WNBA STARS DOWN TEAM USA
Arike Ogunbowale put on a show against the U.S. national team, handing the Olympic squad a rare loss.
The game’s MVP scored 26 points to help the WNBA AllStar team beat the U.S. Olympic team 93-85 on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
Ogunbowale downplayed that she was trying to make a statement for not making the team headed to Tokyo next week.
“I think that shows that out of 144 players everybody’s good,” she said. “We wanted to get Team USA ready for Tokyo. They are representing all of us.”
It wasn’t a typical All-Star Game, with the teams playing hard on both ends of the court for the entire game from the start. Usually there isn’t much defense played until late in the fourth quarter.
“It was really competitive,” said 12-time All-Star Sue Bird. “Definitely not a typical All-Star Game. Usually talk to players about trying to put on a good show and having a good time and hopefully the fans enjoy it. This, right from the tip, felt different. It had an intensity about it you could tell.”
The WNBA team led 75-73 midway through the fourth quarter before Ogunbowale had a four-point play to extend the advantage to six. The Olympic squad closed within 83-78 before Ogunbowale hit another 3-pointer and posed for the crowd, which included many current and former WNBA players and team owners.
The Olympic team cut its deficit to 91-85 and had a chance to get closer, but Courtney Williams blocked A’ja Wilson’s shot with 1:15 left and they could get no closer.
The Olympic team is a
Team WNBA 93, Team USA 85
heavy favorite to win a seventh straight gold medal at the Tokyo Games. No team they’ll meet has nearly as much talent as the WNBA All-Star team they faced.
Beal in protocols
A person with knowledge of the situation says U.S. Olympic guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards has entered the health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus, which raises the possibility that he might miss the Tokyo Games.
Beal will be tested multiple times in the coming days. The results of those tests will likely determine if he remains on the roster, the person said.
“A member of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team has been placed under USA Basketball’s health and
safety protocols,” the federation announced in a statement Wednesday afternoon, without identifying the player involved.
USA Basketball could still replace Beal before heading to Tokyo. The Americans picked their 12-man team last month but noted that it may change if necessary.
DIY medals
Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will put their medals around their own necks to protect against spreading the coronavirus.
The “very significant change” to traditional medal ceremonies in the 339 events was revealed Wednesday by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
“The medals will not be given around the neck,” Bach told international media on a conference call from Tokyo. “They will be presented to the
athlete on a tray and then the athlete will take the medal him or herself.
“It will be made sure that the person who will put the medal on the tray will do so only with disinfected gloves, so that the athlete can be sure that nobody touched them before.”
Notable
Tokyo reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost six months. Tokyo reported 1,149 new cases on Wednesday.
China will send 431 athletes to the Tokyo Games as part of a 777-member delegation, its largest at an Olympics outside China.
Two Russian swimmers, Alexandr Kudashev and Veronika Popova Andrusenko, set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics were provisionally suspended for antidoping violations by world governing body FINA.