New rest rules don't bother NBA players
With new policies and penalties, the NBA has made it clear that healthy players should be on the court.
No argument from the players, who insist they aren't interested in sitting.
Some don't like load management any more than the fans who wonder why some of the best athletes in the world so often need a night off. But they also want the league to understand that there are times — quite a few of them during Kawhi Leonard's lone season in Toronto — when they have to listen to their bodies or their doctors.
“I was coming from an injury and you have to know the details of the doctor,” Leonard, now with the Los Angeles Clippers, said Monday. “But if the league is seeing or trying to mock what I did with the Raptors, they should stop because I was injured the whole year. But other than that, if I'm able to play, I'll play basketball. I'll work out every day in the summertime to play the game, not to sit and watch people play. No league policy is helping me to play more games.”
Some of Leonard's absences in recent years are the type the NBA is looking to eliminate with its “player participation policy “that takes effect this season. He missed 22 games in 2018-19, the Raptors careful to avoid overuse after he returned from a thigh injury that limited him to nine games the previous season. The league believes those scheduled nights off, known as load management, have become too common — and potentially damaging if they drive away viewers.
NFL
JOHN GORDON, ARTIST WHO HELPED DESIGN PACKERS' DISTINCTIVE `G' TEAM LOGO, DIES AT AGE 83 >>
John Gordon, an artist who as a young art student helped design the Green Bay Packers' distinctive “G” team logo, has died at age 83.
Gordon died Saturday, said Matt Cotter, the owner of Cotter Funeral & Cremation Care in De Pere, Wisconsin. The funeral home posted an obituary which says Gordon died “surrounded by his family after living with Alzheimer's disease.”
Gordon was an art student at St. Norbert College in 1961 and was working as an assistant for Packers equipment manager Gerald “Dad” Braisher when he
was offered the chance to design the team's logo under then-coach Vince Lombardi, WLUK-TV reported.
MLB
DODGERS LOST MOST DAYS TO INJURIES THIS SEASON >>
The Los Angeles Dodgers lost the most days of players on the injured list this season at 2,465, while the San Francisco Giants had the most placements at 46.
The number of days lost on the injured list rose 6.1% to 44,461 from 41,916, in the season that ended Sunday, but placements dropped 0.7% to 848 from 854. There were 983 placements for 43,513 lost days in 2021, the first full season following a schedule curtailed to 60 games because of the pandemic.
The Dodgers had 33 placements, sixth behind the Giants, the Los Angeles Angels (42), Minnesota (39), and Cincinnati and the New York Yankees (38 each). Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler was sidelined the entire season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and was among 12 Dodgers to finish on the 60day IL, 10 of them pitchers.
Gymnastics
JAPAN EDGES RIVAL CHINA TO WIN MEN'S WORLD GYMNASTICS TITLE WHILE US CLAIMS FIRST MEDAL SINCE 2014 >> Japan is back on top in men's gymnastics.
The five-man group led by reigning world and Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto edged rival China in the team finals at the 2023 world championships on Tuesday to earn Japan's first major international gold medal since 2015.
The Japanese posted a team total of 255.594 points, nearly two points
clear of China at 253.794.
The U.S. men's program took a significant step forward by earning its first bronze at a world championships or Olympics since 2014. The five-man team of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Khoi Young, Yul Moldauer and Fred Richard finished at 252.428.
Motor sports
MCLAREN SEEKING AT LEAST $23 MILLION IN DAMAGES FROM INDYCAR CHAMPION ALEX PALOU IN UK COURT >>
McLaren Racing is suing IndyCar champion Alex Palou for at least $23 million to recoup costs the team says it lost when the driver reneged on the contract he signed to join the team.
Palou, a 26-year-old Spaniard, guaranteed that he had “no outstanding obligation under any contract or agreement” that would keep him from joining McLaren after the IndyCar season ended, according to the Sept. 29 filing in the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court.
The lawsuit is the latest twist in an ugly spat involving the talented young driver and two teams: McLaren, which in July 2022 said it had signed Palou and had him earmarked for an IndyCar seat and a reserve driver role with its Formula One team, and Chip Ganassi Racing, which said it had the contractual rights for Palou for the 2023 season.
Soccer
MORE BELLINGHAM HEROICS FOR REAL MADRID IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE >> Jude Bellingham's efforts produced two goals during an eight-minute stretch of the first half in Real Madrid's 3-2 win at Serie A champion Napoli in the Champions
League.
Madrid's new standout first intercepted a pass from Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and immediately set up Vinicius Junior for an equalizer at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Then the England international slalomed through Napoli's defense from near midfield before slotting in a goal that was reminiscent of the way Maradona, also an attacking midfielder, used to perform in the stadium now named after him.
Tennis
PLAYER DEFAULTED AFTER HITTING A CHAIR UMPIRE WITH BALL IN SHANGHAI MASTERS QUALIFYING >>
Australian tennis player Marc Polmans has been defaulted from the final round of qualifying at the Shanghai Masters after hitting the ball into the face of the chair umpire.
Polmans, ranked 140th, was leading Italy's Stefano Napolitano 7-6 (3) and the score was 6-6 (6-5) in the second-set tiebreaker on Tuesday when Polmans missed his second match point after hitting a low backhand volley into the net.
The Australian then hit the ball in anger as it bounced back from the net.
His errant hit narrowly missed the ball person before hitting chair umpire Ben Anderson in the face. Anderson was apparently not seriously injured.
The incident was similar to one that saw Canada's Denis Shapovalov land in trouble during the Davis Cup in 2017. Shapovalov was also disqualified, but his incident saw the chair umpire of that match Arnaud Gabas sustain a fractured eye socket.