Kanter joining Trail Blazers

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Center Enes Kanter has joined the Portland Trail Blazers.

Kanter was waived by the New York Knicks along with Wesley Matthews following the trade deadline last week. Kanter announced Wednesday on Twitter that he had signed with the Blazers for the rest of the season. The deal was first reported by ESPN.

“I look forward to helping the Blazers achieve the ultimate goal of competing for a championship,” he said on the post. “Excited to meet my new teammates, coaches, staff and most importantly the fans. It is a blessing to continue to compete at the highest level.”

Kanter was once a starter for the Knicks but fell out of the rotation altogether when the team — with the worst record in the league — turned its focus to younger players.

Boxing

CHAMP TO FIGHT IN U.S. » The Anthony Joshua roadshow is finally heading to the United States. Not to fight the only other heavyweight champion, though.

The four-title champion will make his American boxing debut when he defends his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts against Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden on June 1.

“I plan to embrace the culture and leave with an appetite for more,” said Joshua, whose 22 professional fights have all taken place in Britain. He has won all of those bouts, 21 by knockout.

His last five fights have been in stadiums, with nearly 400,000 spectators attending in total. The highest-profile bout was against Wladimir Klitschko in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium in April 2017.

NBA

EMBIID FINED » Joel Embiid has been fined $25,000 by the NBA for public criticism of referees that included profanity. The penalty was announced Wednesday by Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. Embiid’s comments came at the end of his postgame interview following Philadelphia’s 112-109 home loss to Boston.

Doping

GROUP FORMS » An Olympic gold medalist and a former executive at the World Anti-Doping Agency are forming an organization designed to give athletes a stronger voice in the fight against doping and the powers that police it.

The group, called Global Athlete, is being organized by British cyclist Callum Skinner.