collier, who fouled out with 13 seconds left in overtime, powered Minnesota with 22 points and seven rebounds, while Kayla McBride had 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Minnesota opened the decisive final game of the season with a 6-0 run and finished the first quarter ahead 19-10. Collier scored eight points in the opening frame and six more in the second. At halftime, the Lynx maintained a seven-point lead.

The momentum of the game seemed to swing in the Liberty’s favor midway through the third quarter when Sabally entered the game. When the third-year forward out of Oregon checked in, the Liberty trailed by five points. At the end of the third quarter — and after Sabally piled up nine points and two rebounds in about four-and-a-half minutes — New York led Minnesota by three points. Each of Sabally’s three field goals in the third frame were assisted by her former Oregon teammate, Ionescu.

“I feel like we just had to settle in, honestly,” Sabally said. “I’m blessed. Look at this arena. This is what I’ve been dreaming off.”

While Sabally soared, Ionescu struggled mightily, missing each of her first 14 shot attempts from the floor. According to ESPN, it marked the most consecutive misses in a winner-take-all game in WNBA history. Ionescu didn’t make her first field goal until there was 3:10 left to play, as she connected on a 3-pointer from 28 feet out on an assist from Stewart that put the Liberty ahead by four points.

A late surge from Minnesota, capped off by back-to-back baskets from Collier, gave the Lynx a two-point lead with 1:04 to play. With less than six seconds left, Stewart tied the game up after being fouled and then knocking down a pair of free throws. McBride’s late look from 3-point land didn’t connect for Minnesota as the game went to overtime.

For a team that plays in the New York borough of Brooklyn, the championship won by the Liberty is the first for a Brooklyn-based team since Major League Baseball’s Dodgers won the World Series in 1955.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Oct 6

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While We’re Young (Ideas) on the Late, Great Mutombo

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Georgetown University’s basketball program was founded in the Fall of 1906. So fittingly, they played their first basketball game that winter, beating the University of Virginia 22-11. Some 43 years later McDonough Gymnasium would open its doors on the campus on the Hill that overlooks the District on the Hill in our nations’s capital.

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Some 22 years later, Georgetown was smart enough to hire John Thompson, Jr. away from St. Anthony’s High School (on the corner of 12th and Monroe Streets, NE) and that’s about when I started to get “pissed.”

In about 1975, Georgetown began to win big basketball games, such as the ECAC South’s annual tournament, beating the likes of GW, American, and eventually taking it up a notch to win games against tough teams and glory programs like Syracuse University. In 1979, it turned serious.

Georgetown, together with the previously mentioned Syracuse, with Providence College, Seton Hall, Connecticut, Boston College and my very own St. John’s University, formed the BIG EAST Conference. The new digs came about in my junior year of college. Basketball at St. John’s – and all the Northeastern United States – would never be the same again.

John Thompson Jr., a one-time back-up to Bill Russell while both were collecting NBA Championship rings here in Boston, became known as “Big John.” He had quite a knack for recruiting good players. My friend, Steve Martin out of NOLA, comes to mind. Martin was the man who let me peek inside the HOYAS.

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Georgetown landed the best players. They kept on doing it, too. John Duran and Craig Shelton in the ‘80s, and Sleepy Floyd a year later. Then, they landed one of the greatest 7-footers of our lifetime in Patrick Ewing, recruited right here out of Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. They kept coming: Bill Martin, Charles Smith, Reggie Williams, Perry McDonald, Alonzo Mourning, Othella Harrington, Allen Iverson, Victor Page, Jeff Green, and Roy Hibbert who was yet another 7-footer.

Right smack in the middle of that recruiting bonanza, say 1988-1991, right out of Léopoldville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, coming to America was 7-foot-2 Dikembe Mutombo, an honorable mention All-American but two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.

The Ewing-Mutombo-Mourning combination was a little too much to take, as a St. John’s fan. It was one thing to see Williams shoot the lights out, or Iverson and Page run your team off the floor, but to have the Ewing-Mutombo-Mourning block every single shot from the bucket at the 7th Avenue end of the Garden to the 8th Avenue end was devastating.

