Brief Sports News
PRO BASKETBALL
SAN ANTONIO (AP) San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan is finally calling it a career.
Duncan announced his retirement after 19 seasons, five championships, two MVP awards and 15 All-Star appearances. It marks the end of an era for the Spurs and the NBA.
Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick out of Wake Forest in 1997 and teamed with Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to make the Spurs the most enduring success story in modern American sports. His reserved demeanor and game built on fundamentals more than athleticism served as the backbone for the franchise’s unparalleled run.
Duncan was a three-time NBA Finals MVP and was named to the All-NBA First Team 10 times in his career. He is fifth on the NBA’s career list in blocks, sixth in rebounds and 14th in scoring.
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor assault and battery over the weekend near the Michigan State campus, police said.
The alleged incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. Sunday in the city where Green played for the Spartans from 2008 to 2012.
East Lansing Police Lt Scott Wrigglesworth said the alleged victim, an adult male, was not injured and did not flag down an officer after the incident.
If convicted of assault or assault and battery, Green could face 93 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.
OLYMPICS
TROON, Scotland (AP) – Jordan Spieth withdrew from the Olympics, leaving golf without its top four players when the sport returns to the games for the first time since 1904.
Spieth was the last of the top players to say he wasn’t going to Rio, telling the IGF it was out of health concerns. It was the latest blow to a sport that had lobbied hard to get back into the Olympics and had the support of the top players until fears arose over the Zika virus, security and other issues facing the Rio Games.
Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy previously withdrew, all citing the Zika virus. Day and Johnson have said they plan on having more children, while McIlroy is engaged and said he would soon be starting a family.
Men’s golf still has eight of the top 15 players in the world competing in Rio, though losing the top four could be a big setback in its bid to stay in the Olympic program. It is assured of being part of the Tokyo Games in 2020, but the International Olympic Committee votes next year to decide whether golf and other events stay beyond that.
——————————————————————
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – Usain Bolt’s quest for more Olympic gold is back on, as expected.
The Jamaican Olympic Committee released its delegation for next month’s Rio Games, and Bolt is among the selections even though an injury kept him from formally qualifying at his country’s national championships.
Bolt is listed as a qualifier in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4×100-meter relay. He has six Olympic gold medals, sweeping those events at the Beijing Games in 2008 and the London Games in 2012.
Bolt withdrew from Jamaica’s national meet on July 1 with a slight tear in his left hamstring, doing so just before the 100-meter final. The 100 and 200 world-record holder is scheduled to compete in London on July 22 to confirm his fitness level for the Rio Games.
——————————————————————
NEW YORK (AP) – NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics on a one-hour delay.
NBC Sports Group Chair Mark Lazarus said that will allow producers to ”curate” the coverage to provide proper context.
With Rio just one hour ahead of the United States’ Eastern time zone, the network will televise most competition live, with the notable exception of gymnastics. For the third straight Olympics, NBC will stream every event live, but that hasn’t included the opening ceremony. This year, viewers will need to wait only an hour.
The opening ceremony is Aug. 5. NBC also announced Monday that it would air a one-hour preview special the night before. While the program will feature several star athletes, it will also offer the network a chance to cover topics such as the Zika virus and polluted waters that it likely won’t address much once the games begin.
————————————————————————-
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) – A ruling on Maria Sharapova’s appeal of her two-year doping ban has been postponed until September, ruling her definitively out of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said that Sharapova and the International Tennis Federation agreed to defer the decision, which had been due to be issued by next Monday.
CAS, the highest court in sports, said both parties wanted more time to prepare their case and also cited ”scheduling conflicts.”
A verdict is expected by Sept. 19, the court said.
PRO FOOTBALL
BEREA, Ohio (AP) – Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell has apologized for posting a drawing on Instagram last week showing a police officer getting his throat slashed.
Crowell posted the drawing after men in Louisiana and Minnesota were shot and killed by police. He subsequently deleted the post, but a screenshot continued to be circulated on social media, prompting his apology.
Five police officers were killed in a sniper attack in Dallas last Thursday night at a protest over the two deaths. Seven other officers and two civilians were wounded.
PENN STATE ABUSE
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Barring a last-minute appeal, a Philadelphia judge is poised to unseal documents from an insurance lawsuit that could shed new light on allegations a boy told Penn State coach Joe Paterno in 1976 that assistant coach Jerry Sandusky molested him.
Judge Gary Glazer is expected to release records Tuesday that also may contain details about claims Penn State assistant coaches saw ”inappropriate contact” and ”sexual contact” between Sandusky and a child in 1987 and 1988.
Sandusky’s lawyer has denied the allegations. Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years on a 45-count child molestation conviction.
Before Paterno died in 2011, he told a newspaper the first inkling he had that Sandusky was abusing children came in 2001, when assistant coach Mike McQueary complained about Sandusky in a team shower with a boy.
