Former Phoenix Suns employees who had signed nondisclosure agreements have begun scheduling and participating in interviews with the lawyers leading the NBA’s investigation into the team, multiple former employees said.
Over the past week, the lawyers informed the former employees that they would be released from the agreements in order to speak freely for the investigation, the former employees said. Those who signed NDAs will not be fully released moving forward, the former employees said, and are being released only for the purpose of participating in the investigation.
Some who signed NDAs have already met with the lawyers while others have interviews scheduled in the days ahead, employees said.
The NBA launched its investigation, using the law firm Wachtell Lipton, in early November after ESPN published a report that included allegations of racism and misogyny in a sometimes hostile and toxic workplace during majority owner Robert Sarver’s 17-year tenure.
The lawyers leading the investigation met with several current employees this week at an off-site location. Some of the interviews lasted more than an hour.
Before their interviews, current and former employees told ESPN they had prepared extensive notes about allegations they wanted to share, dates of incidents and names of other witnesses to specific accounts. Some provided lists of current and former employees, along with their contact information, who could corroborate certain allegations.
In the interviews, the lawyers stated that confidentiality and anonymity will be granted if the employee requests it, sources said. In addition to general biographical information, the lawyers have primarily focused their questioning on racially inappropriate or misogynistic behavior from Sarver, current and former employees said.
Three additional lawyers from Wachtell have been brought in to help conduct the interviews in Phoenix, current and former employees said.
NAPLES, Fla. — Jason Day and Marc Leishman had 12 birdies, two eagles and finished 1 shot short of the record for the scramble format, posting a 16-under 56 that gave the Australian duo a 1-shot lead Friday in the QBE Shootout.
Day is making his first start in the unofficial event hosted by Greg Norman since he teamed with Cameron Tringale to win in 2014. Leishman played last year with Cameron Smith.
Each of the 12 teams had 62 or lower. The record for a scramble format — players pick the team’s best shot and each plays from there, including putts — is 55. Among those who hold the record are Day and Tringale.
The second round will be modified alternate shot — both players tee off and they alternate shots the rest of the way — with a four-ball format on the final round Sunday.
• Mati earns Nigeria’s first world championship medal
Rilwan Akanbi and Bose Odusanya, yesterday, won the men’s and women’s singles of the 53rd Asoju Oba Molade Okoya-Thomas Cup held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.
In the men’s category, Akanbi dismissed Olakunle Ajulo 4-0 to regain the title he last won in 2017, while defending champion, Odusanya, overwhelmed Kehinde Oyeniyi 4-0 to secure her seventh title in a row in the women’s class.
Speaking on his victory, Akanbi said: “I can tell you that it was not easy winning the title this year. It might look easy with the outcome, but on the table, it was tough. But in all, I thank God that I am able to reclaim the title again after five years”.
The wife of the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Oluremi Hamzat, who was at the event, said that the championship has continued to be a platform where talents are produced.
“I believe Africa’s oldest table tennis tournament, which is in its 53rd edition, will further be of great value and importance in helping us as nation produce and discover new talents for table tennis competitions.
“I appreciate the organisers of this event, the Lagos State Table Tennis Association and stakeholders of this sporting activity for their consistency in ensuring a successful hosting of the yearly tournament,” she said while urging more corporate firms to partner with the organisers to make it bigger in the future.
Earlier, the Lagos State government commended the commitment of the Okoya-Thomas family to table tennis growth in the state with the continuous sponsorship of the yearly event.
Meanwhile, former national junior champion, Taiwo Mati, yesterday at the 2021 ITTF World Youth Championships in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, became the first Nigerian to win a medal at the event.
Mati partnered with Peru’s Carlos Fernandez to win a bronze medal in the boys’ doubles event.
On his feat, Mati said: “I feel so good. I didn’t believe we could get to this stage. We just needed to gain some momentum and courage during the match because we were down 2-0. We just kept on fighting. I’m so happy about this.”
