Basketball hall inducts class of 16
Tim Hardaway took the stage and told a story of his early days in the NBA, when Golden State teammates Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin would often ask him the same question.
“They would ask me, `Tim, how great do you want to be?' ” Hardaway said.
They have their answer. So does everyone else. He's a basketball immortal.
Hardaway, Manu Ginobili, Swin Cash, Bob Huggins, Del Harris (former Lakers coach), Lindsay Whalen, Marianne Stanley, Theresa Shank Grentz and George Karl all delivered their enshrinement addresses as new members of the Basketball Hall of Fame Saturday night in Springfield, Mass.
Also honored were seven more new Hall members, all deceased: one of NBA's first Black referees in Hugh Evans, six-time All-Star Lou Hudson (Lakers), former coach Larry Costello, international great Radivoj Korac and a trio of former Harlem Globetrotters in Wyatt “Sonny” Boswell, Inman Jackson and Albert “Runt” Pullins.
• The WNBA will crown a first-time champion when Las Vegas and Connecticut meet in the Finals starting today. Both franchises have come close, with Connecticut falling to Washington in the 2019 Finals and Las Vegas to Seattle a year later. It's the Sun's fourth trip to the Finals, also advancing that far in 2004 and '05. The Aces made the championship round in 2008 when the franchise was still in San Antonio. The Aces are the top seed after having the best record in the regular season and beating Phoenix and Seattle to advance to the Finals.
• USA Basketball won't repeat as AmeriCup champions. Gabriel Deck scored 30 points, Nicolás Laprovittola added 18 and Argentina topped the U.S. 82-73 in the semifinals in Recife, Brazil. Brazil will meet Argentina on today for the gold; Canada plays the U.S. for bronze.
LAFC falls at Dallas
Jesus Ferreira scored two goals in the closing minutes of a 2-1 win for Dallas over visiting Los Angeles FC.
Ferreira tied the scored with a goal in the 78th minute and scored again in the 81st to put Dallas (13-8-10) ahead. Christian Arango scored in first-half stoppage time for LAFC (19-8-3).
• Riqui Puig scored the tying goal in second-half stoppage time for the Galaxy in a 1-1 draw at Nashville.
McIlroy in hunt at BMW
A truncated tournament could pave the way for a thrilling end to the BMW PGA Championship, with the top 10 players separated by two shots going into today's final round at Wentworth in Virginia Water, England.
Rory McIlroy is in there. And so are two golfers from the Saudi-backed breakaway series.
The European tour's flagship event has been shortened to 54 holes after a day's play was canceled following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Viktor Hovland and Soren Kjeldsen were tied for the lead at 12 under par after the second round.
McIlroy shot 7-under 65 — tying his career-low round in the tournament — and was in a three-way share of third place with Thomas Detry (65) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (65), a shot behind the leaders.
• Scottie Scheffler went 58 tournaments over more than two years between getting a PGA Tour card and getting his first win at the Phoenix Open. That turned out to be the beginning of a year that topped all others in golf. A month later, Scheffler went to No. 1 in the world. Two weeks after that, he became a major champion by winning the Masters. Saturday, he capped off his remarkable rise when he was announced as the PGA Tour player of the year.
• Ally Ewing shot into the lead with a 5-under 67 to build a one-shot edge over Maria Fassi (67) in the LPGA Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.
• Padraig Harrington bogeyed the final hole for a 5-under 66, leaving him just a stroke ahead of Steve Stricker (65) and Bernhard Langer (67) with a round to go in the PGA Tour Champions' event in in St. Louis.
Power sets pole record
Will Power broke Mario Andretti's record for poles on a day he needed a big run. The greatest qualifier in IndyCar history is now one step closer to a second title. Power grabbed his 68th career pole with Andretti watching from pit lane at Laguna Seca Raceway.
• Noah Gragson outran the rain and Justin Allgaier to win the rain-shortened NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway.
Gragson survived a twolap shootout to win the second stage, after which the race was considered official. He used a great restart after the race's first caution to assume the lead and held the advantage when rain caused the caution flags to come out with eight laps left in the stage. NASCAR then called the race official.
• Tyler Reddick will start from the pole in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas Speedway today.
• Charles Leclerc, on his home track, clinched the pole position for today's Formula One Italian Grand Prix at Monza.