South African cricket is in "a transition phase", according to former batsman Ashwell Prince. Prince, who coaches Cape Cobras in South African franchise cricket, and had been in India as a batting consultant supervising a spin camp that included both South Africa A and senior team regulars ahead of tours to India by the 'A' side as well as the senior men's and women's teams.

"It's a transition phase for South African cricket," Prince told the Deccan Chronicle. "I work in the first-class system and we have first-hand experience of the young guys that are coming through. Of course, you don't become [Hashim] Amla and [Dale] Steyn overnight."

Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket and a renewed focus on limited-overs cricket at the beginning of the month, while Hashim Amla retired from all international cricket soon afterwards. South Africa will feel the absence of both players keenly - Amla averaged 62.73 in ten Tests in India, while Steyn took 26 Test wickets at 21.38 across three tours to India - but Prince, along with spin-bowling consultant Paul Adams and high-performance manager Vincent Barnes, have been working with the next generation to try and fill the breach.

Among the players in the camp were Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Theunis de Bruyn, as well as promising young batsmen Zubayr Hamza, Janneman Malan, Sinethemba Qeshile, Pieter Malan, Eddie Moore and Matthew Breetzke.

"We are looking at both [physical and mental] aspects to playing spin," Prince, who played 66 Tests and 52 ODIs for South Africa - captaining the Test team twice - said. "It's about being able to understand that a good spinner on a surface providing spin will go past the outside edge and beat your bat."

Offspinner Dane Piedt and spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy, who have been named in South Africa's Test squad, and left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin, who is part of the T20 squad, were also in the spin camp, as were Tsepo Ndwandwa, Thomas Kaber, Dyllan Matthews and George Linde.

"We obviously have come here for young players to experience some of the conditions," Prince said. "What we try to do is to pass on our learnings, but we have some local coaches helping us here. Even the spin coach has years of experience to associate the idea of local conditions. It's basically to feed the young guys as much information as possible."

Rahul Dravid, who was recently appointed head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru by the BCCI, has been asked to appear before the board's ethics officer Justice (retired) DK Jain over allegations of conflict of interest. According to PTI, Dravid will be meeting Justice Jain in person in Mumbai on September 26.

Dravid's possible conflict of interest had been put in the spotlight by Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. Gupta said taking charge of the NCA will put Dravid in a conflict of interest situation since he is also employed by India Cements, which is owned by the former BCCI president N Srinivasan. Justice Jain will now adjudicate on the matter, even though the CoA is of the view that Dravid is not in conflict since he has frozen his employment with India Cements.

Also read: Conflict-of-interest rule has to be 'practical', says Sourav Ganguly

The conflict of interest issue has been in focus of late, with a number of high-profile former cricketers being called into question. Sourav Ganguly, Dravid's former India team-mate, who was found to be in conflict of interest recently, said last week that the BCCI had to make the conflict rule more "practical" and allow people to perform multiple roles. VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar are among the other big names in Indian cricket to find themselves in similar situations of late.

"I wouldn't say an exception be made to the rule [for celebrated former players but] the rule has to be practical," Ganguly said at an event in Mumbai. "And what is conflict of interest? Today Rahul Dravid is appointed NCA head and there are issues about his conflict of interest of his job with India Cements. So you've got to be practical on that. You never know whether you will become NCA head or not, three years later you may not remain NCA head, but these [other] jobs are permanent and these jobs remain with you. So it has got to be practically solved - even when you do commentary or coaching, I don't see it as a conflict of interest."

Ganguly's roles came into question as he is president of the Cricket Association of Bengal, as well as on the coaching staff of the IPL team Delhi Capitals, and has also been doing media work as a commentator and columnist.

Cricket South Africa has extended its commercial deal with Global Sports Commerce for the Mzansi Super League for another four years.

GSC, which is headquartered in Singapore but has an affiliate office in Johannesburg, was the official commercial and broadcast partner for the inaugural MSL in 2018. The new agreement which runs from 2019 to 2023 grants GSC all commercial rights to the MSL, excluding the teams, and makes GSC the official broadcast and digital rights holder outside South Africa.

GSC has various partnerships with global and Indian brands, and also had a hand in broadcasting the last edition of the Pakistan Super League.

Closer to home, however, CSA have confirmed that local broadcast rights for the second season of the MSL will remain with SABC, South Africa's public broadcaster. The embattled broadcaster last month secured a R 3.2 billion (approx $210 million) bailout from the government but will provide little to no commercial value to CSA locally - making overseas partnerships all the more important.

"It gives us great pleasure to extend our partnership with GSC," CSA Chief Executive Thabang Moroe said. "They are a significant global brand that has put its faith in our administration, our governance and our players for a considerable period of time.

"As their name indicates, GSC have a global sporting presence as a major player in the organization of sporting events around the world and already have considerable experience of South African sport through their investment in Megapro and Megaview," Moroe said. "They made a significant contribution to getting the MSL off to a winning start last year and will again play a major role as we build on those advances in MSL 2.0."

"GSC is delighted to be associated with the MSL," GSC's chief executive MS Muralidharan said. "We see this as a milestone sports asset for Africa as the sole and exclusive International Commercial Partner across Television, Digital, and Event Sponsorship.

"The GSC family, including its South Africa-based affiliates, Megapro and Megaview, will bring to the event its global technology expertise with cutting edge technologies in Television/Content Production, Event Presentation and Immersive fan experience."

Carli Lloyd thinks it's "insane" that video of her making a 55-yard field goal during a visit with the Philadelphia Eagles went viral last week, but she's confident a woman could be successful as a kicker in the NFL.

"I'm laughing about it, but the more I think about it, this has the chance to be sort of a pioneering moment for women," the U.S. women's soccer star told NBCSports.com, adding that "I know that I could probably do it."

Lloyd, a die-hard Eagles fan, visited the team's camp Tuesday, where Philadelphia was holding a joint practice with the Ravens, and kicked 40-yard field goals flawlessly and hit the 55-yarder that drew widespread attention. Lloyd told NBCSports.com that she tried from as far away as 57 yards "but it was wide; distance was good." She said she would have kept trying, "but I felt like I was holding them up" at practice.

Lloyd told Sports Illustrated's "Planet Futbol TV" last week that she had received some inquiries from NFL teams after her performance but didn't provide specifics.

"The mindset I have, I think with practice, I know I have to work on my steps and my technique, but I think I could do it and do it well. It could be a huge pivotal moment. There is no reason why a woman could not do this," she told NBCSports.com.

Lloyd noted to NBCSports.com that she has "one of the most accurate shots" in women's soccer.

"Big thing would be getting used to the big boys out there. But nothing scares me. You hold yourself back if you're afraid. What's the worst that can happen? I don't make the team? Let's just say I did try. Maybe I change the landscape a lot," she said.

The 37-year-old Lloyd, from nearby Delran, New Jersey, scored three goals in the 2019 World Cup and has 113 in her career, seventh all time in women's soccer history. She's a two-time FIFA Player of the Year and a two-time World Cup champion.

Former Pro Bowl fullback Le'Ron McClain complained of head issues related to football and asked the league for help in a series of tweets since Saturday.

"I have to get my head checked. Playing fullback since high school. Its takes too f---ing much to do anything. My brain is f---ing tired," he tweeted from @LeRon_McClain33. "@NFL i need some help with this s---. Dark times and its showing. F---ing help me please!! They dont care I had to get lawyers man!"

McClain played for the Ravens, Chiefs and Chargers in a seven-year NFL career. He made the Pro Bowl in 2008 and '09 while with Baltimore. Also playing running back in 2008, he rushed for a career-high 902 yards with 10 touchdowns.

McClain, 34, was a fourth-round draft pick of the Ravens in 2007 out of Alabama.

On Saturday, he also tweeted: "Need to tell my story of how my head is crazy and how football did it.... Please someone help me get this out the @NFL puts paperwork in out faces and thats it. Yes its programs f--- all that I need help now I need a plan..... F--- Man. They dont f---ing get it man."

McClain's complaints come after a federal judge overseeing the $1 billion NFL concussion settlement terminated three of four lawyers serving as class counsel in May.

The order came just weeks after a hearing to air complaints about new rules that limit the doctors who can evaluate retired players for dementia and other brain injuries. Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody said she imposed the 150-miles-from-home rule to thwart doctor shopping and potential fraud alleged by the NFL as the more than $1 billion settlement fund is disbursed.

She named New York lawyer Christopher Seeger as the only attorney left who can handle issues on behalf of the 20,000-member class.

Outgoing class counsel Gene Locks told The Associated Press the order "extinguishes any remaining hope'' that clients will be protected as they move through the contentious medical testing and award process. He told Brody at a hearing this month that there aren't enough qualified neurologists, neuropsychologists and subspecialists taking part in the program to meet the close-to-home rule.

Seeger, in a statement, vowed to "continue to fight on behalf of former players and their families to ensure that they receive every benefit they deserve under the settlement.''

The players' lawsuits had alleged the NFL long hid what it knew about the neurological risks of playing after concussions. The fund is meant to last for 65 years. The awards in the first two years of payouts alone reached $500 million this month, while another $160 million in awards has been approved but not yet paid.

The plan offers retired players baseline testing and compensation of up to $5 million for the most serious illnesses linked to football concussions, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and deaths involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Of the 872 awards paid to date, the average payout is just under $575,000, according to a claims administrator's report this month.

McClain argued that his position was also holding him back from getting help.

"Watch how fast they come to aid if I was som3 QB or anything but no I was f---ing fullback that did it all," he tweeted Saturday. "@NFL I need help and i need the process to speed the f--- up Im about to crash out and its paperwork I dont wanna hear it. F--- man im done.... Im out."

A number of high-profile cases have brought attention to NFL head injuries and CTE. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau died by a self-inflicted gunshot, as did former Bears great Dave Duerson. After being convicted of murder and hanging himself in prison, former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found to have CTE in a postmortem exam.

After people reached out on Twitter expressing concern for McClain, he tweeted: "Man had a moment but just know Imma fight this thing and block it like im blocking 60 Pwr on the goaline. We gonna score!!!! I got this. Its just LiFE. #AlphaMental.... Thank you to my biscuit lol. Control what I control."

But then Monday morning he expressed discomfort again: "Nights like this are the worst..... I cannot sleep... My anxiety is up... real talk im a f---ing mess. Like whats wrong with me man. Come on bro!!!! Smh...... Please just Pray for me! GodWinz GodWinz!!!!!!!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lincoln Riley's voice drips with contempt. The 35-year-old Oklahoma Sooners coach is describing a failed play -- from 1999. It's not surprising that he can remember the details. His high school coach swears that Riley has a photographic memory, says he could watch film once and predict what the opposing team was going to do, on offense and on defense.

But this play? Heck, it didn't even count. It was a slant pass late in a scrimmage, intended only to set up an easy TD for a senior wide receiver who didn't play much. And though the ball was on the money, a perfect spiral, it sailed right through the receiver's hands. "That's why the guy didn't play," Riley says, squinting at the memory. Even worse: The deflection floated straight to an opposing linebacker, who picked it off and sprinted back upfield. Now the QB was really pissed off. Here we go, he thought, throwing an interception because we're trying to get this kid a touchdown.

That quarterback was Riley himself, at the time a sophomore at Muleshoe High School. The Mules were playing Palo Duro at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo, Texas. And even though it was a scrimmage, and the play meaningless, none of that mattered in the moment to the 15-year-old QB with a competitive streak. Riley, who also played defensive end, chased the linebacker down the sideline until he caught him, then tackled him.

"I cleaned him up pretty good," Riley says. They both went down hard. But when Riley tried to get up, he couldn't feel his right arm. It was dislocated. "All busted up."

Surgery didn't heal the shoulder completely. And though Riley managed the Mules' offense well enough throwing sidearm to lead Muleshoe to the state semifinals as a senior, "I was never the same thrower after that," he says.