Batter’s safety-first approach barely registered as a Test asset before his recall in August
Dawid Malan has spent much of the past 12 months as the No.1-ranked batter in T20I cricket… and the No.1 bugbear for many England analysts, who believe that his calm, measured, safety-first approach to massive run-scoring is a counterintuitive approach in a format that seems to get faster and more furious by the week.
Until his recall against India last summer, it barely seemed to register that that same trait might actually be rather more welcome in the game’s longest, most measured format. “I thought I would never play another Test again,” he admitted on the third evening at the Gabba, after playing an innings that might yet reignite England’s Ashes campaign.
At the age of 34, Malan knows his game, and England’s Test team is all the more grateful for that fact. With a compact stance, a fondness for the drive, and a slight propensity for a nibble outside off that is no more pronounced than many of the miscreants who have tried and failed to fill the No.3 berth since his last Test in 2018, he produced an innings of 80 not out that has lifted his Test average in Australia to a heady 46.90 in six Tests. And to judge by the size of his last four first-class centuries – 199, 166, 219 and 199 – he’s got the staying power to make this start count.
“You can do as well as you want in Twenty20 or 50-over cricket, but you’re judged a lot by your Test career at the end of it,” Malan said. “For us, an Ashes series is the biggest series of our calendar so to come here and get runs against this really good attack is very satisfying.
“I actually said to Rooty when were on 40 or 50 and the Barmy Army were singing, ‘I’ve really missed this’,” he added. “I’ve missed having someone trying to blow my head off all the time, the crowd going and the adrenaline going, playing against the best bowlers going around. Test cricket is the pinnacle.
“To be able to stand out here in an England shirt…I’m so proud to do that. Especially to do it here at The Gabba in front of everyone. It’s just really good fun.”
Malan’s innings might also have vindicated the former national selector, Ed Smith, who – on taking over the role in the summer of 2018 – mitigated his decision to axe Malan after a fallow start to that summer’s series against India by suggesting that his game might be “better suited to overseas conditions”.
Smith later clarified that his comments had been well-intentioned and a tribute to his ability in “alien” conditions such as Perth, where he made a fine 140 on the 2017-18 Ashes tour. His intention, he added, was to widen the pool of options to make England more competitive overseas, including the subcontinent, where another of Smith’s selections, Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings, played a key role in that winter’s 3-0 win in Sri Lanka.
Malan, however, was less impressed at being “pigeon-holed”, as he admitted in an emotional press conference after his recall for the Headingley Test last summer. “You work your socks off to earn the right to play for England but then you get comments that derail you,” he said. “It probably did affect me for four or five months and every time I went away for tournaments I couldn’t get in the right head space.”
For this trip, however, he seems to have found his equilibrium, even after a loose first-innings poke that contributed to England’s first-morning meltdown, as he was second man out in their collapse to 11 for 3 inside the first six overs of the match. He did at least make early amends in the field, with a sharp low slip catch to give Ollie Robinson England’s first breakthrough of the Ashes… which also went some way to atoning for his glaring misses off Virat Kohli at Edgbaston in 2018, a brace of drops that probably condemned him every bit as much as his summer’s tally of 74 runs in five innings.
“The first innings was obviously a disappointment,” Malan said. “We hold our hands up. We weren’t good enough and whether the wicket did a little bit or not, we’re better than being bowled out for 140. So for us to come in after a day-and-a-half of hard fielding and do what we did here today was fantastic. But that’s only half the job done.
“We spoke this morning and said we wanted to express ourselves. The last thing we want to do is just be sitting ducks and go out and not score. So the chat was about playing the way we want to play. If they bowl good balls, defend them but if they bowl bad balls make sure that we still have the intent to score.
“After what we did in the first innings we needed to park that and put that aside. This needed to be a fresh innings. It’s really probably poor of me to say it, but we started so badly [that] we had to park it. The only way forward in this Test was to forget what happened in that first innings and hopefully put into practise all the things we’ve worked so hard on in those quarantine periods. That was the key for us.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
“Championship boxing is a mindset, it is not about who trains the hardest or who lifts the heaviest weights, you have to enjoy yourself. If you don’t enjoy yourself then the sport becomes too serious and you end up losing.”
The Mancunian also spoke of an occasion where he drank a remarkable 15 pints of beer before heading into the ring for a sparring session with top heavyweight fighters.
He added: “I have often had 15 pints before 15 rounds of sparring and still smashed f*** out of somebody, if I am lying then God can strike me down.
“I remember one night I had 14 pints of Fosters and then sparred three top-ten heavyweights – and battered them all – that’s because I don’t take it all too seriously.”
Norwich are waiting anxiously for Covid-19 results ahead of their clash with Manchester United after Premier League sides were told to return to emergency protocols to limit the spread of the virus.
Tottenham’s Europa League Conference game with Rennes on Thursday was postponed after Spurs reported that eight players and five members of staff had tested positive.
Sunday’s match between Brighton and Tottenham is also off as fears rise over the potential impact of the surging Omicron variant on the English top-flight.
Norwich manager Dean Smith, whose side lost 3-0 to Tottenham last week, faces a nervous wait to find out if any of his players will be ruled out of the United match because of a positive test result.
“We have got a couple of knocks and have got a couple of Covid-related issues that we are waiting on results for this morning,” he told his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“I can’t really let you in on any names, but there’s a couple of players whom we are worried about, so we have tested and we will wait for the PCR results back on them.
“(They are) just feeling a little bit unwell, not likely to be linked to the game last week with Tottenham. It is just in general, I think (like) with the whole nation, (we are) holding our breath at the moment.”
Omicron surge The Premier League has written to its 20 clubs returning training ground protocols to “emergency measures”.
It followed an announcement this week by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the government was tightening virus restrictions in England.
The UK has had more than 10 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 146,000 people have died from the virus, one of the highest tolls in Europe.
Rules had been relaxed at Premier League clubs with high vaccination rates, allowing players to remove masks indoors and use their original dressing room.
Clubs have also been advised to limit social interactions, meaning Christmas parties are likely to be off the table.
Steven Gerrard, preparing to return to Liverpool for the first time as a manager on Saturday, said his Aston Villa players would receive more information on coronavirus protection.
“We have been told and warned that things are changing all the time,” Gerrard said. “Just to be careful and look after ourselves.”
The former Liverpool midfielder said he sympathised with Spurs manager Antonio Conte.
“It’s a concern for myself and every other manager,” he said. “There was a situation here before I came and you’ve always got that lingering paranoia abut the what ifs.
“It is a virus that has not gone. We’re not through the woods and it’s changing all the time.”
As part of the new measures announced this week, fans will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to attend sporting events with crowds of more than 10,000 from next Wednesday.
The coronavirus pandemic largely forced football behind closed doors last season but full crowds have returned to English football during the current campaign.
Toronto Raptors vice-chairman and president Masai Ujiri has tested positive for COVID-19.
Ujiri announced the positive test in a release issued Thursday evening by the Raptors.
He said he tested positive after his Giants of Africa organization held an in-person event on Sunday, in which some of the guests returned positive COVID tests.
Ujiri said everyone who attended had to show proof of vaccination, and to wear masks when not eating or drinking. He said he is double-vaccinated and has received a booster shot.
“I am now at home, observing the safety protocols by self-isolating for 10 days, monitoring for symptoms and undergoing testing, and I encourage everyone who attended to please do the same,” Ujiri said.
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“We don’t want to live in fear of this virus, but COVID is a persistent enemy. Together, we’ll defeat it.”
The Raptors cancelled their practice Thursday for precautionary reasons. They are scheduled to host the New York Knicks on Friday.
The Raptors were coming off a 110-109 loss to the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night, the fifth game of a season-long seven-game homestand for Toronto.
