Welfare check finds Morant OK
Police in Tennessee conducted a welfare check on suspended Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and said “he is fine” after cryptic messages appeared on his Instagram account and were later deleted.
The post from earlier Wednesday included messages and pictures saying “Love ya ma,” “Love ya pops” and “You da greatest babygirl love ya.” A fourth message simply read: “Bye.”
Shelby County Sheriff ’s Office spokesman John
Morris told the Associated Press in a phone call that deputies checked on Morant at his home. “He advised us that he is taking a break from social media,” Morris said.
Washington hired Michael Winger, the Clippers’ general manager since 2017, to oversee the organization’s basketball operations, a person not authorized to publicly discuss the hiring confirmed to The Times. Winger agreed to be the president of Monumental Basketball, which oversees not only the Wizards but also the team’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go- Go, the WNBA’s Mystics and all of the organization’s basketball facilities. — Andrew Greif
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Markus Golden to a one- year contract. ... The New York Jets had punter Matt Araiza for a workout at the team’s facility, six days after a San Diego State investigation found no wrongdoing by him in an alleged gang rape at an offcampus party in October 2021.
Anthony Hudson will remain as interim head coach of the U. S. national team through the CONCACAF Gold Cup. ... Spain left back Jordi Alba, 34, will leave Barcelona this summer after 11 years with the club.
Dallas Stars captain
Jamie Benn was suspended two games by the NHL after an ugly hit on Vegas captain
Mark Stone in a Game 3 loss that left Dallas on the brink of being swept out of the Western Conference f inal. Benn will miss the must- win Game 4 on Thursday. ... Buffalo Sabres team captain
Kyle Okposo signed a oneyear, $ 2.5- million contract.
Denise Kwok, USC’s executive senior associate athletic director for studentathlete development, was named interim executive administrator while USC balances conducting a search for a new athletic director and navigating a transition to the Big Ten Conference. — Ryan Kartje
Cal teammates Aaron Du and Sampson Zheng capped a strong week at Kiawah Island, S. C., with a 2- and- 1 victory over Drew Kittleson and Drew Stoltz to win the U. S. Amateur Four- Ball Championship. ...
Lauren Walsh closed her
match against Brianna Navarrosa with a conceded par on the 16th hole and Wake Forest won its f irst women’s golf championship by beating USC 3- 1 in Scottsdale, Ariz. ... The NCAA paid
Mark Emmert, its former president, nearly $ 3.3 million in 2021, according to federal tax records released by the association. Emmert’s 13year tenure leading the NCAA officially ended in March. ... George Washington’s sports teams will now be known as the Revolutionaries, the school announced. Revolutionaries replaces Colonials, the university’s nickname since 1926.
NASCAR opened an investigation into how a derogatory message was broadcast on the radio channel of Bubba Wallace’s race team at last weekend’s All- Star race. Wallace, NASCAR’s only Black driver in the Cup series, had just finished Sunday’s race at North Wilkesboro ( N. C.) Speedway when a person not on the 23XI Racing team said over the radio, “Go back to where you came from” and then added another nonracial expletive.
In North Las Vegas, Lilia Vu and Brooke Henderson, the only players from the top 10 in women’s golf to enter the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play, delivered victories at Shadow Creek in the opening session of pool play.
Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner, has died. He was 26.