Jordan pledges $100M for social justice campaigns
Basketball great Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand on Friday pledged $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality.
The announcement came as protesters have taken to the streets in U.S. cities over systemic racism and police brutality, following the death last week of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, while a white policeman knelt on his neck in Minneapolis.
“Black lives matter. This isn’t a controversial statement,” read a statement from Jordan and his Jordan Brand. “Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.”
Jordan, a six-time NBA champion who led the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty in the 1990s, is a Basketball Hall of Famer who owns the Charlotte Hornets.
Golf WOODS NOT IN FIELD FOR PGA TOUR’S RETURN NEXT WEEK >>
Tiger Woods will not compete next week when the PGA Tour swings back into action after a three-month COVID-19 hiatus as he was not listed in the field released on Friday for the event in Fort Worth, Texas.
Woods did not commit to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club by the deadline, and thus will not be part of a stacked field headlined by the top five golfers in the world.
College basketball
TEXAS STATE COACH UNDER INVESTIGATION >> Two former players say Texas State men’s basketball coach Danny Kaspar directed racist remarks toward members of the team. Former point guard Jaylen Shead made the allegations Thursday on social media, and former Bobcats forward Alex Peacock backed him up Friday.
Shead, who transferred to Washington State after starting 34 games at Texas State in 2018-19, called his time in the program “shocking.”
According to Shead, Kaspar told black players to “chase that chicken” to get them to run faster. “If a brown man with a turbin (sic) and AK-47 walked in, I bet y’all would run as fast as you could,” Kaspar said, Shead claims. Once when Shead was running sprints, “Coach proceeds to say ‘he’s running like the cops are behind him.’ ”
Peacock, a two-year starter under Kaspar from 201719, confirmed Shead’s allegations to ESPN.
“The first time I heard (Kaspar) tell somebody to ‘chase that bucket of chicken,’ I’m like, ‘Hold on,’” Peacock said. “Being a player, it’s hard to come out when you’re in it, when you’re playing, because you don’t know what the ramifications will be.”
The school is launching an investigation, Texas State athletic director Larry Teis announced Friday.
College scandal NCAA HITS OKLAHOMA ST WITH POSTSEASON BAN IN CORRUPTION CASE >> Oklahoma State was fined $10,000 and its men’s basketball team was banned from the upcoming postseason after the NCAA found that former assistant coach Lamont Evans accepted up to $22,000 in bribes intended to help steer athletes to choose certain financial advisers.
The NCAA ruling included three years of probation, the fine self-imposed by the school along with an additional 1% from the program budget, recruiting restrictions and a reduction in basketball scholarships.
NBA
PLAYERS APPROVE RESTART PLAN >> The NBA is officially going to Walt Disney World after the league’s players approved a 22-team restart plan. On Thursday, the league laid out its plan for the resumption of action in a season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all teams within six games of a playoff position invited to participate.
The players union responded Friday in a statement, “The Board of Player Representatives of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) has approved further negotiations with the NBA on a 22-team return to play scenario to restart the 2019-20 NBA season. Various details remain to be negotiated and the acceptance of the scenario would still require that all parties reach agreement on all issues relevant to resuming play.”
Track and field 400-METER UPSET WINNER AT WORLDS SUSPENDED IN DOPING CASE >> The winner of one of the most shocking races in memory has been provisionally suspended for failing to make herself available for doping tests.
Salwa Eid Naser, who routed the defending Olympic gold medalist while running the best time in the women’s 400 since 1985 at last year’s world championships, was charged with whereabouts violations by the Athletics Integrity Unit on Friday.
Last October at worlds in Qatar, Naser won in 48.14 seconds, snapping Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s 25-month winning streak. Naser, who was born in Nigeria and now runs for Bahrain, beat Miller-Uibo by .23 seconds on an evening in which Miller-Uibo shattered her own personal best by more than a half-second.
Soccer GALAXY RELEASES KATAI FOLLOWING RACIST POSTS BY HIS
WIFE >> The Galaxy released midfielder Aleksandar Katai, two days after the team was made aware of inflammatory social media messages posted on an account belonging to the player’s wife.
Tea Katai’s posts, which have been taken down, appeared to make light of the protests and looting that occurred in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody last week in Minneapolis. The team made the decision to release Katai after discussing the issue with him Thursday.