The team hasn’t travelled outside Canada since they visited Indiana on Nov. 26. The Pacers also cancelled practice on Thursday due to health and safety protocols.
Toronto’s players and staff are fully vaccinated, while the NBA has said 97 per cent of players and staff are vaccinated.
After dozens of games were postponed last season due to COVID-19, no games have yet to be rescheduled this season, despite several players being sidelined for health and safety protocols. Chicago Bulls star and former Raptor DeMar DeRozan is currently out due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Charlotte Hornets placed four players — LaMelo Ball, Jalen McDaniels, Mason Plumlee and Terry Rozier — in protocols last weekend.
The NBA’s health and safety protocols require players to be sidelined at least 10 days or record two negative COVID-19 tests in a 24-hour period before they can resume basketball activities.
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The Raptors were hit by a COVID-19 outbreak in late February when they were playing out of Tampa, Fla. They tumbled down the Eastern Conference standings in March and eventually missed the playoffs.
Toronto was the only team to play outside its market last season. The team was forced to relocate due to border restrictions around the pandemic and municipal and provincial health and safety measures.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2021.
DALLAS — Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic acknowledged that his conditioning has “got to be better.”
Doncic’s weight and conditioning were a frequent subject on the TNT broadcast of the Mavs’ 102-99 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night. Analyst Reggie Miller, a Hall of Fame shooting guard, criticized Doncic, saying he was “plodding up and down the court” and “has got to trim down.”
“People are going to talk about it, yes or no,” said Doncic, who had 28 points, six rebounds and nine assists in the loss. “I know I’ve got to do better.”
Sources told ESPN that Doncic reported to training camp weighing more than 260 pounds for the second consecutive year. His listed weight is 230 pounds.
“I had a long summer,” said Doncic, who joined the Slovenian national team’s training camp days after Dallas was eliminated from the playoffs, leading the program to a fourth-place finish in its first Olympics. “I had the Olympics, took three weeks off, and I relaxed a little bit. Maybe too much. I’ve just got to get back on track.”
A two-time first-team All-NBA selection, Doncic, 22, is averaging 25.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.5 assists for the 11-12 Mavs. While those are impressive statistics, they are slightly down from his numbers from the previous two seasons, as is Doncic’s 44.4% shooting from the field.
Doncic’s efforts to improve his conditioning have recently been interrupted by a sprained left knee and ankle, injuries suffered simultaneously that caused him to miss three games at the beginning of the Mavs’ current 2-8 stretch. He sat out Saturday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies because of lingering soreness in his left ankle, and the Mavs also listed a sprained left thumb on Tuesday’s injury report.
The Mavs are 0-4 in games that Doncic has missed.
“It’s still painful, but I try to play and try to practice,” Doncic said of the ankle. “But it’s still painful.”
Formula 1 Title contender Max Verstappen was born to race, hailed as a future World Champion even before he made history as a 17-year-old rookie back in 2015.
The 24-year-old Red Bull driver is now one step away from that coronation as he prepares for Sunday’s season finale under the floodlights of Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.
Level on points with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes great who is chasing a record eighth title, Verstappen leads 9-8 on wins.
That means he will become the first Dutch World Champion by beating Hamilton or without scoring another point should the 36-year-old fail to finish in the top 10.
Belgian-born, Verstappen has been around the sport since he was a baby, on wheels almost as soon as he could walk and guided to grand prix greatness by the firm hand of father and former F1 racer Jos.
Verstappen senior took two podiums for Benetton in 1994 as a team mate to Michael Schumacher, and their families holidayed together.
Together Jos and Sophie built a baby which had the right genes
Max’s mother, Sophie Kumpen, was a top go-karter who raced against future F1 World Champion Jenson Button and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.
“Together Jos and Sophie built a baby which had the right genes,” his former F3 team boss Frits van Amersfoort told the BBC. “And then after a while Max was programmed to be a race driver.”
