Cavs’ Thompson banned 25 games
Tristan Thompson has given the Cavaliers another issue to manage.
Cleveland’s backup center was suspended 25 games without pay by the NBA on Tuesday for violating the league’s anti-drug policy, a penalty that will keep him out of the rotation and off the floor for two months.
According to the league, the 32-year-old Thompson tested positive for ibutamoren, a growth hormone, and SARM LGD-4033, commonly used by bodybuilders and weightlifters for muscle enhancement.
Thompson will begin serving his suspension tonight when the Cavs, who have won eight straight games, play the first of two in three days at Milwaukee. He’ll be eligible to return on March 16 against Houston.
The Cavs have managed to steer around injuries to starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and have been playing their best ball since mid-December. Thompson’s absence will hurt the team’s bench depth.
COCO REACHES SEMIS
Coco Gauff hopes she’s got her “bad” match out of the way at the Australian Open before meeting defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.
It’ll be a rematch of the U.S. Open final, which the 19-year-old Gauff won in three sets for her first major title.
Gauff is on a 12-match roll at the majors, rallying from 5-1 down in the first set to beat Marta Kostyuk, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2, in a quarterfinal that lasted more than three hours.
Sabalenka is on a 12-match streak at Melbourne Park with her 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 9-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the first match of the night session that didn’t start until after 9 p.m.
“I love it. I love it,” Sabalenka said of the showdown with Gauff. “After U.S. Open, I really wanted that revenge, and, I mean, that’s a great match.”
GALLO TO NATS
Former Yankee Joey Gallo and the Nationals agreed Tuesday to a $5 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
GEORGIA’S ‘UGA X’ DIES
Former Georgia mascot Uga X, whose eight-year run included back-to-back national championships, died Tuesday.
Uga X, part of the line of English bulldog mascots that began in 1955, was 2 when he began his run on the Sanford Stadium sideline in 2015. The bulldog known as “Que” retired in a ceremony at the Bulldogs’ 2023 spring football game. Another English bulldog puppy, Uga XI, known as Boom, took over for the 2023 season.
The Seiler family, led by Charles Seiler, based in Savannah, Georgia, has maintained the line of mascots for almost 70 years. The family said Uga X, who was 10 years old, died peacefully at his home in Savannah.
With Uga X as mascot, Georgia posted a 91-18 record from 2015-2022, including the 2021 and 2022 national championships, two Southeastern Conference titles and seven New Year’s Six bowl appearances.