NHL headed back to ESPN
The National Hockey League will be returning to
ESPN beginning next season.
The two sides reached agreement on a seven-year contract that includes four Stanley Cup Finals, people familiar with the deal told the AP. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract has not been finalized.
NBC is in the final season of a 10-year contract worth $2 billion that gives it national NHL rights, but the league will air on multiple networks in its next agreement.
Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce, “Showtime” Lakers star Michael Cooper and 11time NBA All-Star Chris Bosh lead a list of 14 finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2021. The list features six other first-time finalists: former NBA coach Rick Adelman, two-time NCAA champion and Villanova coach Jay Wright, twotime Olympic gold medalist Yolanda Griffith, threetime WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson and former WNBA coach of the year Marianne Stanley, plus Hall of Famer Bill Russell for inclusion as a coach.
The Miami Heat said that Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely, sharply criticizing his use of an anti-Semitic slur while playing a video game that was being livestreamed. Leonard apologized for using the term, insisting he did not know what it meant when he used it Monday.
Klete Keller, the Olympic gold medalist swimmer from USC charged with participating in the U.S. Capitol riot, pleaded not guilty during a remote hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington.
A grand jury indicted Keller on seven counts last month, including civil disorder, obstructing an official proceeding and disorderly conduct in a restricted building. — Nathan Fenno
Roger Federer will face Britain’s Daniel Evans in the second round of the Qatar Open on Wednesday as the Swiss great makes his comeback after a 13-month break . ... American teen Coco Gauff led a day of upsets in the second round of the Dubai Championships, as top-seeded Elina Svitolina lost and Petra Kvitova dropped out with a hip problem. Gauff fought back to defeat 12th-seeded Marketa Vondrousova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 to set up a third-round clash with Tereza Martincova, who upset the fifthseeded Kiki Bertens 6-1, 6-4.
New York Yankees lefthander Zack Britton needs surgery to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow and seems certain to miss the start of the season . ... Texas Rangers reliever Jonathan Hernandez is sidelined for at least four weeks because of a ligament sprain in his right elbow.