Verstappen has set F1 records as the youngest driver, points scorer and race winner (at 18) and can become the first non-Mercedes driver to take the title since Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull in 2013.
Hamilton saw the threat coming years ago.
“There’s always someone waiting to take my position. I’ve got that Max just sitting there waiting to take it,” he said in 2017 after securing his fourth title. “You’ve got for sure a potential world champion within Max and he’s only going to get stronger with age.”
That long-awaited battle of the generations became real this season as Red Bull and engine partner Honda finally provided Verstappen with the car his talents demanded.
While Verstappen and Hamilton are in a duel of their own, they are also poles apart
Where the Briton is involved in fashion, music and using his platform as Champion and F1’s sole Black driver to push for racial equality and diversity, Verstappen has fewer distractions.
“Favourite hobby? That’s a tricky one. Asides from F1, I do a lot of sim racing. I guess that’s a hobby,” Verstappen said at last weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. “But in a way also not because I take it very seriously.”
Verstappen is uncompromising and aggressive, although more relaxed than his father was, a racer who gets everything out of the car but sometimes crosses a line – literally and figuratively.
Hamilton said in Jeddah he felt Verstappen raced as if the rules did not apply to him while former racer Martin Brundle was also concerned by some of his moves.
“Such is Max’s car control and cunning he’s sometimes able to pull off the audacious moves and leave a margin of doubt as to whether it’s hard racing or simply a professional foul outside of the regulations,” said the Sky TV commentator.
Horner said people did not give Verstappen enough credit: “Max drives like Tyson Fury fights. He’s got that same heart. You just know he’s going to give it everything and if you knock him down, he’s going to get back up. He’s got that burning desire, that all-out commitment.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)
Tyson Fury has given a furious X-rated reaction after his brother’s fight with Jake Paul was cancelled. Tommy Fury was forced to pull out of the encounter, which was scheduled for Saturday, December 18, due to a bacterial chest infection and broken rib.
Following the news that Tommy would be unable to fight, Paul agreed to take on Tyron Woodley instead in Tampa, Florida.
And the YouTube sensation had some harsh words for the man he was originally supposed to fight.
“It is official, Tommy Fury is boxing’s biggest b****,” Paul said, before going on to claim the former Love Island contestant was running “scared.”
But Tyson was having none of it when he spoke to iFL TV on Thursday.
“If you can’t fight, you can’t fight – that’s it,” said the WBC heavyweight champion.
“They all go on, ‘Oh, he’s lost a payday.’ F***ing hell, if you’re going to be any good and win a fight, he’s going to be rich anyway. He’s already rich.
“The money off the Jake Paul fight – it’s a good fight for him, but he’ll make it again. He don’t need Jake Paul to define his career.
“Who the f***’s Jake Paul? Some f***ing floppy-haired YouTuber that nobody’s interested in. And everybody hates by the way.”
Fury also told Behind The Gloves: “Do you know what – things happen in life and you’ve got to get over it. S*** happens.
DON’T MISS
“When you are sick because you lost a fight – big deal, get over it, man up. There are plenty of fights out there and if the fight was supposed to happen then it’ll happen again.
“It is what it is – it’s a boxing fight. I’ve lost big fights and bigger paydays. I lost a fight the other day when I got Covid 10 days before the fight.
“I’ve had many, many fights pull out in the past. It is what it is. I’m not really bothered.
“Jake Paul can go suck a d*** for all I care. P***y.
“Him and his brother are two s***house p***ies and they could never live in my world because they’re f***ing b****es at the end of the day.
“And if you don’t like the language, get f***ed.”
Paul went head-to-head with former UFC welterweight champion Woodley in August, with the YouTube star tasting glory on a split decision after the fight had gone the full distance.
Woodley caused his rival problems in that bout, however, and will be looking to avenge his defeat when the duo take to the ring for a second time a week before Christmas.
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