Mutombo played only three years as he made his mark at Georgetown. He was selected in the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, the fourth overall selection of that draft. Only Larry Johnson (Charlotte), Kenny Anderson (New Jersey) and Billy Owens (Sacramento then Golden State) went before the big 7-footer – the great Dick Vitale called Mutombo and his peers of 7-feet+ – “aircraft carriers.” Mutombo made his NBA home in the Great Rocky Mountains.

Of course the 6-10 Mourning overlapped a bit (1988-92) and the spectrum of memories run from the try-outs for the 1988 USA Basketball Men’s Olympics team to Zo going No. 2 in the 1992 NBA Draft, a single draft slot after Shaquille O’Neal.

Suffice to say, there was some HOYA SAXA swearing coming from the St. John’s sections of Madison Square Garden while Patrick-Alonzo-and-Dikembe were getting it done. But, it all changed in 1999-2000 when Big John retired and his longtime right hand man Craig Esherick took over for six relatively successful years, going 103-74 (.582) as compared to his predecessor’s 27 years, 596-239 (.714) mark with 20 NCAA appearances in his 27 seasons.

Georgetown returned to earth and, so sadly, so has Dikembe Mutombo this week, almost two years after receiving the terrible diagnosis of brain cancer which took his life at age 58.

Dikembe’s on-court accolades are long and impressive, just as he was. He was a six-time Defensive Player of the Year – four in the NBA and two in the BIG EAST Conference. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star in his 19-year NBA career. He led the NBA in rebounding twice and in shots blocked three times. Mutombo was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Yet, his on-court resume might be half of what he was able to accomplish off the court, and in his native land of Africa. His foundation helped build a $29 million, 300-bed full scale hospital in Kinshasa, Congo, the capital city, and that facility has treated more than a half-million people regardless of their ability to pay for care. It opened in September of 2006 and was named Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, in memory of his mother, who died of a stroke in 1997.

The goodwill efforts didn’t start and end there. This column could list 1000 things Mutombo accomplished, shared, willed to existence, donated, and spent time and his own money to better the lives of others. Mutombo was a very frequent traveller, and contributor to the NBA’s Basketball w/o Borders program. He built schools, assisted the NBA and the USA Dept. of State in Goodwill missions and became a citizen of the United States in 2006.

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He was asked to attend and be recognized by President George W. Bush at the State of the Union Address of 2007 and President Obama’s Inauguration a couple years later. Dikembe’s global ambassador nature worked on both sides of the aisle. He was recognized with an honorary doctorate at Georgetown and later honored by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Public Health where he was awarded the Goodermote Humanitarian Award “for his efforts to reduce polio globally as well as his work improving the health of neglected and underserved populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” His efforts were beyond impressive, done with an energy rarely seen in any human being.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued the following statement, informing many of Mutombo’s friends and colleagues of his death:

“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life. On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.

“There was nobody more qualified than Dikembe to serve as the NBA’s first Global Ambassador. He was a humanitarian at his core. He loved what the game of basketball could do to make a positive impact on communities, especially in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo and across the continent of Africa. I had the privilege of traveling the world with Dikembe and seeing first-hand how his generosity and compassion uplifted people. He was always accessible at NBA events over the years – with his infectious smile, deep booming voice and signature finger wag that endeared him to basketball fans of every generation.

“Dikembe’s indomitable spirit continues on in those who he helped and inspired throughout his extraordinary life. I am one of the many people whose lives were touched by Dikembe’s big heart and I will miss him dearly. On behalf of the entire NBA family, I send my deepest condolences to Dikembe’s wife, Rose, and their children; his many friends; and the global basketball community which he truly loved and which loved him back.”

Mutombo’s family issued quite a statement after his death. It read:

“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love and condolences we have received from people around the world following the passing of our beloved Dikembe. Dikembe was a servant of God, a wonderful husband, father, humanitarian, and athlete. He touched countless lives on and off the court with his generosity, compassion, and unwavering dedication to improving the lives of others. Your kind words and condolences during the past two years, especially this past week, have brought us immense comfort during this difficult time.

We want to acknowledge and thank the Multi-D Team within the Piedmont Brain Tumor Center, Shepherd Rehab Hospital (Atlanta), NBA Physician Dr. Leroy Sims, consulting physicians, and colleagues worldwide, including: Dr. Erin Dunbar, Dr. Curtis J. Coley II, Dr. Adam Nowlan, Dr. Tyler Kenning, Dr. Ford Voxx, Dr. Fadia Payal, Dr. Jarred Potter; and a host of other healthcare professionals: nurses, therapists, and home-care providers, particularly Charles Benton, who remained by Dike’s side these last months. We also want to thank our NBA and Georgetown families and friends for their love and support.

In the coming days we will be holding a very private service for family and then working together with the NBA to hold a larger event at a later date to celebrate Dikembe’s extraordinary life and legacy.

In lieu of flowers, we encourage donations to the Dikembe Mutombo Memorial Fund which will benefit the causes and organizations that Dikembe dedicated his life to supporting.

Thank you once again for your kindness, understanding, and continued respect for our privacy as we navigate this profound loss.

With heartfelt appreciation,

Rose, Carrie, Jean-Jacques, and Ryan Mutombo

Three Georgetown centers at the 1993 NBA Basketball w/o Borders/Africa program

To best explain the world of Dikembe Mutombo, I turn the column over to former Houston Chronicle (and former Philly) columnist, Mr. Fran Blinebury, to better tell of the life and times of the NBA’s all-time greatest Ambassador to the World, the late Dikembe Mutombo. Fran approved the utilization of his post.

BY FRAN BLINEBURY, former columnist Houston Chronicle

So many memories of a man with so many names — Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacque Wamutombo.

The defiant competitor with the shake of the head and the long, wagging finger after he blocked yet another of those thousands of shots.

The practically delirious young man with the wide smile rolling happily on the court holding the basketball over his head after leading the Denver Nuggets to a spectacular upset of top-seeded Seattle in the first round of the 1994 NBA Playoffs.

Mutombo passed away on Monday at age 58 from brain cancer.

My own favorite memory is from half a world away, in a dusty corner of South Africa’s impoverished Soweto Township, where dozens of young children — most of whom are HIV-positive — have dressed Mutombo in the colorful garb and feathers of a Zulu warrior, then handed him a spear and are watching him comically attempt to dance to the song they are trying to sing through their giggling.

“What do you think?” he asked in a bellow of laughter. “Does Dikembe Mutombo have rhythm?”

Truth is, Mutombo has always had the rhythm of the ocean, the pulse of the planet upon which he’s felt obligated to do more than just walk across for a handful of decades.

Those kids at a place called Ithuteng Trust that day had thrown open their arms to a group representing the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program for giving them their time and embraced Mutombo for giving them his love. The little dance took place on the brown dirt lawn of a brand new dormitory that had been built with the assistance of Mutombo’s latest gift of $100,000.

“It might be the first time many of them have ever slept in a clean bed,” he said. “It is hardly a sacrifice for me.”

Since he came out of Georgetown University and into the NBA 33 years ago, Mutombo has been known for three things: blocked shots, that distinctive voice that sounds like the Cookie Monster swallowed James Earl Jones and a sheer joy for life.

He founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 to benefit the people of his homeland of Kinshasha in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2007, he opened the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center there, named after his mother.

And all along the way, he never lost his passion for playing the game and competing at the highest level. At all of his NBA stops in Denver, Atlanta, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Houston, he’s been part Pied Piper and part General Patton.

When Mutombo signed on for this fifth season with the Houston Rockets on Dec. 31, 2008 he was re-entering a locker room that had become fractious and divided with rumors of rifts between Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming and (then) Ron Artest (Metta World Peace to Metta Sandiford-Artest.

“I will take care of this,” Mutombo pronounced. “Maybe I will have to grab some heads and bang them together. But I will fix the situation.”

And even though he played just 96 minutes in nine games, the Rockets’ wounds were healed and they finished the regular season on a 33-14 tear. Then he played 18 minutes and pulled down nine rebounds as the Rockets won the opener of their NBA Playoffs series with the Blazers. He took a horrible fall in Game 2, tearing up his knee and forcing the end to an 18-year NBA career.

Mutombo was an eight-time All-Star who won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award four times and stands second on the NBA’s career blocks list with 3,289.

But if you wanted to talk numbers, the ones he’d brag about were the direct numbers he had to NBA commissioner David Stern and to the White House. He was a guest of President George W. Bush at the State of the Union address in 2008 and was invited to President Barack Obama‘s inauguration.

He was part world ambassador and part basketball mentor.

When Yao got into the habit of drawing charges in the middle of the season, Mutombo chastised him that it was no honorable way for a big man to play the game.

“Maybe that’s why China never won the Asian championship,” he said laughing loudly. “You block the shot.”

When rookie Anthony Randolph of the Golden State Warriors kept driving to the basket to challenge, Mutombo repeatedly blocked his shots and offered advice.

“I told him he doesn’t know about Dikembe Mutombo, he needs to watch ESPN Classic,” he said with the raspy roar.

He’s always been proud of his accomplishments and his connections.

Once when Mutombo was hit with a technical foul for complaining from his seat on the bench, he held up his cell phone in the locker room. “I have commissioner Stern on speed dial,” he said giggling. “I will have to tell him that the NBA doesn’t need my $1,000 in fine money. There are hungry kids in Africa and he’d be taking food out of their mouths.”

When he returned from the Obama inauguration, I asked him if he could see Oprah from his seat on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

“Are you kidding?” he roared as the smile ran a fastbreak across his face. “I’m pretty sure she was sitting behind me.”

As Yogi Berra might have said: half humanitarian, half teacher and half comedian.

All Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacque Wamutombo. One of a kind.

Editor’s Note: Fran certainly has a way with words, and some of us, noted comedian Steve Martin … “just don’t have way.”

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Did anyone notice that this past Tuesday CNN and Reuters each began a paywall program hoping to generate additional revenue for the costly business of news production. CNN came in with a big red SUBSCRIBE button on its homepage with a full year, all access deal at $29.99. A monthly subscription is $3.99, so the full year saves the client 37% while the Newsie makes a pretty penny. Searching for a broadcast/online CNN subscriber discount was useless. … In the FAQs, CNN noted the news subscription does not include access to the CNN broadcast news channel and highlighted the fact “unlimited access to articles is now a subscriber-only benefit. Registered CNN users still have access to a limited number of free articles as well as newsletters, follow topics, and article commenting.” … Thanks Zaz.

REUTERS: While Reuters is a top notch news gatherer and deserves some $ for the work they do on a global bases, most of the wire service (AP, Reuters) copy is readily available via free news sites or it might be featured on a site you’re already paying a steep fee for national/international (or local) news. … In case you’re wondering, I pay for: The Boston Globe, The New York Times/The Athletic, Newsday, The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. … Come November 10th, there will be a roster cut-down and massive purge. The Boston Globe will remain.

MAN UNITED: The skies of Manchester are not friendly for Manchester United team manager Erik ten Hag when his side travels to Aston Villa today. Earlier this week, centre-back Harry Maguire threw his coach, Erik ten Hag, a four-day lifeline with a game-tying goal in stoppage time that secured a 3-3 draw in the UEFA Europa League against FC Porto. Maguire’s fate could be on the line as ten Hag’s club has managed only three victories and suffered two awful losses, each 3-0 home defeats, against Liverpool and Tottenham in the Premier League. Victory has charmed Man United against Fulham, Southampton and during a League One non-conference with Barnsley in the Carabao Cup.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | August 18

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Just think about the possibilities for this venue at LA ‘28

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

FROM THE LYONS’ DEN IN BOSTON – Congratulations are in order to USA Basketball’s Men’s and Women’s (5×5) Olympic teams for their haul of 24 gold medals at the recently concluded Summer Olympic Games. Two of those 24 medals are counted in the stupendously ridiculous medal standings that every newspaper and TV station publish on a daily basis. More on that later.

The men’s and women’s team worked (very) hard and earned their medals as the competitors in the 20214 basketball tournaments were as deep and talented as we’ve ever seen, although the men’s side has had tough comp since 2000. Remember, it’s no longer about the number of players with NBA contracts on a roster. The basketball nations of the world come to play, as evidenced by Canada, Germany, (the reigning World Cup champions), Greece and South Sudan. Exhibit 1-A was a July 27 game featuring Greece vs Canada won by our neighbors to ‘Da North, (86-79). In that contest, Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) got his first taste of Olympic basketball and scored 34 points. Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) countered with 21 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Both teams fared well, but lost in the quarter-finals (medal round). Much of their rosters wee non-NBA players.

On the men’s side, USA Basketball’s staff and its de facto team GM, Grant Hill, will have their hands filled going forward. The assignment is daunting and that’s a great thing.

Much of the roster make-up conversation has pointed to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. While that makes for easy column inches right after the 2024 Games, there is far more need for concern on the roster for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar from 27 August to 12 September 2027 (notice the European style of date-listing?)

The Worlds are a grueling 32-team tournament. Looking back at 2023, the USA lost to Germany 113-111 in the semifinals and that meant the United States failed to medal at consecutive World Cups for the first time since 1967 and 1970. In global basketball at the senior team level, the USA’s last team to lose three games in a major tournament was the 2004 Olympic team.

While many pundits looked at the potential roster for the 2028 Olympics, the focus should be on the roster composition at the 2027 Worlds which can lead to continuity for a team headed to Los Angeles a year later.

For the sake of sanity, let’s figure the elder statesman who excelled in Paris and Lille this summer, take a pass at playing for the USA again. That will put Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Lebron James in the stands as opposed to on the court. Let’s assume Kawhi Leonard is on AARP’s mailing list by then as well. And, lastly, in the summer of 2027, no one has any idea if Joel Embiid will be healthy or not considering his history of injuries and lack of conditioning. He’ll be 33 in March of 2027.

On the other side of the coin, here’s a list of players from the 2024 roster who will be locks if healthy and willing to dedicate their 2027 and ‘28 summers to USA Basketball.

  • Bam Adebayo
  • Devin Booker
  • Anthony Edwards
  • Tyrese Halliburton (PG)
  • Jrue Holiday
  • Jayson Tatum
  • Derrick White (PG)

That leaves another five roster spots to select for the 2027 World Cup team, again assuming all listed are volunteering to play. Here are the no-brainers:

  • Jalen Brown
  • Jalen Brunson (PG)

Here are the three others that make the most sense to round out the roster:

  • Cooper Flagg (let the long-range planning begin) – (also, limited minutes)
  • Chet Holmgren
  • Anthony Davis (who will be 34) (they need another rebounder)

To be considered for sure: Paolo Banchero (Orlando), Jalen Duren (Detroit), Josh Hart (New York), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami), and Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia).

Of course, there are dozens of other players who deserve mention but the players above (noting the three necessary point guards who need to work for USA Basketball as pass first/run the offense/run the break PGs – old school types. The list also assumes the Boston Celtics players will let bygones be bygones in respect to USAB head coach Steve Kerr’s snub of Tatum this summer with an expected coaching change to come within the next two years … (Do you think Grant Hill can talk Coach Mike Krzyzewski to return for an encore)?

Figuring Krzyzewski will remain in his much-deserved retirement, it will be a toss-up between two great coaches in Tyronn Lue of the LA Clippers and Miami’s Eric Spoelstra for the head spot heading into 2026-27.

Here’s my Dream Coaching Staff for USA Basketball:

Head Coach: Pat Riley

Assistant Coaches: Mike Krzyzewski, Mike D’Antoni, Bob McKillop.

Select Team Coaches: Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Izzo, Doc Rivers

THE MEDAL STANDINGS: Let’s get this out there and straight as an arrow, the Olympic Medal Standings are RIDICULOUS. There are dozens of reasons, but here’s just a few:

  • It’s not about the athletes who medal
  • It is ALL ABOUT the competitions, the honor of being an Olympian
  • Having Medal standings and using them so prominently SENDS the WRONG MESSAGE to the youth of the world
  • The jingoistic “Rah, Rah” for the USA leading the medal standings in a tête-à-tête vs. China or Russia or Japan or Australia or Great Britain is a little too much as the USA sends far more athletes and the sports (for the most part) have the wherewithal to send athletes to worldwide competitions and train with the highest levels of equipment, venues, nutrition, wellness and weight training, travel and overall budgets.
  • Lastly, the phrases, “Settling for the Silver” or “Settling for the Bronze” just burn me up.
  • Grow up

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | August 11

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The 2024 Olympic Games are the first to have both Men and Women’s Teams from two countries play for the Gold Medal (FIBA)

FROM the LYONS’ DEN in BOSTON – We all should’ve known better. When it came time for the United States Men’s Olympic team to seal a victory, whether it be the semifinals against Serbia or the gold medal game against an incredible, upstart national team of France, there was only one person in the gym to count on.

For the people who are tagged as NBA lifers, we met the guy in 1991 when his Dad, Dell Curry of the hometown Hornets, was competing in the NBA Three-Point Shootout in Charlotte. Dell’s son, Stephen, was pictured sitting right on his Dad’s lap, high-fiving his favorite NBA players and flashing his tremendous smile for all to see.
Steph Curry, on his Dad’s lap, along with West Coach Don Nelson, Sacramento’s Mitch Richmond and New Jersey’s Drazen Petrovic (NBA)

Young Steph blended in with the thousands of credentialed players, friends, family, media and dignitaries who hovered around the NBA All-Star Game festivities in February of 1991. Quite frankly, this columnist didn’t even think of him again until a phone call came in as Midnight Madness struck for the 2006 college basketball season.

“Do you know Dell Curry,” asked Davidson coach Bob McKillop (my mentor and longtime basketball maven who coached Holy Trinity HS in 1977 and beyond? Of course, McKillop went on to be the decorated (and now retired) head coach of Davidson College and remained in close touch with so many of us on a monthly basis from June ‘77 until today.

“Yes, sure,” was the answer, “but why do you ask?”

“I have his son – who’s going to be a freshman on the Davidson team. He’s the best player I’ve ever had.”

McKillop wasn’t kidding.

Steph Curry led Davidson for three years, including a magical run in the 2008 NCAA’s that brought the Wildcats within a game of the Final Four.

On recall, there were two things that stood out about Steph when he played college ball for Davidson in the Southern Conference.

  1. He kept getting better and better. Every game, every year.
  2. He was the best shooter anyone had ever seen.

Nowadays, the 36-year old, four-time NBA champion and sure-fire first ballot Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer is known the world around. He was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the seventh overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft. He’s a 10-time NBA All-Star and a two time league MVP. Curry even made the NBA’s exclusive 75th Anniversary all-time team.

Fast forward to his very first (and only) gold medal game for the Olympics, and it was today, Saturday August 10, 2024, in Paris France where Curry proved himself as the undisputed greatest shooter of a basketball the world has ever seen. And, he did it under intense pressure.

France’s amazing 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama tipped in a shot with 2:58 remaining in the fourth quarter of the gold medal game to cut the USA’s lead to three points, 82-79.

It was Curry Time.

Steph drained a three-point field goal with 2:48 to extend the US lead to six, 85-79. Then, after two key free throws by Kevin Durant (“Call him KD Tres Bien”), Curry drained another long three-pointer to create a nine-point cushion with 1:58 remaining in the game.

France would not let up. Wembanyama hit a three-pointer of his own to make it a six-point game with just under a minute remaining.

It was Curry Time, yet again.

With :35 seconds left in the game, the incredible Curry hit his third consecutive shot from “centre-ville” to ice the game for the United States, 96-87. Devin Booker’s lay-up at the :21-second mark closed out the scoring and the USA earned its fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympic Games, making the 2004 bronze medal in Athens seem like a 20-year old fading memory.

