James easy pick as AP athlete of decade
LeBron James, who play in eight consecutive NBA Finals, was named The Associated Press male athlete of the decade Sunday, adding his name to a list that includes Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky and Arnold Palmer.
James was a runaway winner in a vote of AP member sports editors and AP beat writers, easily outpacing runner-up Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica was third for dominating the sprints at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, soccer superstar Lionel Messi was fourth and Michael Phelps — the U.S. swimmer who retired as history’s most decorated Olympian with 28 medals, 23 gold — was fifth.
Including playoffs, no one in the NBA scored more points than James in the past 10 years. He started the decade 124th on the league’s all-time scoring list. He’s now about to pass Kobe Bryant for No. 3. No. 2 Karl Malone and No. 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are within reach.
International hockey
Arthur Kaliyev scored twice to lift the United States to a 3-1 win against Russia at the world junior hockey championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The U.S. leads the tightly contested Group B with six points. Russia is three points behind the U.S. and tied with Canada, Germany and the Czechs. The U.S. plays the host Czechs Monday to complete group play.
Baseball
The Baltimore Orioles signed free agent righthander Kohl Stewart to a major league contract. Stewart pitched the past two seasons with the Minnesota
Twins and was 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA in nine games. He started twice and allowed five home runs in 251⁄3 innings.
Soccer
Liverpool extended its unbeaten home run in the Premier League to 50 games with a 1-0 win against Wolverhampton. It is the second time in Liverpool’s history it has gone 50 league games at home unbeaten in the top division, having achieved a run of 63 games between 1978 and 1980. Chelsea had an 86-game spell without losing at Stamford Bridge from 2004-08.
• David Moyes replaced Manuel Pellegrini as manager of West Ham.
Winter sports
Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 43rd career World Cup slalom win by posting the fastest times in both runs to beat her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova by 0.61 seconds in Lienz, Austria. It matches the 43 downhill wins Lindsey Vonn collected before retiring last season, the World Cup record for a woman in a single discipline — although Shiffrin is 18 victories short of Vonn’s overall women’s mark of 82.
• Alexis Pinturault used his slalom skills to come from behind and win a men’s World Cup Alpine combined event in Bormio, Italy, 0.51 seconds ahead of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway.
Horse racing
Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith became thoroughbred racing’s all-time Grade 1 stakes winner with his 217th victory astride Omaha Beach at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. He surpassed the mark set by retired Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.