NBA commissioner David Stern fined LeBron James US$25,000 for skipping the postgame news conference after Cleveland lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals.
Stern said on Thursday that he spoke with the Cavaliers star on Wednesday, a day after James had a benign growth near his jaw removed, and that James admitted he was wrong to not congratulate Orlando’s players and coaches after the loss.
“He asked that I express to the media, the Magic and the fans his apology, and particularly the young fans, because he knows he has a responsibility to all of our fans, and that sportsmanship is appropriate whether you win or whether you lose,” Stern said.
The league first said James would not be penalized, citing his usual cooperation with the press. Stern said he reconsidered after thinking about it more.
“Certainly as it related to the media, we have a rule, you guys know that we’ve had some interesting issues over the years with some of our coaches and the like, and it was inappropriate for me to give someone a pass here,” Stern said.
Stern also downplayed a congressman’s remarks about the league’s age limitation rule, saying that there was also an age limit to be elected to Congress.
Representative Steve Cohen had sent identical letters to Stern and union leader Billy Hunter, asking that they scrap the requirement that players be 19 years old and a year out of high school in the next collective bargaining agreement.
“What the congressman didn’t understand, and we’ll be happy to share our view with him, this is not about the NCAA, this is not an enforcement of some social program, this is a business decision by the NBA, which is we like to see our players in competition after high school,” Stern said.
“I don’t know why our founders decided that age 25 was good for Congress, but I guess they thought that was about maturity, and for us it’s no different, it’s a kind of basketball maturity,” he said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB