Johnson at Stern memorial: I’m going to miss my angel
David Stern was remembered Tuesday as a mentor and a leader, a Little League parent and a loyal friend.
To Magic Johnson, he was an angel.
Johnson tearfully recalled Stern’s firm support after the Hall of Fame player learned he had HIV, and how it was the former NBA commissioner allowing him to play in the 1992 All-Star Game despite some players’ fears that kept his spirits up during the darkest time of his life.
“That game saved my life,” Johnson said.
Johnson was one of the speakers at a memorial service for Stern, who died Jan. 1 at age 77 after suffering a brain hemorrhage a few weeks earlier.
Radio City Music Hall was filled with what Commissioner Adam Silver called one of the greatest collections of basketball talent in one location, from mighty big men Bill Russell and Yao Ming to dazzling distributors such as Johnson and Isiah Thomas.
They listened to stories hailing Stern not only for his brilliance as a businessman, but for his commitment to social responsibility and his love of his family. Speakers, ranging from colleagues in the league to friends from before he arrived there, talked of how Stern would help people arrange doctor’s appointments and score All-Star tickets, and how he loved to offer his assistance — especially, Silver noted, when it hadn’t been asked.
Stern spent 30 years as commissioner, the league’s longest-serving leader, and Silver noted that few people in the room would have had the opportunities they did in life without Stern, whose longtime office at NBA headquarters was just a block away.
“He belongs on this big stage,” Silver said. “He changed the world.” BLAZERS MAKE ARIZA TRADE WITH SACRAMENTO OFFICIAL >> The Portland Trail Blazers have acquired veteran forward Trevor Ariza from the Sacramento Kings.
Portland also gets Wenyen Gabriel and Caleb Swanigan from the Kings in exchange for Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver and two second-round draft picks.
The deal was first acknowledged by the players involved over the weekend, but was not made official.
Gymnastics
INVESTIGATORS SEARCH HOME, GYM OF COACH TIED TO NASSAR >> Police searched the Michigan home and former gym of a gymnastics coach who had ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, authorities said.
The Lansing State Journal posted photos of a man with a police coat carrying a box away from John Geddert’s house in Grand Ledge, west of Lansing.
No other details were released. Geddert in 2012 was head coach of the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. Nassar, a doctor at Michigan State University, was the team’s doctor and also saw injured gymnasts at Twistars, Geddert’s Lansingarea gym for elite athletes.
Nassar has been sentenced to decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts with his hands and possessing child pornography.
Baseball
FREE AGENT OF OZUNA, BRAVES REACH DEAL >> Free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna and the Atlanta Braves reached an $18 million, one-year deal that puts him on the team he helped beat in the playoffs last October.
Ozuna hit .429 with two home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in their five-game win over the Braves in the NL Division Series.
The 29-year-old Ozuna hit .241 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs last season. Ozuna is a two-time AllStar who spent his first five seasons with the Marlins, then was traded and played two years in St. Louis.
RED SOX’S PEDROIA HAS SETBACK >> Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia had what the team called a “significant setback” while rehabbing his left knee, the latest blow to the four-time All-Star’s attempt to return to the field.
The Boston Globe reported that he was meeting with his family, team and agents to decide his future.
The 2008 American League MVP, the 36-yearold has been struggling since Baltimore’s Manny
Machado slid into the surgically repaired knee at second base on April 21, 2017. A four-time All-Star, Pedroia has been limited to nine games over the past two seasons, three in May 2018 and six last April.
Tennis
SHARAPOVA LOSES, NADAL ADVANCES AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN >> Maria Sharapova hasn’t won a tournament since 2017, and her ranking slipped to 136th by the end of last year. After a 6-3, 6-4 loss to 19thseeded Donna Vekic at the Australian Open, former No. 1-ranked Sharapova is now on a run of three first-round exits at Grand Slam events.
Joining Sharapova on the way out were threetime major semifinalist Johanna Konta, 2019 French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova and the 20thseeded man, Felix AugerAliassime.
Seeded winners included two-time major champion Simona Halep and No. 1 Rafael Nadal, who began his bid to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Hugo Dellien.
The man Nadal beat in last year’s U.S. Open final, No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, eliminated 2019 Australian Open quarterfinalist Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. in four sets. Also advancing: three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem, No. 12 Fabio Fognini, No. 16 Karen Khachanov and No. 23 Nick Kyrgios, an Australian who spurred tennis players to contribute funds for wildfire relief efforts — and inspired TV analyst John McEnroe to pony up $1,000 per set Kyrgios wins the rest of the way in the tournament.
Soccer
CHICHARITO SIGNS WITH LA GALAXY >> The LA Galaxy have signed Javier “Chicharito”
Hernández, bringing the Mexican star back to North America after a lengthy career in Europe.
Hernández is a designated player for the Galaxy and the effective replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who signed with AC Milan this winter after two outstanding seasons stateside. He will also be a compelling rival to Carlos Vela, who won the MLS MVP award last season during a record-setting performance for Los Angeles FC, the Galaxy’s upstart crosstown foes.
Pro football
BROWNS WR BECKHAM HAS SURGERY >> Cleveland Browns star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
Beckham played most of his first season in Cleveland with a sports hernia. He didn’t miss a game, but the three-time Pro Bowler didn’t make the same kind of game-breaking plays that made him so dangerous for the New York Giants.
The Browns said Beckham’s operation was performed by Dr. Bill Meyers in Philadelphia. The team did not provide a timeline on his return but said Beckham is expected to make a full recovery.
College football
OREGON HIRES FORMER MISSISSIPPI STATE COACH MOORHEAD AS OC >> Former Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead is Oregon’s new offensive coordinator.
Moorhead, 46, replaces Marcus Arroyo, who left Oregon to become the head coach at UNLV.
Mississippi State dismissed Moorhead earlier this month after two seasons and hired Washington State coach Mike Leach to replace him. A highly regarded offensive coordinator for two seasons at Penn State, Moorhead was 14-12 in his tenure at Mississippi State. He led his team to bowl berths both years.