Quick Hitters

All-star weekend arrives, as NBA heads to Salt Lake City

Nba all-star weekend is almost here, with many of the principals arriving in utah on Thursday and a few more set to arrive on Friday in time for the official three-day lineup to begin. More than 60 players from the Nba and G League will be part of the showcase — the allstar Game on Sunday, the dunk, 3-point and skills competitions on all-star Saturday, and the rising Stars games for first- and second-year players on Friday.

“you can never take this for granted,” said antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee bucks forward who is heading to his seventh all-star Game. “you never know how many times more you’re going to be an all-star. i don’t take this for granted. and by the way, thanks for all the fans who voted for me as captain. i don’t take that for granted. We have to go there, have fun, enjoy the time with our kids.”

Of the 10 starters on Sunday night, barring any changes to the rosters because of injuries, six were born outside the u.s., which is a record. The nine internationally born all-stars ties a record.

Tim Mccarver, big league catcher and broadcaster, dies at 81

NEW york — Tim Mccarver, the all-star catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster who during 60 years in baseball won two World Series titles with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a long run as one of the country’s most recognized, incisive and talkative television commentators, died Thursday. He was 81.

Mccarver’s death was announced by baseball’s Hall of Fame, which said he died Thursday morning due to heart failure in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was with his family.

among the few players to appear in major league games during four decades, Mccarver was a two-time all Star who worked closely with two future Hall of Fame pitchers: The tempestuous bob Gibson, whom Mccarver caught for St. Louis in the 1960s, and the introverted Steve Carlton, Mccarver’s fellow Cardinal in the ‘60s and a Philadelphia Phillies teammate in the 1970s.

Celtics remove interim tag, name Mazzulla head coach

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla has been so steady guiding the Celtics through a franchise-shaking crisis that their turbulent offseason has taken a back seat to their championship aspirations.

The team rewarded him by turning a temporary opportunity of a lifetime into a permanent one.

boston named Mazzulla its full-time head coach on Thursday, removing the interim tag he had held since stepping in for ime udoka in the preseason.