NOTES: Heat send help, rally to help after building collapse injures several
team’s players said they believe Laaperi started the post-game altercation. Serna, who attended the game, said in his statement that the Orange Glen team approached Coronado and Laaperi ordered his players into the locker room to avoid any further confrontation.
Mueller declined to comment on the decision to release Laaperi, saying it was a personnel issue.
Heat send help: After building collapse, NBA team rallies
MIAMI — Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro was working out Thursday morning with assistant coaches Chris Quinn and Eric Glass, when they were told there was a more pressing need.
Before long, Herro, Quinn and Glass had left the team’s arena for the short drive north to Surfside, Florida, where a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed around 1:30 a.m. At least one person was killed, dozens were unaccounted for and teams of rescuers were searching rubble with hope of finding anyone alive.
The Heat trio helped load a truck with water, food and other essentials.
“This is 12 miles from our arena,” Heat vice president and charitable fund executive director Steve Stowe said. “We heard about this, and our immediate reaction was that we had to find a way to help.”
Herro also addressed the frontline workers, thanking them for their heroism and efforts.
The Heat, through some of their corporate partners like World Central Kitchen and Direct Relief, were arranging for more help to arrive. Food trucks were secured to keep rescuers and other personnel at the scene fed through hot meals and grab-and-go boxes, and the team was working to help find accommodations for the displaced by the collapse.
“These are the moments when a community has to come together, rise up and help,” Stowe said.
Palace: Japan emperor ‘worried’ about Olympics amid pandemic
TOKYO — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito is “extremely worried” that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics could accelerate the spread of the coronavirus, the head of the Imperial Palace said Thursday with the games opening in one month.
The games will bring thousands of foreign athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists to Japan during a pandemic, despite caution raised by experts about the risk of infections and the public’s persistent calls for cancellation or further postponement.
Yasuhiko Nishimura, grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, told a news conference that the Emperor has voiced concerns.
“His majesty is extremely worried about the current situation of the COVID-19 infections,” Nishimura said. “While there are voices of unease among the public, I believe (the emperor) is concerned that holding the Olympics and Paralympics ... may lead to the expansion of the infections.”
The delayed games open July 23, and the Paralympics begin a month later.
Salas leads Women’s PGA and sees brighter days post-pandemic
JOHNS CREEK, Ga.— Lizette Salas was in her happy place Thursday, and not just because she kept bogeys off her card at tough Atlanta Athletic Club and posted a 5-under 67 for a one-shot lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
She led by one shot over Charley Hull of England, who had a 68 for the best score in the afternoon. What makes Hull happy is she’s going home on Monday after a month on the road, which preceded a seven-week stretch playing the LPGA Tour schedule.
Jessica Korda and former U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 were in a group at 69, among nine players who managed to post scores in the 60s.
Kodaira, Hickok each shoot 63 to share Travelers lead
CROMWELL, Conn. — Satoshi Kodaira and Kramer Hickok each shot a PGA Tour career-best 7-under 63 to share the first-round lead Thursday in the Travelers Championship.
Talor Gooch was a stroke behind Hickok after the morning rounds. Kodaira took the lead at 8 under in the afternoon after making the turn onto the front nine birdie-eagle-birdie, but a bogey on the par-3 eighth dropped him back into a tie with Hickok.
Defending champion Dustin Johnson, who held the world No. 1 ranking until Jon Rahm passed him Sunday with his U.S. Open victory, stumbled at the start with a bogey on the second hole and then a double on No. 3. He finished with a pair of birdies to end the day at 70 at TPC River Highlands.
Two-time Travelers champion Phil Mickelson sank a 64-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 ninth hole — his second-longest putt since the tour began tracking such things in 2004. The 2001 and ‘02 winner then made a 40-footer for par on No. 10.
Micklelson was 1 over on the back in a 69.
Expansion Seattle Kraken hire Dave Hakstol as first coach
SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken hired Dave Hakstol on Thursday as head coach of the expansion franchise that will begin play this fall.
Hakstol will take on the challenge of leading the first-year organization in his second head job in the NHL. He coached the Philadelphia Flyers for three plus seasons from 2015-19 and spent the past two years as a Toronto Maple Leafs assistant.