76ers suspend Simmons for conduct detrimental to team
CAMDEN, N.J. >> Ben Simmons has been suspended by the Philadelphia 76ers for one game due to what they called conduct detrimental to the team. Simmons will miss the 76ers’ season opener Wednesday night at New Orleans.
“I just thought he was a distraction today,” coach Doc Rivers said Tuesday after practice. “I didn’t think he wanted to do what everybody else was doing. It was early. It wasn’t a big deal. I just told him he should leave. We went on with practice.”
The three-time All-Star guard was a holdout in training camp in the wake of his offseason trade demand. He reported last week and practiced Sunday and Monday with the Sixers.
BUCKS BEGIN TITLE DEFENSE WITH VICTORY OVER NETS >> Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 32 points and the Milwaukee Bucks opened the defense of their first title in half a century by beating the Brooklyn Nets 127-104.
Antetokounmpo also had 14 rebounds and seven assists.
Kevin Durant led the Nets with 32 points and 11 rebounds.
College basketball STANFORD OPENS NO. 3 IN WOMEN’S RANKINGS >>
Stanford returns all but one player from last season’s NCAA national championship team, but the Cardinal will open the season No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
South Carolina and Connecticut, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the AP preseason poll, return their entire starting lineups and also had topnotch recruiting classes.
Stanford received five of the 29 first-place votes from a national panel of media.
NFL BROWNS STAR RB CHUBB TO MISS SECOND GAME >>
The NFL’s top rushing team has run into major trouble.
Browns star back Nick Chubb will miss his second straight game with a calf injury, leaving Cleveland without its two best backs Thursday night against the Denver Broncos.
Chubb was ruled out by coach Kevin Stefanski before practice. He also didn’t play against Arizona on Sunday, when running back Kareem Hunt suffered a calf injury that could sideline him for more than a month.
MLB BOONE RETURNS BUT YANKEES DEMAND SUCCESS >>
Aaron Boone will be back with the New York Yankees next year, their first manager
since Miller Huggins in 1922 to return for a fifth season after failing to win a title during his first four.
Boone led the team to a 328-218 record and four postseason appearances but just one AL East title.
Soccer QUITTING FIFA MULLED IN EUROPE TO FIGHT BIENNIAL WORLD CUPS >>
More than a dozen European nations are considering the option of last resort in the fight to prevent biennial World Cups: quitting FIFA, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
Plans to double the frequency of World Cups were pitched by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on a private call with many leaders from the 55 European member associations that are resisting the transformation of the global game.
Behind the scenes, European soccer body UEFA has already heard from more than a dozen federations
contemplating informing FIFA of their intention to withdraw their membership of the global governing body, people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE >> There was a goal rush in the Champions League and it was hardly a surprise to see Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah among the scorers.
By converting coolly taken penalties late in their games, Messi and Salah sealed 3-2 wins for Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool, respectively.
Real Madrid and Manchester City grabbed five goals each away from home. Ajax produced perhaps the best performance of the lot in overwhelming Borussia Dortmund 4-0.
Liverpool and Ajax are the only teams on a maximum nine points, leaving them with a chance to advance with two games to spare.