Twenty years later, Riley recalls this story from a leather couch framed by three giant Gothic arches in the middle of an ornate office the size of a hotel lobby. At either end of the couch, on wood tables, rest the two most recent Heisman Trophies, awarded to Riley's past two quarterbacks. Kyler Murray's is on his right, Baker Mayfield's to his left.

Mind you, Riley's not pulling an Uncle Rico, ruing what might have been if he could only fling that ol' pigskin around like he used to. He's marveling at how there's no way he'd be on this couch, in this office, between these Heismans, if he hadn't been "lucky" enough to destroy his shoulder, give up on his dreams and start chasing a different one.

And, so far, it is like a dream. Those end-table Heismans stand as twin monuments to his first two seasons as the Sooners' coach, among the most successful debuts in college football history: two years, two Big 12 titles, two College Football Playoff appearances, two Heismans, two quarterbacks picked first in the NFL draft in Mayfield and Murray.

Ever since Riley arrived in Norman, Oklahoma, everything has seemingly broken his way. He took over a storied program from Bob Stoops, the school's winningest coach, and inherited a roster of blue-chip recruits.

He has lived a charmed football life. He's been lucky and he's been good. But now, as his Sooners prepare for a season of great expectations, there's one question that looms largest: How long can his good fortune last?

IN 2002, LINCOLN RILEY still desperately wanted to be a college quarterback -- but that old busted-up arm limited his options. He could try to chase a starting job at a smaller school like West Texas A&M and hope a college staff could help him regain his throwing form. He could blaze a trail from Muleshoe (population: 5,000) to the Ivy League, where he had offers. Or he could try to walk on at Texas Tech, the big-time program 65 miles down U.S. 84 from home.

Two years earlier, Mike Leach had brought a high-scoring spread offense to Lubbock and renounced three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football. His teams immediately began averaging upward of 50 pass attempts per game, leading the nation.

Leach's offense -- the Air Raid, which he'd learned as an assistant under Hal Mumme at Iowa Wesleyan -- was a deceptively simple, high-scoring scheme built on repetition. Leach didn't much care who the opponent was or what type of defense it ran. He called the same plays regardless and asked his QBs to air it out and get the ball to the right player. Forget the Ivies. This was the kind of enlightenment Riley sought.

Riley walked on at Tech -- and made the team. Aiding Riley's cause: Leach values smarts in his QBs as much as he does physical attributes. "Riley had a brain that wouldn't stop. He sees things once and remembers it," says David Wood, his high school coach. "I thought he might end up working at NASA."

Still, the quarterback room that year was crowded: Kliff Kingsbury, who threw for more than 5,000 yards as a senior in 2002 and set seven NCAA records in his three years as a starter at Tech, was the test pilot of the Air Raid in Lubbock, proving it could fly. Also in that room: B.J. Symons, who would set the NCAA passing record with 5,833 yards in 2003, and Sonny Cumbie and Cody Hodges, who would each pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season as Red Raiders starters.

One other problem for Riley: "He was awful," says Houston coach Dana Holgorsen, Tech's inside receivers coach in 2002. "It was so bad that me and [outside receivers coach] Sonny Dykes called an intervention with Leach. We said, 'What are you doing? Team morale is low because you're giving this kid reps. Our receivers are running routes knowing there's zero chance the ball is gonna get to them.'"

Leach argued that while Riley didn't have the arm the other QBs did, he had a high football IQ. "As a player, he asked questions all the time," Dykes, now the SMU coach, says of Riley. "He probably wasn't a good enough player to ask all those questions, but it never bothered anybody because he was so eager."

And so it was that Leach asked Riley to hang up his pads and become a student assistant, his right-hand man. Riley recoiled at first. He could have kept rehabbing, stuck around and become the third-string quarterback his sophomore year.

But after he mulled it over for a day or two, Riley saw the opportunity for what it was. He accepted it, became an ex-player -- and, at 19, joined an FBS staff. He would spend the next seven years on the Red Raiders' sideline, graduating to graduate assistant in 2006 before becoming the youngest full-time assistant in the country, according to Leach, when he was named receivers coach in 2007, earning a rep along the way as an innovator.

