LeBron James and Dwyane Wade led the Miami Heat in sending a supportive message over a controversial killing on Friday in addition to scoring the most points in the team’s 88-73 triumph over the Detroit Pistons.
Wade scored 24 points, while James added 17 and 10 assists to lead the visiting Heat to their fourth straight win. Miami improved to 35-11, the second-best record in the NBA, trailing only the Chicago Bulls at 39-10.
However, it was what the team did earlier that was the bigger Twitter topic of conversation as Heat players posed for a team photo with all of them wearing hooded sweatshirt, hoodies, with heads bowed and hands in their pockets.
Photo: Reuters
Hoodies have become a symbol in the wake of the shooting death of an unarmed black Florida teenager wearing a hooded sweatshirt by a volunteer guard on Feb. 26 near Orlando, where the NBA All-Star Game was being played.
No charges have been filed in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, which has prompted calls for a deeper investigation into the incident, which the shooter has said was an act of self-defense.
The Heat hoodie picture was made public in a Twitter posting by James and in the wake of teammate Wade posting a Twitter picture of himself in a gray hoodie.
“It was a powerful statement,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Among the hashtags linked to the team photo James posted were #WeWantJustice and #WeAreTrayvonMartin.
“Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Trayvon Martin for their loss and for everyone involved in this terrible tragedy,” the Heat said in a statement. “We support our players and join them in hoping that their images and our logo can be part of the national dialogue and can help in our nation’s healing.”
Wade told the South Florida Sun Sentinel the message was meant to support all who grieve Martin’s death.
“I’m a father,” Wade said. “It’s support of the tragic thing that has taken place. No matter what color, race, we’re all fathers. When you think about what that family’s going through, it hits you hard and it hurts your heart to think about it. Obviously we can’t bring him back, but anything you can do to get behind and support is what we’re doing.”
Some Miami players wore messages written on their sneakers during the Detroit game that said, “RIP Trayvon Martin” and “We Want Justice.”
Other NBA players joined the hoodie movement, including New York Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Both posted pictures of themselves wearing hoodies on their Twitter pages.
Anthony posted his picture in a gray hoodie with head bowed and in front of it the words: “I am Trayvon Martin!!!!!”
Stoudemire wore a hoodie when he arrived at the game and in a pre-game workout and tweeted: “I got my hoodie. Stand up?” with hashtags #RIPTrayvonMartin and #justicemustbehad.
THUNDER 149, T-WOLVES 140, 2OT
In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook scored 45 points, while Kevin Durant added 40 points and a season-high 17 rebounds as the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a career-high 51 points from Minnesota All-Star Kevin Love to beat the Timberwolves in double overtime.
Westbrook set the tone in the second overtime, stealing the ball on Minnesota’s opening possession and racing to the other end for a layup that resulted in a three-point play.
Love, who beat Durant in the three-point contest on All-Star weekend, made a career-high seven threes and also pulled down 14 rebounds while becoming the third player to eclipse 50 points this season.
LAKERS 103, TRAIL BLAZERS 96
In Los Angeles, Andrew Bynum had 28 points and nine rebounds, while point guard Ramon Sessions had 20 points and 11 assists in his first start for the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant scored 18 points for Los Angeles, who finished with a season-high 33 assists and increased their Pacific Division lead to three-and-a-half games over the idle Clippers. Pau Gasol had 16 rebounds and 10 points.
Sessions played his fifth game since the Lakers obtained him from Cleveland along with Christian Eyenga on March 15 for Luke Walton and Jason Kapono.
76ERS 99, CELTICS 86
In Philadelphia, Elton Brand scored 20 points, while Spencer Hawes had 12 points and 10 rebounds to help Philadelphia remain in first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Celtics would have grabbed first with a win, knocking out a Sixers team that has held that spot for all but a few days this season. The Sixers outscored Boston by 20 points in the third quarter to take control.
There was a serious scare when Celtics guard Mickael Pietrus left on a stretcher and was hospitalized after an awkward collision late in the first half. He was listed as having a questionable closed head injury.
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each scored 20 points for Boston. Rajon Rondo had 17 assists.
In other games, it was:
‧ Magic 93, Cavaliers 80
‧ Bucks 112, Bobcats 92
‧ Suns 113, Pacers 111
‧ Hawks 93, Nets 84
‧ Spurs 104, Mavericks 87
‧ Jazz 121, Nuggets 102
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite