Update on the latest sports
APNBA FINALS
Bucks look to even series in Game 4
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Phoenix Suns got by LeBron James in the first round and Nikola Jokic (nih-KOH’-lah YOH’-kihch) in the second, so they know how to beat an NBA MVP. Now they need to do it against Giannis Antetokounmpo (YAH’-nihs an-teh-toh-KOON’-poh).
The Milwaukee star is coming off two straight 40-point performances as the Bucks head into Game 4 of the finals Wednesday night at home. The Suns won the first two games in Phoenix and the Bucks won Game 3 in Milwaukee.
Antetokounmpo had 41 points and 13 rebounds in the Bucks’ 120-100 victory in Game 3. That followed his 42 points and 12 rebounds in Game 2, making him just the sixth player with consecutive 40-point games in the NBA Finals. He also shot 17 free throws in Game 3 while the Suns only had 16 as a team.
TOKYO OLYMPICS-NEWS
Olympic athletes to put on own medals at Tokyo ceremonies
TOKYO (AP) — Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will put their medals around their own necks to protect against spreading the coronavirus.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach says it’s a “very significant change” to traditional medal ceremonies. Medals will be placed on a tray by a person wearing disinfected gloves and presented to the athletes, who will take them from the tray and place them around their necks. The tray will be presented to and athletes will take their medals from the tray. Medalists and ceremony officials will have to wear masks.
In other news related to the Olympics:
— Tokyo has reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost six months. The new numbers came out as IOC President Thomas Bach paid a courtesy call to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Bach and Suga both pledged that the Tokyo Olympics opening in just over a week would be “safe and secure” despite the games opening with Tokyo and neighboring prefectures under a national government-imposed state of emergency. Tokyo has reported 1,149 new cases. That’s the highest number since January. It also marks the 25th straight day that cases were higher than they were a week earlier.
— The Team USA flag bearers in steamy Tokyo will likely be the coolest members of their packs. Ralph Lauren has built a personal air conditioning system into a roomy white jacket to be worn by the yet-unannounced athletes who will have that honor during opening ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics. The company says the technology disperses heat from the wearer’s skin through a fan device at the back of the neck, with a lightweight personal battery controller stashed inside. It’s akin to how large computers are kept cool. The rest of the team will walk in tailored navy blazers made of U.S.-grown wool, a red Olympic patch on one breast and the company’s Polo Pony emblem on the other.
— Olympic medals dating to 1896, relay torches from several eras, and other Olympic memorabilia are among the items being auctioned by Boston’s RR Auction, just days before the start of the Tokyo games. One of the centerpieces of the auction that opens Thursday is a silver medal from the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. In those games, silver went to the winners. Given its rarity, it is expected to sell for about $75,000. Another high-profile item is a gold medal from the 1984 U.S. men’s basketball team, which could sell for about $70,000.
NHL-SABRES-SKINNER
Skinner drops no-movement clause for expansion draft
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has agreed to waive his no-movement clause, freeing the team from having to protect him during the Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft next week.
Skinner’s agent, Don Meehan, confirmed his client’s decision in an email to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Athletic first reported the player’s decision.
The Sabres initiated the move, knowing it’s unlikely Skinner will be selected by the Kraken given the under-performing winger has six years left on an eight-year, $72 million contract. What the move does is allow Buffalo to keep an additional forward or defenseman upon submitting its protected list of players on Saturday.
All players with no-movement clauses are required to be protected. Teams have the option to submit a protected list of either eight skaters and a goalie, or seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie in advance of the draft on July 21.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEWS
Ohio coach Frank Solich stepping down
UNDATED (AP) — Ohio University says football coach Frank Solich is retiring after leading the program through 16 seasons of unprecedented success to “focus on his health.”
The school announced that Solich was stepping down less than two months before the start of the season and his 77th birthday. Offensive coordinator Tim Albin was promoted to head coach.
Solich is the winningest head coach in the history of the Mid-American Conference with 115 victories. Including a stint as coach at Nebraska, his alma mater, Solich is 173-101 as a major college football head coach. Under Solich, Ohio went to 11 bowl games after going to only two before he arrived. All five of the Bobcats’ bowl victories came during his tenure.
In other college football-related news:
— Nebraska has hired former star linebacker Trev Alberts as its new athletic director. Alberts has been the athletic director at the University of Nebraska-Omaha since 2009. He will fill the job that opened with the retirement of Bill Moos. Alberts earned All-American honors when he played at Nebraska from 1990 to 1993. He later played for the Indianapolis Colts after he was the fifth overall pick in the 1994 draft. After leaving professional football, Alberts became a television and print college football commentator and worked at ESPN.
PARKER-NBA2K COVER
Candace Parker to be first woman on cover of NBA 2K game
NEW YORK (AP) — Candace Parker grew up playing video games, and now she’ll be the first female basketball player on the cover of one. The Chicago Sky star will appear on the NBA 2K22 cover for the WNBA 25th Anniversary special edition when it’s released Sept. 10.
Parker joins Luka Dončić (DAHN’-chihch), who was named cover athlete for the game’s regular edition, and Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki (noh-VIHT’-skee) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who were recognized as cover athletes for the NBA 75th Anniversary Edition.
