LeBron suspended 1 game, Stewart 2 games for altercation
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended for one game and Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart was suspended two games for their roles in an ugly incident during Sunday’s Lakers-Pistons game.
The NBA announced the suspensions Monday, and both will affect games today. James will not play when the Lakers visit Madison Square Garden to play the New York Knicks. Stewart will miss the Pistons’ home game against Miami today and their game Wednesday at Milwaukee.
James will forfeit about $284,000 in salary, while Stewart will lose about $45,000. It is the first suspension in the 19-year career of James, who has won four NBA titles with three teams.
SOCCER
ZURICH — Chelsea won the Champions League and England reached the European Championship final, but no Englishmen are on the nomination lists for FIFA’s annual awards published.
Jorginho, a double European champion with Chelsea and Italy, was joined by club teammate N’Golo Kanté among 11 candidates to be voted FIFA’s best player in the 202021 season.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo took their usual places on the list with last year’s winner, Robert Lewandowski.
The winner of the women’s award last year, England defender Lucy Bronze, is nominated again and the 13 candidates include her national and Manchester City teammate Ellen White.
Olympic gold medal-winning Canada has just one candidate, veteran forward Christine Sinclair, 19 years after she was first voted into the top 10.
No player was nominated from the United States team which took bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
A men’s list dominated by forwards was completed by Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Karim Benzema and Neymar in the nominations by a FIFA-appointed panel.
There are no defenders or goalkeepers in contention for the main FIFA award, though goalkeepers have their own separate award.
Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was named player of the tournament at Euro 2020, is among the five goalkeeping candidates.
Robert Mancini, who led Italy to the European title, is among seven candidates for the men’s coaching award that include Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel and Lionel Scaloni, whose Argentina team won the Copa America.
Two men and three women are in contention to be the best coach in women’s football.
They include Bev Priestman of Canada, Lluís Cortés of European champion Barcelona, and Emma Hayes of runner-up Chelsea.
Votes in all categories from national team captains and coaches, fans and media worldwide will be collected through Dec. 10.
A virtual ceremony will be held on Jan. 17 remotely, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, from FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
MLB
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox have picked up Alex Cora’s option for two more seasons, rewarding their manager for taking them to the AL Championship Series in his first year back after serving his one-year sign-stealing suspension.
Cora, 46, is now under contract through 2024.
“Alex’s leadership of our staff and our players was critical to all that we accomplished in 2021,” Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom said. “Along with the entire Red Sox front office, I am excited for many years of continued partnership as we work together to bring another World Series trophy to Fenway Park.”
A former infielder who was a member of Boston’s 2007 World Series championship team, Cora is 284202 in three seasons as manager.
ANAHEIM — Left-handed reliever Aaron Loup has agreed to a $17 million, two-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels.
The club announced the deal for Loup, adding one of the most effective relievers on the free agent market to right-handed starter Noah Syndergaard in an impressive early-offseason haul for the perpetually pitching-poor Angels.
The 33-year-old Loup went 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA in 65 appearances last season for the New York Mets, posting the lowest ERA among all major league relievers with at least 50 innings.
NEW YORK — San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and Baltimore Orioles slugger Trey Mancini
were named baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year Award winners.
The 34-year-old Posey hit .304 with 18 home runs, 56 RBIs and an .889 OPS for the 107-win Giants. The batting average was his highest since 2017 and the homer total his best since 2015.
Mancini, 29, batted .255 with 21 homers, 71 RBIs and a .758 OPS as a first baseman and designated hitter for Baltimore. He hit his 100th career home run against Toronto on June 20th in his 531st career game, becoming the fastest Oriole to reach the mark after debuting with the team. He was runner-up to the Mets’ Pete Alonso at the All-Star Home Run Derby.