Grizzlies’ Morant gets standing ovation upon return
Ja Morant received a standing ovation from the Memphis crowd when he arrived courtside just before tip-off Monday night in his return from an eightgame NBA suspension.
The two-time All-Star guard slapped hands with some of his teammates and was part of the line greeting starters as they prepared to begin the game. Morant then took a seat on the bench and watched the Grizzlies rally to be beat Dallas 112-108. It’s unclear exactly when he’ll play but he could return Wednesday.
“He is going to be part of practice (Tuesday), and obviously we’re hopeful for Wednesday so long as everything medically clears out,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said, adding the delay is part of the “ramp-up process.”
The Grizzlies host the Rockets on Wednesday in the first of two consecutive home games against Houston. The teams meet again in Memphis on Friday.
The Grizzlies know Morant has been working out, trying to be ready for this moment. Memphis was off Sunday after back-to-back wins, and Jenkins said he would like Morant to practice or at least participate in a shootaround before seeing game action.
College basketball
TOBIN ANDERSON LEAVING
FDU TO REPLACE PITINO AT IONA >> Tobin Anderson is leaving NCAA Cinderella FDU after one story-book season and replacing Rick Pitino at Iona.
Iona athletic director Matt Glovaski announced the hiring on Tuesday, just a day after Pitino left to take the job at St. John’s of the Big East Conference.
Anderson led the No. 16 seeded Knights to a win over No. 1 Purdue in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last week, only the second time a No. 16 seed has knocked off a topseeded team. UMBC beat No. 1 Virginia in 2018.
“Iona University represents everything my family and I were looking for in a school, a basketball program and a campus atmosphere,” Anderson said in a statement. “Our goal is to build upon the tremendous tradition of Iona basketball and elevate the program to greater heights.”
Soccer ARSENAL IN MLS ALL-STAR
GAME AT WASHINGTON, DC ON JULY 19 >> Arsenal will play Major League Soccer’s All-Stars at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on July 19, the first European opponent in the game since before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Gunners, pursuing their first Premier League title since 2004, also were the All-Star opponent in 2016. They won 2-1 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California, on goals by Joel Campbell and Chuba Akpom. Didier Drogba, then playing for Montreal, scored for MLS.
MLS announced Tuesday it was returning to its mostused All-Star format.
The league began having its top players face a European opponent in 2005, then announced in November 2019 that it was changing to its All-Stars against those of Liga MX. The 2020 match in Los Angeles was canceled because of the pandemic, but the format was used the following two years, with MLS winning on penalty kicks in Los Angeles in 2021 and 2-1 last year at St. Paul, Minnesota. SWISS SOCCER PLAYER
AGENTS FILE CHALLENGE TO FIFA RULES >> FIFA is facing another legal challenge to its new rules regulating player agents, this time in its home country Switzerland.
A group of Swiss agents has asked the federal competition commission to intervene with the FIFA Football Agent Regulations, which are being phased in this year and will cap the fees earned from player salaries and transfers.
FIFA worked for years to regulate an industry it argues takes too much money out of soccer, with agents earning $622 million from international transfer deals in 2022.
While elite agencies have earned tens of millions of dollars from transfers for players like Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba, the Swiss group challenging FIFA typically works at the other end of the global market.
LEAGUE RUN >> Jorge Sampaoli’s second stint as Sevilla coach is over.
Sevilla fired the Argentine coach on Tuesday, two days after a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Getafe in the Spanish league. Former Eibar and Alaves coach José Luis Mendilibar was hired as Sampaoli’s replacement.
“Following the defeat at Getafe, which leaves the side just above the relegation zone, the club has decided to part ways with the Argentine coach ahead of the international break,” Sevilla said in a statement. “The image shown by the team in these last matches has led the club to make this decision, in hopes that it can recover in the last 12 rounds of the Spanish league.”
Tennis
NAVRATILOVA SAYS DOCTORS
TOLD HER SHE IS CANCER-FREE >> Martina Navratilova has been told by doctors that, “as far as they know, I’m cancer-free,” and that she should be “good to go” after some additional radiation treatment.
The 66-year-old Navratilova, an 18-time Grand
Slam singles champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, discussed her health in an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV scheduled to be aired Tuesday.
Navratilova said in January that she had throat cancer and breast cancer and would be starting treatment.
NFL
DONT’A HIGHTOWER RETIRES
FROM NFL AFTER DECADE WITH PATRIOTS >> Dont’a Hightower is making a quiet exit to a memorable career with the New England Patriots.
The veteran linebacker, who did not play last season, announced his retirement Tuesday in an essay posted on the Players’ Tribune website.
It ends a decade-long run in New England that began with the Patriots selecting him 25th overall in the 2012 draft. It included three Super Bowl rings (2014, 2016, 2018) and a pair of Pro Bowl selections (2016, 2019). He also was named a secondteam All-Pro in 2016.
Hightower called his decision “a happy day.”