Willis Reed, leader on Knicks’ two title teams, dies at 80

Willis Reed, who dramatically emerged from the locker room minutes before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to spark the New York Knicks to their first championship and create one of sports’ most enduring examples of playing through pain, died Tuesday. He was 80.

Reed’s death was announced by the National Basketball Retired Players Association, which confirmed it through his family. The cause was not released, but Reed had been in poor health recently and was unable to travel to New York when the Knicks honored the 50th anniversary of their 1973 NBA championship team during their game against New Orleans on Feb. 25.

The Knicks tweeted a photograph picturing Reed from behind walking onto the floor as his teammates were warming up for the 1970 finale, one of the most memorable moments in NBA and Madison Square Garden history.

“As we mourn, we will always strive to uphold the standards he left behind — the unmatched leadership, sacrifice and work ethic that personified him as a champion among champions,” the team said. “His is a legacy that will live forever.”

Nicknamed “The Captain,” Reed was the undersized center and emotional leader on the Knicks’ two NBA championship teams, with a soft shooting touch from the outside and a toughness to tussle with the era’s superstar big men on the inside.

MORANT APOLOGIZES AGAIN AFTER NBA SUSPENSION FOR MISTAKES >>

Memphis star guard Ja Morant says he obviously made a terrible decision and many mistakes.

The two-time All-Star apologized again Tuesday.

“I’m completely sorry for that,” Morant said after practice, speaking publicly for the first time since concluding his eight-game suspension by the NBA. “So, you know, my job now is, like I said, to be more responsible, more smarter, and don’t cause any of that no more.”

The next question is when Morant is back on the floor for the Grizzlies. Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said he anticipates Morant playing in the Grizzlies next game — Wednesday night against Houston. Morant said his status is “still in the air.”

“Once I feel like I’m back in rhythm and in good condition to go back out there, I’ll be back out there,” Morant said.

The NBA suspended Morant eight games for brandishing a gun in a social media video post at a Denverarea strip club on March 4. The eighth game was Saturday’s win over the Golden State Warriors.

NBA SUSPENDS GRIZZLIES’ BROOKS FOR 18TH TEHNICAL >>

The NBA has suspended Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks for one game without pay for his 18th technical foul this season.

Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations, announced the suspension Tuesday. Brooks also was s uspended for a loss to the Clippers on March 5 after receiving his 16th technical foul in a loss to Denver on March 3.

Brooks earned his latest suspension Monday night with 7:26 left in the third quarter of the Grizzlies’ 112-108 win over Dallas. He dunked, and then danced his way back down the

court.College basketball

TOBIN ANDERSON LEAVING FDU TO REPLACE PITINO AT IONA >> Tobin Anderson is leaving NCAA Cinderella FDU after one story-book season and replacing Rick Pitino at Iona.

Iona athletic director Matt Glovaski announced the hiring on Tuesday, just a day after Pitino left to take the job at St. John’s of the Big East Conference.

Anderson led the No. 16 seeded Knights to a win over No. 1 Purdue in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last week, only the second time a No. 16 seed has knocked off a topseeded team. UMBC beat No. 1 Virginia in 2018.

“Iona University represents everything my family and I were looking for in a school, a basketball program and a campus atmosphere,” Anderson said in a statement. “Our goal is to build upon the tremendous tradition of Iona basketball and elevate the program to greater heights.”

Soccer ARSENAL IN MLS ALL-STAR GAME AT WASHINGTON, DC ON JULY 19 >>

Arsenal will play Major League Soccer’s All-Stars at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on July 19, the first European opponent in the game since before the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gunners, pursuing their first Premier League title since 2004, also were the All-Star opponent in 2016. They won 2-1 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California, on goals by Joel Campbell and Chuba Akpom. Didier Drogba, then playing for Montreal, scored for MLS.

MLS announced Tuesday it was returning to its mostused All-Star format.

The league began having its top players face a European opponent in 2005, then announced in November 2019 that it was changing to its All-Stars against those of Liga MX. The 2020 match in Los Angeles was canceled because of the pandemic, but the format was used the following two years, with MLS winning on penalty kicks in Los Angeles in 2021 and 2-1 last year at St. Paul, Minnesota.

SWISS SOCCER PLAYER AGENTS FILE CHALLENGE TO FIFA RULES >>

FIFA is facing another legal challenge to its new rules regulating player agents, this time in its home country Switzerland.

A group of Swiss agents has asked the federal competition commission to intervene with the FIFA Football Agent Regulations, which are being phased in this year and will cap the fees earned from player salaries and transfers.

FIFA worked for years to regulate an industry it argues takes too much money out of soccer, with agents earning $622 million from international transfer deals in 2022.

While elite agencies have earned tens of millions of dollars from transfers for players like Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, the Swiss group challenging FIFA typically works at the other end of the global market.

SEVILLA FIRES SAMPAOLI AFTER TEAM’S POOR SPANISH LEAGUE RUN >>

Jorge Sampaoli’s second stint as Sevilla coach is over.

Sevilla fired the Argentine coach on Tuesday, two days after a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Getafe in the Spanish league. Former Eibar and Alaves coach José Luis Mendilibar was hired as Sampaoli’s replacement.

“Following the defeat at Getafe, which leaves the side just above the relegation zone, the club has decided to part ways with the Argentine coach ahead of the international break,” Sevilla said in a statement. “The image shown by the team in these last matches has led the club to make this decision, in hopes that it can recover in the last 12 rounds of the Spanish league.”

Tennis NAVRATILOVA SAYS DOCTORS TOLD HER SHE IS CANCER-FREE >>

Martina Navratilova has been told by doctors that, “as far as they know, I’m cancer-free,” and that she should be “good to go” after some additional radiation treatment.

The 66-year-old Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, discussed her health in an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV scheduled to be aired Tuesday.