THE HOT CORNER

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PRO BASKETBALL:

Kawhi Leonard did not accompany the Los Angeles Clippers on their flight to Central Florida on Wednesday night for the restart of the NBA season. Leonard’s absence was excused and he is expected to join the team sometime in the next few days. The Clippers were scheduled to spend Thursday and part of today satisfying quarantine requirements and are expected to practice for the first time at Disney tonight. They will resume game play July 30.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

Florida guard Tre Mann is returning for his sophomore season. Mann withdrew his name from the NBA draft and plans to stay in school at least another year. He averaged 5.3 points off the bench as a freshman but once starting point guard Andrew Nembhard opted to transfer, that opened the door for Mann’s return to Gainesville.

SOCCER:

CBS will get an early start on its Champions League deal, showing games next month when the pandemic-delayed competition resumes. The rights to the rest of this Champions League season and all of next season became available last month when Turner opted out of its 2018-21 deal for exclusive English language rights in the U.S.

HORSE RACING:

A prominent Kentucky horse owner and breeder has been banned from Keeneland Race Course after making a racist post on social media. Keeneland said it was banning Tom VanMeter from the premises while the Lexington track further reviews circumstances related to recent “reprehensible comments” he made online.

AUTO RACING:

NASCAR will move its Aug. 16 road course race from Watkins Glen in upstate New York because of state health restrictions, and the event will shift instead to the road course at Daytona International Speedway.