Aside from winning the game for the USA, Curry also saved his longtime coach, Steve Kerr, from the embarrassment and criticism he would’ve received upon returning to the States. Golden State’s Kerr – ably assisted by Ty Lue (Los Angeles Clippers), Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Erik Spoelstra(Miami Heat) – juggled line-ups and combinations throughout the tournament, sitting Boston’s Jayson Tatum twice for entire games, including the semis (medal round) when the USA needed an offensive spark and an aggressive, “take-it-to-the-basket” scorer.

Even the great Bob Cousy questioned Kerr’s coaching decisions, stating on radio broadcasts and to the Boston Globe: “This isn’t just a snub,” Cousy said. “This is an embarrassment for that poor kid all over the [expletive] world. The Olympics have gotten that big. Everyone’s going to think that there’s something wrong this this kid.

“Not playing Tatum at all says to the world, ‘Not only is he not top five, he’s not good enough to get into a close game.’ I can’t figure out Kerr’s thinking, and he’s done it twice, so he obviously feels strongly about it.”

One thing is for sure, the snub to Tatum spoiled a golden year for Boston Celtics basketball. Kerr’s coaches decision will follow Tatum all around the NBA next season and the storyline will build to a crescendo when the Celtics meet the Golden State Warriors, two times in the 2024-25 regular season. When you’re hearing it from The Cooz, you’re in trouble.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Fighting against every ounce of common sense in my mind and keeping to an iron-clad rule of never, ever stating that the most recent occurrence is the “best,” there’s a constant thought and growing conviction to call the 2024 Paris Summer Games the very best of my lifetime.

It’s damn near impossible to top the 2000 Summer Olympics, held in Sydney, but somehow the beauty of Paris – placing the scenic views of the Eiffel Tower just ahead of the Sydney Opera House, on the shore of Sydney Harbor. While the 2000 Games were outstanding, Paris 2024 was backed-up by incredible performances across the great span of sporting events.

Paris 2024 got off to a rocky and worrisome start as a terror attack struck the French rail lines on the day before the Games began. But, the organizers endured and the athletes took over the show.

The long list of Olympic stand-out performances is even too much list all of them for this week’s While We’re Young (Ideas), but let’s look at just a few from swimming, athletics (track and field), volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s gymnastics with a once-in-a-generation performance by the USA’s Simon Biles and a follow-up by Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade was simply amazing.

Tennis saw 37-year old Novak Djokovic earn the gold, while men’s golf saw once-in-three-generations professional PGA Tour player, Scottie Scheffler, come from behind to earn his golden token.

Add the story of the USA’s Noah Lyles, competing after contracting the COVID-19 virus and trying to gut-it-out, while a hometown hero from France, Léon Marchand, was winning gold in the swimming pool.

Add USA swimming legend Katie Ledecky, along with Bobby Finke and Nic Fink and there was more to marvel at in the pool.

Looking back at last week’s missive, both swimmer Nic Fink (son of NBA events superstar, Peter) and soccer mindfielder Samantha Coffey (daughter of former New York Daily News columnist and dear friend Wayne Coffey) earned gold medals. Fink added a silver, too.

TIDBITS AND GOLDEN NUGGETS: Here’s a couple more notes from the Men’s Basketball Tournament which concluded in Paris on Saturday:

Final Standings of the Men’s Basketball at Paris 2024

1. USA

2. France

3. Serbia

4. Germany

5. Canada

6. Australia

7. Greece

8. Brazil

9. Spain

10. South Sudan

11. Japan

12. Puerto Rico

Surprisingly, the Most Valuable Player award went to the USA’s Lebron James over Stephen Curry. How did that happen? I do NOT know, unless they voted over the entire tournament and not the medal round games.

The five tournament All-Stars: James, Curry, Serbia’s Nikola Jokic,Germany’s Dennis Schroder and France’s Victor Wembanyama. This reporter would’ve had Curry as the MVP and France’s Guerschon Yabuseleon the All-Star list over Schroder.

