Update on the latest sports
APNBA-CAVALIERS-INJURIES
Cavs’ Nance breaks thumb, 2 others concussed against Wizards
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. will likely miss the rest of the season, after he broke his right thumb in Sunday’s loss at Washington.
Nance’s injury was one of several suffered by Cleveland players and will leave the Cavaliers short-handed for Monday night’s game against Toronto in Florida. Guard Matthew Dellavedova is out with a neck strain and after receiving four stitches when he was accidentally head-butted. Also, center Isaiah Hartenstein and forward Lamar Stevens suffered concussions against the Wizards.
Leading scorer Collin Sexton is also out with a concussion suffered against Charlotte last week.
In other NBA news:
-Devin Cannady of the Orlando Magic has had surgery to clean out his dislocated right ankle. Tests show he did not fracture the joint as originally feared. The Magic say a series of exams including X-rays, a CT scan and MRI showed that Cannady’s bones and cartilage remained intact. Cannady dislocated the ankle during Sunday night’s game against Indiana.
NHL-JETS-EHLERS
Winnipeg loses Ehlers for the rest of the regular season
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice says forward Nikolaj Ehlers is out for the remainder of the regular season with an upper-body injury. Maurice said Ehlers suffered the injury in the Jets’ 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday. Maurice said he is “confident” Ehlers will be back for the postseason.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
— Turner Sports is the surprise winner of the National Hockey League’s second television package. Two people familiar with the deal tell The Associated Press the two sides have agreed on a seven-year contract that includes three Stanley Cup Finals. The NHL will now have two network partners in the United States for the first time since 1998-99. It will also get more money. This season, the NHL received $350 million in broadcast revenue from NBC and Disney Streaming Services. The upcoming deals will average $635 million per year.
— Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin will need season-ending shoulder surgery. The 24-year-old was injured early in the first period of Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. Hanifin was tangling with Canadiens forward Corey Perry along the boards near the Flames bench when his left leg went out from underneath him. Hanifin’s shoulder made contact with the ice as he went down.
— Andrew Shaw has retired after 10 seasons in the NHL. The gritty forward played a key role in helping the Chicago Blackhawks win two Stanley Cup championships. He announced his retirement on the advice of his doctors. Shaw suffered multiple concussions. He had not played since the latest head injury on Feb. 9. In all, Shaw piled up 116 goals, 131 assists and 573 penalty minutes during seven seasons in Chicago and three with Montreal. Shaw is 29.
MLB-ROCKIES-BRIDICH
Jeff Bridich steps down as general manager of Rockies
DENVER (AP) — Jeff Bridich is stepping down as general manager of the Colorado Rockies.
The mutual agreement between Bridich and the team ends a tenure that included two playoff appearances and a falling out with Nolan Arenado that ultimately led to the All-Star third baseman’s trade. Bridich was in his seventh season as GM. The team will appoint an interim general manager for the rest of the season before launching a search following the postseason.
The Rockies also appointed Greg Feasel as the team president in addition to his role of being in charge of the club’s business operations.
NFL-COWBOYS-SEAN LEE
Cowboys’ Lee retires after 11 mostly injury-plagued seasons
DALLAS (AP) — Sean Lee is retiring after the linebacker spent all of his 11 mostly injury-plagued seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. The 34-year-old says it is “my time to walk away.”
Lee is eighth in team history with 995 tackles. He led all NFL linebackers through his first six seasons. That was despite missing all of 2014 after tearing a knee ligament in the offseason. A second-round pick out of Penn State in 2010, Lee is fourth among Dallas linebackers with 14 interceptions. His 22 tackles against the New York Giants in 2016 are a club record.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
—The Denver Broncos have promoted Brittany Bowlen to senior vice president of strategy and hired China Jude for the newly created position of V.P. of diversity, equity and inclusion. Bowlen has spent the last year spearheading the team’s COVID-19 task force. The daughter of the late Pat Bowlen eventually wants to succeed her father as controlling owner of the Broncos. Jude will report to Bowlen in her newly created role.
—The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have exercised the fifth-year option on the contract defensive tackle Vita Vea signed as the 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft. The 6-foot-4, 347-pound tackle has started 29 of 34 regular-season games he’s played with the Bucs. Vea was sidelined most of 2020 after breaking a leg in Week 5. He returned to play an important role in the playoffs, though, appearing in Tampa Bay’s wins over Green Bay in the NFC championship game and Kansas City in the Super Bowl.
—Trevor Lawrence, the likely No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, has signed an endorsement deal with cryptocurrency investment app Blockfolio. The star quarterback at Clemson, Lawrence is widely expected be selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the draft, which starts on Thursday night in Cleveland. His signing bonus will come in cryptocurrency, which will be deposited into his Blockfolio account.
—Baker Mayfield is more convinced that he saw a UFO. The Browns quarterback said he believes in “UFOs and Sasquatch” after he and his wife, Emily, spotted something strange in the sky as they drove home from dinner in Texas last month. Mayfield said he’s grateful the Browns picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract last week.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-MARYLAND-MANNING
Maryland hires ex-Wake coach Danny Manning as assistant
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland has hired former Wake Forest coach Danny Manning as an assistant on Mark Turgeon’s staff.
Manning spent the past year as an analyst for ESPN. He was fired after his team finished with a losing record in five of six seasons at Wake Forest and just one NCAA Tournament appearance.
Manning and Turgeon were teammates at Kansas in the 1980s. He was an assistant on the Kansas team coached by Bill Self that won the national championship in 2008. He coached Tulsa for two seasons before getting the job at Wake Forest.
Maryland is coming off a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA-COMPENSATING ATHLETES
Both parties back bill for image rights for college athletes
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressman who played football at Ohio State has reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would give college athletes the right to earn money through endorsements and sponsorship deals.
Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, an Ohio Republican, and Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri, on Monday co-sponsored the Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act. It would give college athletes the right to be paid for the use of their name, image and likeness. It is the third bill related to such compensation in college sports to be introduced during this Congress. But it’s the first with support from lawmakers in each party.
OLYMPICS-TOKYO-LEEPER
World Athletics rejects Leeper’s bid to compete in Tokyo
MONACO (AP) — Paralympic athlete Blake Leeper can’t compete against able-bodied runners at the Tokyo Olympics. World Athletics has ruled that his prosthetic legs give him an unfair advantage because he’s running “unnaturally tall.”
The panel ruled the mechanical aids give Leeper a standing height of 184 centimeters, nearly 10 centimeters higher than allowed. The panel says he has “an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such aids.”
PGA-VIRUS OUTBREAK
PGA’s Will Gordon, Brice Garnett test positive
UNDATED (AP) — Will Gordon and Brice Garnett have tested positive for the coronavirus and have withdrawn from the PGA’s Valspar Championship this week in Palm Harbor, Florida.
That brings the number to 12 players who have tested positive since the start of the year. That total does not include Jim Herman, who tested positive at home in Florida before flying out to the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui. On the European Tour, Will Besseling of The Netherlands tested positive after the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open and has withdrawn from this week’s Tenerife Open.
