Lynch, Raiders agree on two-year contract
Marshawn Lynch is coming out of retirement after agreeing on a twoyear deal with the Raiders that paved the way for a trade to his hometown team in Oakland. Lynch passed a physical Wednesday and agreed to a restructured two-year contract. Those were the final steps needed before Seattle could trade his rights along with a 2018 sixth-round pick to the Raiders for a 2018 fifth-rounder.
NFL Network said Lynch would get a $3-million base deal this season, with a chance to make an additional $2 million if he rushes for at least 1,000 yards.
Almost six years after Todd McNair sued the NCAA for defamation, the former USC assistant football coach’s lawsuit is finally moving toward trial. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller scheduled the trial to start April 18, 2018, in a case-management order issued earlier this month.
The long-running lawsuit stems from sanctions the NCAA imposed on McNair and USC after the NCAA’s extra-benefits investigation centered on Trojans running back Reggie Bush. The case remains in the early stages because of detours to California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal.
After Shaller rejected the NCAA’s motion to dismiss the case in 2012, the organization appealed. The judge had ruled that emails members of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions exchanged about the USC matter “tend to show ill will or hatred” and labeled the conduct of people involved in the investigation as “malicious.”
The appeal started a three-year odyssey — including a successful fight by news organizations to unseal hundreds of pages of internal NCAA emails and other documents concerning McNair and USC — which ended in 2015 when a three-judge panel upheld Shaller’s original ruling with emphatic language.
The case appeared set to resume last year, but the NCAA moved to disqualify Shaller, a USC graduate, because “the public perceives potential judicial bias.” The court granted the request, but McNair’s attorneys asked the Court of Appeal to review the decision and the appellate court overturned Shaller’s removal in December. — Nathan Fenno
Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers said he fully expects Steve Kerr to find a solution to his debilitating health issues and be back on the bench without being forced out of coaching altogether because of complications from two back surgeries. The 51-year-old Kerr plans to be examined at Stanford this week and is away from the team until his back feels well enough for him to return. He didn’t coach the Warriors in Games 3 and 4 at Portland last week.
Assistant Mike Brown is leading an experienced coaching staff as the Warriors wait to learn their next playoff opponent, the Clippers or Utah.
Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander has been fined $100,000 by the NBA for confronting referee Bill Kennedy during action in Tuesday night’s Rockets victory over Oklahoma City.
The Vancouver Canucks have named Travis Green their new coach.