Warriors lose appeal over arena debt; must pay Oakland, county
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Golden State Warriors’ appeal of a ruling ordering the team to pay Oakland and Alameda County nearly $50 million in debt leftover from 1996 renovations at the Oakland arena.
In denying a request to review the petition, the state Supreme Court issued another legal blow against the team in their dispute with the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, which is run jointly by the city and county.
After the construction was completed, the Warriors made annual payments toward the $140 million in bonds issued by the city and county to finance the renovations. The team’s contract to play at the arena, formerly known as Oracle, required the team to continue paying off the bonds, even if the contract was “terminated.”
When the team departed for Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019, attorneys for the Warriors argued they had not “terminated” the contract but exercised an option in the agreement to leave.
NBA REPORTS 8 MORE POSITIVE TESTS >> The NBA says eight more players have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total so far this season to 56. Of those, the first 48 tested positive in the league’s initial return-to-market testing phase that went from Nov. 24 through Dec. 1. Those tests showed a leaguewide positivity rate of about 9%.
Preseason games across the NBA begin today and the regular season is scheduled to begin with two games on Dec. 22.
Baseball
GIANTS TAKE METS MINOR LEAGUER >> The San Francisco Giants chose a player in the Rule 5 draft for the fourth consecutive year, draf ting r ight- handed pitcher Dedniel Núñez out of the New York Mets organization.
Núñez, the 24-year- old Dominican Republic native, has never pitched above Aball, but showed promise as a starter in 2019 as he struck out 94 batters in 80 innings across two levels.
Golf
OLSON COMES UP ACES AND TAKES 1-SHOT LEAD IN WOMEN’S OPEN >> Amy Olson got back to under par with one swing, an 8-iron for a holein-one on her seventh hole, and kept right on going until she had a 4-under 67 and a one-shot lead in the U.S. Women’s Open.
Moriya Jutanugarn managed to keep bogeys off her card for a 68, leaving her tied with former Women’s British Open champion Hinako Shibuno and A Lim Kim.
College football
STANFORD LOSES MORE PLAYERS BUT NOT BECAUSE OF COVID-19 ISSUES >> Stanford will be without four starters because of injuries — and not COVID-19 issues — when it plays Oregon State this weekend, coach David Shaw said Thursday.
Shaw added that the game Saturday night in Corvallis, Oregon, is not in doubt because of any concerns related to the novel coronavirus.
Sophomore cornerback Salim Turner-Muhammed and fifth-year outside linebacker Jordan Fox have been ruled out against the Beavers (2-3), Shaw said. They joined starting wide receivers Michael Wilson and Connor Wedington who suffered injuries last week against Washington.
WASHINGTON-OREGON FOOTBALL GAME CANCELED >> Washington’s football game at Oregon on Saturday has been canceled because of COVID-19 cases in the Huskies’ program.
The Pac-12 announced the game would be declared a no contest. The conference said Washington did not have enough scholarship players available under Pac-12 protocols. The conference says 53 scholarship players need to be availabl
Olympics
U. S. ATHLETES WON’T BE PUNISHED FOR OLYMPIC PROTESTS >> The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee heeded calls from American athletes by announcing that it won’t sanction them for raising their fists or kneeling on the medals stand at next year’s Tokyo Games and beyond.
The decision is a response to a set of recommendations from a USOPC athlete group that seeks changes to the much-maligned Rule 50 of the IOC Olympic Charter, which prohibits inside-the-lines protests at the games.
It was this rule that most famously led to the ouster of U.S. medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City after the sprinters raised their fists on the medals stand to protest racial inequality in the United States.
Tennis
WIMBLEDON CHAMP, TENNIS HALL OF FAMER ALEX OLMEDO DEAD AT 84 >> Alex Olmedo, who won the Wimbledon and Australian Championships singles titles in 1959 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987, has died. He was 84.
Citing Olmedo’s son, Alejandro Jr., the Hall of Fame said that Olmedo died of brain cancer on Wednesday.
Soccer
PAOLOROSSI, WHOLEDITALY TO 1982 WORLD CUP, DIES AT 64 >> Paolo Rossi, who led Italy to the 1982 World Cup title and later worked as a soccer commentator in his home country, has died. He was 64.
State-run RAI, where Rossi worked after his playing career, said Thursday he died of an incurable illness.
He scored six goals at the tournament in Spain, including a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Brazil and the opening goal in a 3-1 win over West Germany in the final.