The “BIGGEST” take-away from the Paris Summer Games, maybe across any sport, was the play of Wembanyama. Although he was totally distraught after the gold medal game, and actually seeking consolation from his fellow NBA stars, like Kevin Durant, Wembanyama, age 20, showed a passion and sheer love of the game that is refreshing, today, but will be a force to be reckoned with starting tomorrow. The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama led the French team in scoring with 15.8 points, rebounds at 9.7, assists at 3.3, steals with 2.0 and blocks with 1.7 per game. However, his 26 points, seven rebounds and two assists in the gold medal game proved there’s a superstar in the making. In fact, he’s made.

The hometown French crowd at Bercy, singing La Marseillaise (see last week’s Words & Music section) as the Bleu accepted their silver medals was a sight to be seen and put a finishing touch on the Paris Games that have edged the 2000 Olympics in my mind.

Lakers Honor Kobe and Gianna

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – On the symbolic date of 8/2/24, the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled the second of three statues commissioned to honor Kobe Bryant near Crypto.com Arena.

Embed from Getty Images

The new statue depicts Bryant alongside his daughter Gianna. The two were among seven people who died in a Southern California helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Kobe Bryant was 41 when he died; Gianna was 13.

 

 

In the statue, the two are seated, with the father’s arm around the daughter as angel wings spread behind them. Kobe Bryant, identified as “Most Valuable Girl Dad,” says in a quote at the base, “Gianna is a beast. She’s better than I was at her age. She’s got it. Girls are amazing. I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a girl dad.”

The date was chosen because 8 and 24 were the numbers Bryant wore in his Hall of Fame career for the Lakers, and 2 was the number Gianna wore.

The same numbers were in play when the Lakers unveiled the first Bryant statue outside their home venue. The team has yet to announce when the third statue will be ready.

Also on Friday, the locker Bryant used at the arena for his final 13 NBA seasons sold at auction for $2.88 million. ESPN, citing auction house Sotheby’s, reported that the amount was a record for a sports locker.

 

 

The locker had a value estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million, according to Sportico.

–Field Level Media

Kerr Juggles USA Starting Five

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LILLE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – USA Basketball’s men’s Olympic team head coach Steve Kerr openly appreciates the adaptable stars on his roster and might make more plug-and-play decisions in the Group C finale against Puerto Rico on Saturday.

Juggling lineups and mixing starters has been part of the plan for Team USA, which is 7-0 since reporting to training camp in Las Vegas last month and 2-0 since arriving at the 2024 Games.

Kerr did not play Boston’s Jayson Tatum in the opener in Paris, then gave Joel Embiid the DNP earlier this week against South Sudan. He plans to blend starting lineups against Puerto Rico with Embiid back with the first five and point guard Jrue Holiday likely to rest with an ankle injury. Tatum and Holiday started against South Sudan.

“It’s basketball, it really doesn’t matter who starts,” said Kevin Durant, who said he’s ready and willing to come off the bench if Kerr prefers. “It’s about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they’re in the game. So I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can.”

Kerr pointed to guard Devin Booker, a supreme scoring guard who plays with the ball in his hands for the Phoenix Suns alongside Durant, as one of the most adaptable players on his roster.

Booker has deferred ball-handling duties to LeBron James and Steph Curry and focused on defending opponents’ top guards.

“Devin is probably the guy who’s been most adaptable to go from a different role in the NBA to a new one here,” Kerr said. “The offense clicks when he’s out there. The defense is really good. That’s why he’s started every game and seems to be good with any combination.”

Puerto Rico enters the matchup as the lowest team in the Pool C standings. But Kerr said he opened meetings Friday stressing to his team that no opponent can be taken lightly if Team USA is serious about being the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals, which begin Tuesday.

“We talked to them this morning,” Kerr said. “We showed the standings. We showed them the point differential. We want that (No. 1 seed). It gives you the best matchup in the quarterfinals. If we drop down to two or three — which I think is unlikely but we’ve got to take care of our business — we possibly have a much tougher opponent.”