Griffin joins Nets to give Brooklyn another All-Star
Six-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin has agreed to a deal with the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of this season, ESPN reported on Sunday night.
The agreement comes two days after Griffin agreed to a buyout with the Detroit Pistons.
Griffin reportedly also received interest from the Warriors, Blazers and Heat, according to ESPN.
A former star with the Los Angeles Clippers who turns 32 on March 16, Griffin averaged 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 31.3 minutes in 20 starts with Detroit this season.
The Nets are expected to use Griffin off the bench — a role he has never had during his 11-year NBA career.
Brooklyn is hoping to make a run at the NBA title behind the star trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. Griffin’s former Los Angeles teammate DeAndre Jordan also is on the Nets.
Griffin has career averages of 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 642 games. He spent his first 71/2 seasons with the Clippers and parts of the last four campaigns with Detroit. RARE KOBE CARD SELLS FOR $1.795 MILLION >> A flawless Kobe Bryant rookie card, considered “one of the rarest in existence,” according to Goldin Auctions, has sold to an anonymous buyer for $1.795 million.
The Topps trading card is one of just two in the world considered to be in “black label pristine condition,” the auction house said, and is the most expensive Kobe Bryant card ever sold.
The 18-time NBA All-Star died a little over a year ago in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter and seven others at the age of 41, shocking the world of sport and sending fans of the Los Angeles Lakers star into mourning.
Baseball
TWO INDIANS VIOLATE COVID PROTOCOLS >> Cleveland Indians third baseman José Ramírez and slugger Franmil Reyes have been isolated from their teammates at spring training after breaking COVID-19 protocols.
Manager Terry Francona said that the two players have been sent to their temporary homes in Arizona as the Indians await word from the league as to when they can rejoin the team.
Francona said Reyes drove to the Indians’ exhibition game on Friday in Mesa and went to get a haircut following
the 10-4 win.
Reyes, who had a similar misstep last year when spring training resumed after the coronavirus-caused shutdown, told the Indians that he and Ramirez then went out to dinner and were indoors, which violates COVID-19 guidelines established by Major League Baseball and the players’ union.
NATIONALS RELEASE JEFFRESS >> Jeremy Jeffress was released by the Washington Nationals for what general manager Mike Rizzo called unspecified “personnel reasons,” less than two weeks after the reliever agreed to terms on a minor league deal.
The team sent out a six-word tweet announcing the move.
Rizzo released a statement about the right-hander via a team spokesman that did not offer an explanation, saying only: “He was released for personnel reasons.”
CUBS’ STROP VIOLATES COVID RULES >> Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop is away from the team after he violated baseball’s COVID-19 protocols.
The 35-year-old Strop is in camp on a minor league deal. The Cubs said Major League Baseball will decide when Strop is allowed to rejoin the team.
Motorsports
LARSON ROLLS TO WIN IN LAS VEGAS >> Kyle Larson, who lost his job with Chip Ganassi Racing four races into the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, won for new team Hendrick Motorsports four races into the 2021 season.
Larson, an Elk Grove native, dominated the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leading a race-best 103 of 267 laps.
In doing so, he beat runner-up Brad Keselowski of Team Penske to the finishing line by 3.15 seconds.
The win was the seventh of Larson’s career but first on a 1.5-mile track. He has nine runner-up finishes on intermediate tracks.
“It was such an awesome race car,” said Larson. “It was so much fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted to.”
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin finished third and fourth respectively.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was the race’s official starter.
Tennis
TAUSON CAPTURES LYON OPEN >> Denmark’s Clara Tauson picked up her maiden WTA title with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic in the final of the Lyon Open in France.
Tauson, 18, racked up seven aces in the one-hour, 29-minute victory, staving off five of eight break points along the way.
Currently ranked 139th in the world, Tauson also won her only previous meeting against Golubic 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 in January.
RUBLEV TOPS FUCSOVICS AT ROTTERDAM >> Andrey Rublev won his fourth tour singles title in seven months as the Russian beat Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the final of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.