Carmelo Anthony retires from NBA after 19-year career

Carmelo Anthony, the star forward who led Syracuse to an NCAA championship in his lone college season and went on to spend 19 years in the NBA, announced his retirement on Monday.

Anthony, who was not in the NBA this season, retires as the No. 9 scorer in league history.

Only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O’Neal scored more than Anthony — who finishes his career with 28,289 points.

“Now the time has come for me to say good-bye ... to the game that gave me purpose and pride,” Anthony said in a videotaped message announcing his decision — one he called “bittersweet.”

NFL

NFL APPROVES EMERGENCY

3RD QB AFTER 49ERS’ INJURY WOES >> NFL owners approved a rule change Monday that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game, a decision that stems from San Francisco’s depth-chart challenge in the NFC championship game.

The bylaw was initially proposed by the Detroit Lions. The third quarterback designation will not count against the limit of active players — either 47 or 48 — that is determined 90 minutes before kickoff.

The emergency activation can only occur after injury or disqualification, not for a performance-related decision or other conduct. If either of the first two quarterbacks are cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to play, the third must be removed from the game and can only return as a quarterback if an injury scenario arises again.

Baseball

HUMMEL, ESTEEMED ST.

LOUIS-BASED BASEBALL WRITER, DEAD AT 77 >> Rick Hummel, an esteemed writer who covered the St. Louis Cardinals and Major League Baseball for five decades for the Post-Dispatch until his retirement last year, has died. He was 77.

Hummel died in his sleep at his St. Louis-area home early Saturday after a short, aggressive illness, the PostDispatch said Monday.

He was nicknamed “The Commish” for running an American Professional Baseball Association board game with colleagues, and the moniker became so widespread throughout baseball that even Commissioners Bud Selig and Rob Manfred called Hummel by the label.

College baseball

LSU’S CREWS TOP PLAYER >> LSU junior outfielder Dylan Crews is the first consecutive winner of the Southeastern Conference player of the year award while Tigers junior right-hander Paul Skenes is pitcher of the year.

The teammates, projected as the top two picks in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, were honored Monday in voting among the league’s head coaches. Pittsburgh has the first pick on July 9 and Washington selects second.

SEC Tennis GASTON’S UNPSPORTSMAN CONDUCT DRAWS $155K FINE;

TOPS HIS 2023 EARNINGS >> French tennis player Hugo Gaston was fined 144,000 euros (about $155,000) by the ATP Tour — more than he’s collected in prize money so far in 2023 — for pulling a ball out of his pocket and throwing it on the court during a point in an attempt to get a do-over, his fourth unsportsmanlike conduct violation this season.

The tour announced its ruling on Monday, saying that Gaston’s appeal of the punishment got it reduced by half, to 72,000 euros (about $77,500), as long as he meets certain conditions, including no additional violations during a probationary period of a year.

FRENCH OPEN OFFERS PLAYERS PROTECTION AGAINST

ONLINE HARASSMENT French Open organizers are giving all players access to an online tool meant to protect them from cyberbullying and harassment on social media.

The French tennis federation said Monday the technology developed by a French company will be made available to all players taking part in this year’s clay-court Grand Slam tournament. The software uses artificial intelligence to filter comments posted to social media accounts and block those that are deemed toxic or abusive.

It said the tool “aims to preserve the players, their mental health, the values of sport and tennis and to banish people who come to spread their aggression and hatred on social networks.”

>>

RETURNS TO NO. 1 IN ATP RANKINGS >> Carlos Alcaraz replaced Novak Djokovic at No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday, earning the top seeding at the French Open, and Daniil Medvedev’s Italian Open title moved him up to No. 2 ahead of the year’s second Grand Slam tournament.

Djokovic’s loss in the fourth round as the defending champion in Rome dropped him to No. 3. That means he and Alcaraz could end up in the same half of the Roland Garros bracket and be set up for a potential semifinal showdown, depending on what happens in Thursday’s draw in Paris.

The French Open, which begins on Sunday, will mark the first chance to be seeded No. 1 at a major tournament for Alcaraz, a Spaniard who turned 20 this month. He is 30-3 with four titles in 2023.

Hockey

NORWAY STUNS CANADA IN SHOOTOUT >> Norway stunned Canada 3-2 in a shootout and handed the favorite a second straight defeat at the ice hockey world championship on Monday.

It was only Canada’s second loss to Norway in tournament history; the other was in 2000.

Thomas Olsen converted the decisive shootout goal for Norway.

College football

SCHEMBECHLER SON RESIGNS AT MICHIGAN AFTER

OFFENSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY REVEALED >> A son of longtime Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler has resigned from his position with the Wolverines, with the school saying it was aware of his social media activity that may have caused “pain” in the community.

Glenn “Shemy” Schembechler stepped down Saturday, just days after he had been hired as assistant director of recruiting on Jim Harbaugh’s staff.

The Detroit News reported Saturday that Schembechler’s Twitter feed contained posts and likes of offensive material, including some that suggested slavery and Jim Crow were positives to strengthen Black individuals and families.

Auto racing

WILSON, LEGGE CRASH

HEAVILY IN INDY 500 PRACTICE SESSION >> Stefan Wilson and Katherine Legge crashed heavily with just under an hour left in practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Monday in the first wreck in the two-week build-up to the 107th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Wilson was immobilized on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace but gave a thumbs-up as he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital. Legge was able to climb from the cockpit of her crumpled machine on her own.

The two were going through Turns 1 and 2 when Wilson appeared to check up. Legge closed at a high rate of speed and hit the rear of his car, sending the two skidding into the wall. Legge ricocheted away with a glancing blow while Wilson, whose brother Justin Wilson was killed in a 2015 crash at Pocono, was facing head-on when he hit the SAFER barrier.

The safety team spent about 10 minutes carefully removing the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver from the car.

RAHAL BUMPED OUT OF INDY

500 FIELD BY TEAMMATE HARVEY >> Graham Rahal sat on the sidepod of his No. 15 car, head in hands, sobbing as his children tried to steal a hug Sunday.

There was no consoling Rahal this time.

Thirty-eight minutes after bumping Jack Harvey off the Indianapolis 500 starting grid, Harvey returned the favor by edging his teammate and the team owner’s son out of next Sunday’s race on the last lap of last-chance qualifying by a miniscule .007 mph.

Soccer

JUVENTUS HIT BY 10-POINT

PENALTY FOR FALSE ACCOUNTING >> Juventus was hit with a fresh 10-point penalty on Monday, hampering its chances of qualifying for next year’s Champions League.

The latest punishment for false accounting dropped Juventus from second spot in Serie A to seventh.

It left the Bianconeri five points behind AC Milan, which moved into fourth place in Serie A and the final qualifying spot for the Champions League.

Running

HOYT, WHO BECAME A BOSTON MARATHON FIXTURE

WITH FATHER PUSHING

WHEELCHAIR, HAS DIED AT 61 >> Rick Hoyt, who with his father pushing his wheelchair became a fixture at the Boston Marathon and other races for decades, has died. He was 61.

Hoyt died of complications with his respiratory system, his family announced on Monday.