Durant gets fined $50,000
The NBA fined Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant $50,000 for “using offensive and derogatory language on social media,” the league announced on Friday.
The league noted Durant “acknowledged that his actions were inappropriate.”
Earlier this week, comedian Michael Rapaport posted a private social media exchange between him and Durant that revealed Durant’s use of personal insults, homophobic slurs and profanity.
Durant addressed reporters on Thursday and apologized.
“I’m sorry that people have seen that language I’ve used,” Durant said. “It’s not really what I want people to see and hear from me. But hopefully I can move past it and get back on the floor.”
Nets coach Steve Nash said he talked with Durant but preferred to keep the conversation internal.
VOLLEYBALL
Hannah Vanden Berg had 12 kills as Marquette rolled past St. John’s 25-17, 25-17, 27-25, in the semifinals of the Big East tournament Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Golden Eagles (10-3) will play Creighton (11-3) in the title match on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Marquette star Selena Lott announced that she won’t come back for the extra season allowed by the NCAA, but will instead enter her name into the WNBA draft.
Lott was the co-Big East defensive player of the year this season, pulling down 5.4 rebounds per game while racking up 54 steals and 19 blocks. The 5-foot-11 guard also averaged a team-leading 14.7 points per game, earning all-Big East first team honors.
Self rewarded: Kansas coach Bill Self agreed to a new contract that will keep him with the Jayhawks until he retires, even as the school awaits a decision from an independent panel investigating five Level I infractions charges alleged by the NCAA.
The school announced that Self agreed to a fiveyear contract that adds one additional year after the conclusion of each season – in effect, making it a lifetime contract. The deal guarantees him $5.41 million per year with a base salary of $225,000, professional services contract of $2.75 million and an annual $2.435 million retention bonus.
Some wondered whether the 58-year-old Self would depart before the Jayhawks are potentially dealt severe sanctions tied to the FBI’s investigation corruption into college basketball.
WRESTLING
Two-time world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist J’den Cox is out of the U.S. Olympic trials after not making weight, USA Wrestling announced.
Cox was removed from the bracket at 97 kilograms in men’s freestyle, where he was entered pending weigh-in. The 26-year-old from Columbia, Missouri, had earned a spot in the semifinals based on winning gold at 2019 worlds in a non-Olympic weight class (92 kilograms).