‘Some day’ for Lakers, LeBron says

Carmelo willing to play unfamiliar roles

LOS ANGELES, Sept 25, (RTRS): Team executive Magic Johnson lured LeBron James to Los Angeles with visions of restoring Showtime, but the Lakers are not quite ready for prime time.

“Hopefully some day we can put ourselves in position where we can compete for a championship as Golden State has done for the last few years,’’ James said Monday at the Lakers’ media day.

do whatever the team needs.

hears the chatter that he will be the target of a “super team” if he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July, but the two-time All-Star guard, who is entering his eighth season with the

said he prefers to remain there.

Walker said he doesn’t “want to be nowhere else,” when he spoke with reporters during the club’s media day festivities. He asserted that joining a team already loaded with stars carries little appeal to him.

James

Restricted free agent guard

has refused to sign the $1.7 million qualifying offer and will miss the start of training camp.

McCaw has been hoping to receive a long-term deal from another team, but nothing has transpired. The Warriors would have three days to match any such offer sheet. McCaw has until Oct 30 to accept the qualifying offer.

As much as big man wants to return to playing, he is committed to a patient approach as he continues to recover from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.

The opened training camp and one thing was clear. The players are happy the

drama is in the past, with Leonard having been traded to the in the offseason after he played in just nine games last season due to a quadriceps injury.

Leonard’s relationship with the team reportedly fell apart due to conflicts over how to treat the injury. He sought outside medical help, spent a large portion of the season in New York and was rarely around the club. He was confronted by teammates in March over the slowness of his recovery, which furthered the divide.

Leonard met the Toronto media for the first time as a member of the Raptors and didn’t share a lot about himself or the July trade from the Spurs.

Leonard played just nine games last season with the Spurs while sidelined with a quadriceps injury. During his long time away from the team, his relationship with the only organization he’d played for since entering the NBA in 2011 soured to the point he demanded a trade. He wanted to go home to his native Los Angeles area. Instead, San Antonio set him to another country.

46th home run.

Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the A’s, assured no worse than an AL wild card.

Oakland was one out into the game when Tampa Bay was eliminated with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The A’s went on to win after Chapman broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run drive in the seventh off Shawn Armstrong (0-1).

Coming off three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A’s (9562) are 4-1/2 games behind AL Westleading Houston. They trail the Yankees by 1-1/2 games for home-field advantage should they meet in a wildcard matchup.

In St Petersburg, Florida, Aaron Hicks injured his left hamstring running up the first-base line in the Yankees’ win, another concern for New York heading into next week’s AL wild-card game.

Hicks’ 11th-inning double on Saturday drove in Didi Gregorius with the run that clinched a postseason berth, and on Sunday the Yankees learned Gregorius tore cartilage in his right wrist during his headfirst slide across the plate.

Hicks, who had fouled a pitch off his left ankle just before the double, left Monday’s game with left hamstring tightness.

New York’s win eliminated the Rays and ensured a postseason berth for Oakland, which is likely to be the wild-card opponent but also is still alive in the AL West race. At 96-60, New York is assured of its best record since going 97-65 in 2011.

Boston broke a 106-year-old franchise record with their 106th victory, clinching home-field advantage through the postseason thanks to a pair of hits from major league batting leader Mookie Betts.

Nathan Eovaldi struck out 10 hapless Baltimore batters to assure the Red Sox of the best record in baseball this season and home-field advantage through the World Series, if they make it that far. For now, they know they will open the Division Series at Fenway Park on Oct 5 against the winner of the AL wild-card game between the New York Yankees and most likely Oakland.

The 1912 Red Sox won 105 games in their first season at Fenway Park.

In Toronto, Brian McCann and Josh Reddick hit back-to-back home runs, and Houston beat Toronto to move one step closer to its second straight AL West title.

The defending World Series champions reduced their magic number to two over Oakland to clinch the division – which would set up a best-of-five postseason matchup against AL Central champion Cleveland. The Astros can secure the AL West crown Tuesday with a win and an Oakland loss.

Dallas Keuchel (12-11) allowed three runs in five innings for his first win since Sept 3.

In Phoenix, David Freese homered and had three hits to back Clayton Kershaw as Los Angeles maintained its lead in the NL West.

Manny Machado had two RBIs for the Dodgers, including a groundout deep into the shortstop hole with the bases loaded in the seventh inning that brought in Yasiel Puig with the goahead run. Los Angeles added three ninth-inning runs to stay 1-1/2 games ahead of Colorado.

The defending NL champions have won six of seven.

In Denver, Jon Gray pitched seven crisp innings and drew a bases-loaded walk as part of a five-run third to lead Colorado over Philadelphia.

The Rockies won their fourth straight game since being swept at Dodger Stadium. They closed within a half-game of St Louis for the second wild card after the Cardinals lost to Milwaukee.

Gray (12-8) got the start when Tyler Anderson was scratched due to shoulder tightness. The right-hander’s one costly mistake was an elevated fastball that Rhys Hoskins hit for a homer in the seventh

Miguel Andujar #41 of the New York Yankees connects with the ball and breaks his bat during the second inning of the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Sept 24 in St Petersburg, Florida. (AFP)