NBA wants stars to play more
League approves new player participation policy to start this season
The NBA took steps Wednesday to try to ensure that its star players appear in more games, particularly nationally televised matchups and the in-season tournament that is being added this year.
The league’s board of governors approved a new player participation policy that will take effect for this upcoming season, replacing the player resting policy that was implemented prior to the 2017-18 season. The new rules focus primarily on star players — someone who has been an All-Star or on the All-NBA team in any of the prior three seasons. There are 50 players who fit into the star category.
“It’s a shared view by everyone in the league, it’s not just coming from the league office,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “I think whether it’s our teams, our players association, individual players, I think there’s an acknowledgement across the league that we need to return to that principle that this is an 82-game league . ... I think there’s a statement of principle that if you’re a healthy player in this league, the expectation is that you’re going to play.”
Increased player participation is a top priority for Commissioner
Adam Silver as the league negotiates a new media rights deal. The current deal ends in 2025.
Teams will have to manage their rosters to ensure that multiple available star players aren’t sitting out the same game to rest.
The league will have the ability to penalize teams that violate the policy by fining them $100,000 for the first infraction and $250,000 for the second. Each successive violation increase by $1 million.
NFL
49ERS WR AIYUK NAMED NFC’S OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF WEEK >> Brandon Aiyuk joined Jerry Rice and
Anquan Boldin as the only 49ers wide receivers to win an NFC Player of the Week award via a season-opening showcase.
Aiyuk drew that careerfirst honor for his spectacular showing in the 49ers’ 30-7 win Sunday at Pittsburgh.
He caught eight passes for a career-high 129 yards and two touchdowns.
NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION CALLS ON NFL TO SWITCH ALL FIELDS TO NATURAL GRASS >> The NFL Players Association wants the league to switch all its fields to natural grass, calling it “the easiest decision the NFL can make.”
Executive director Lloyd Howell issued a statement saying NFL players “overwhelming prefer it and the data is clear that grass is simply safer than artificial turf. It is an issue that has been near the top of the players’ list during my team visits and one I have raised with the NFL.”
The players’ union called for the change less than 48 hours after a season-ending injury to four-time NFL
MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon in his debut with the New York Jets on Monday night.
Golf SENATOR SUBPOENAS SAUDIS FOR DOCUMENTS ON LIVPGA TOUR GOLF DEAL >>
The chairman of a Senate investigations subcommittee issued a subpoena for documents on Saudi Arabia’s new golf partnership with the PGA Tour, saying the kingdom had to be more transparent about what he said was its $35 billion in investments in the United States.
The move is the latest to challenge Saudi Arabia’s assertion that as a foreign government that enjoys sovereign immunity from many U.S. laws, it is not obliged to provide information on the golf deal.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s subpoena comes after the Connecticut Democrat’s unsuccessful requests to the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Yassir al Rumayyan, to testify before Blumenthal’s Senate permanent select investigations subcommittee about the SaudiPGA golf deal.
MLB RANGERS RHP SCHERZER TO MISS REST OF REGULAR SEASON >>
Texas Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer will miss the rest of the regular season because of a strained muscle in his shoulder, the team announced.
Rangers general manager Chris Young said it was unlikely Scherzer would be able to pitch in the postseason if Texas qualifies.
The 39-year-old Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, left Tuesday’s game at Toronto in the sixth inning. The eighttime All-Star allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two in 5 1/3 shutout innings, picking up the win in a game that saw the Rangers leapfrog Toronto into an AL wild card position.
Scherzer does not require surgery. He will be reevaluated in two weeks.
OHTANI IS OUT OF THE LINEUP FOR 10TH STRAIGHT GAME DUE TO OBLIQUE STRAIN >>
Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup for his 10th straight game because of a strained right oblique.
Ohtani got hurt during
batting practice prior to a Sept. 4 game against Baltimore.
The AL MVP front-runner was in the original lineup for Monday’s series opener but was scratched after his pregame workout.
The 29-year-old’s pitching season ended last month because of a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
Olympics CHIEF FINANCIAL PROSECUTOR SAYS INVESTIGATION INTO PARIS OLYMPICS DID NOT UNCOVER SERIOUS CORRUPTION >>
France’s top financial prosecutor said that investigations into the organization of the 2024 Paris Olympics have not revealed any serious corruption or influence peddling, and that his goal is not to disrupt the event.
Speaking in an interview with RTL radio, JeanFrancois Bohnert said the potential infractions currently investigated by the the financial prosecutor’s office are “mainly formal.”
French police searched the Paris Olympic organizing committee headquarters in June as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the event.