USA basketball to play in N.C.

The U.S. men’s basketball team has selected Greensboro, North Carolina, to host its first home World Cup qualifying game.

The Americans will play Mexico on Nov. 26 at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex Fieldhouse, the home of the NBA G League’s Greensboro Swarm.

The new qualification system has teams playing home-and-away games to qualify for the World Cup, rather than playing in regional tournaments. USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said Tuesday the game is “a rare opportunity to cheer the USA on in a meaningful home game.”

The Americans are in a first-round pool with Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Their first game is scheduled for Nov. 23 in San Juan, though that could be moved if the hurricane-devastated island isn’t ready to host the event.

Jeff Van Gundy will coach the Americans, who will use mostly G League players and play in G League arenas during the qualifying stages.

NBA

NEW FORMAT FOR ALLSTAR GAME » The NBA is scrapping the East against West format for its All-Star Game and will have captains pick teams this season.

The league says Tuesday that the leading vote-getter from each conference will choose teams from the pool of players who were voted as starters and reserves.

The change will begin with this season’s game in Los Angeles.

Players and league officials have been eager to inject new interest in the often defense-absent game, and NBA Players Association President Chris Paul says improving the game was a “priority.”

They chose a format that has been used by the NFL and NHL for what will be the first NBA All-Star game that doesn’t pit the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference.

MLB

ROYALS’ DUFFY HAS SURGERY » Royals pitcher Danny Duffy underwent surgery Tuesday to remove loose debris in his pitching elbow, and the left-hander is expected to resume his normal offseason training in about six weeks.

The Royals said that Duffy should be ready for spring training in February.

Duffy has been dealing with minor pain in his elbow for a couple years, but loose cartilage and bone chips had begun to cause inflammation. He landed on the disabled list in late August but returned to make three starts down the stretch in September.

Duffy wound up 9-10 with a 3.81 ERA over 24 starts in the first season of a five-year, $65 million extension he signed before the season.

Boxing

FOREMAN CHALLENGES

STEVEN SEGAL » Former heavyweight champion George Foreman has challenged big-screen tough guy Steven Seagal to a real-life fight.

The 68-year-old Foreman posted a picture of the 65-year-old Seagal on Twitter on Monday, writing: “I challenge you One on one, I use boxing you can use whatever. 10 rounds in Vegas.”

When fans asked Foreman on Twitter why he wanted to fight Seagal, Foreman replied that the martial artist “really can fight” and is big enough to defend himself. Foreman first won the heavyweight title in 1973 and again in 1994.

Tennis

EVANS BANNED » Davis Cup-winning tennis player Dan Evans will serve a one-year ban for testing positive for cocaine.

The International Tennis Federation says it accepts “inadvertent contamination” was responsible for the British player’s positive test at the Barcelona Open in April. Evans explained to an ITF panel he had used cocaine when not competing four days before the test.