"A lot of assistants are just conveyor-belt guys, and whatever you tell them, they'll keep punching out license plates," Leach says. "But [Riley] could figure out how to get the license plates out quicker and more efficiently."

By 2006, that staff (and roster) had been filled with future coaching stars: Kingsbury, Holgorsen, Dykes, North Texas head coach Seth Littrell, USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, TCU offensive coordinator Cumbie. There was just one more problem: No one was getting jobs elsewhere. Leach was unconventional on and off the field, with game-plan meetings that started at midnight, quarterbacks throwing the ball all over the place. Rival athletic directors weren't sure his success could be replicated -- or didn't have the guts to try.

Then, in the wake of another bit of misfortune, came Riley's second lucky break. Leach was fired in December 2009 -- a week before the Alamo Bowl -- after being accused of mistreating receiver Adam James after a concussion.

Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill was named interim coach for the bowl game. McNeill says it took "about 30 seconds, if that long" to name Riley his offensive coordinator. And in the most watched bowl game in ESPN history at the time (Leach's firing drawing an audience of rubberneckers), Tech beat Michigan State 41-31, with Riley calling all the offensive plays for the Red Raiders. Afterward, when the entire staff was fired, East Carolina hired McNeill as head coach. He brought Riley and entrusted him with full control of his offense.

Just like that, at 27 years old, Riley was an offensive coordinator. And a few years later, when Stoops decided his Oklahoma offense needed a jolt, he fired up his computer, looked up the top offenses in the country and alighted upon East Carolina. "I started researching him," Stoops says, "and realized just how far down the road Lincoln was with Mike."

And if his team hadn't been among the top 15 offenses that week ... well, who knows?

"It's crazy," Riley says now. "If any one out of a hundred things had been different, then it probably changes the course of the whole thing."

When Stoops hired Riley in January 2015, his red-dirt Air Raid education proved the football equivalent of a musical prodigy going to Juilliard. Muleshoe to Norman is a flat five-hour drive by car but an even bigger leap on the coaching ladder. Riley was an instant success as offensive coordinator at OU, so much so that one day in June 2017 Stoops decided to hand over the whole dang thing to Riley and abruptly step aside. Riley's introductory news conference as head coach was so hastily announced that his parents didn't have time to make the trip from Muleshoe to Norman.

Stoops, mind you, didn't hang it up to get out of Dodge. He says he simply believed in Riley and thought the kid who grew up a Longhorns fan should become the coach at Oklahoma before someone else got to him first.

And now, two years later, Riley -- fresh off the record-setting seasons by Mayfield and Murray -- has become the most coveted coach in football.

Since Riley's arrival in 2015, Oklahoma is 33-3 in the Big 12 (with four conference titles) and 46-8 overall, trailing only Alabama (55-4), Clemson (55-4) and Ohio State (48-6) in that span. He has routinely batted away questions about interest from the NFL, specifically the Dallas Cowboys, and landed a five-year contract extension in January, bumping his annual salary at OU to $6 million.

It's good to be Lincoln Riley. At least it has been so far.

Only now Riley faces arguably his greatest challenge: trying to mold a national championship team around his most-unlikely-next-great-QB.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP game in 2018 was not the best day for Jalen Hurts. After Georgia held him to 21 yards passing and zero points in the first half of that game, Hurts lost his starting QB job at Alabama to Tua Tagovailoa. Eleven months later, though, Riley made a point of praising Hurts before OU's College Football Playoff matchup against the Crimson Tide, saying he "could not be more impressed" with how Hurts handled his benching and subsequent season as a backup, calling himself "a big fan of the kid" from afar.

It was hardly a random compliment -- perhaps even akin to tipping his hand.

A few weeks later, when Hurts announced that he intended to transfer, Riley began recruiting him in earnest. The courtship was frantic -- Hurts also visited Maryland and Miami and drew interest from Auburn, Ohio State and Florida State -- and was consummated during a furtive eight-hour visit to Norman, coupled with "a lot of phone time," Riley says. "There were a lot of long conversations, trying to get to know each other."

The courting of a college transfer is football's version of speed dating. And in running that gauntlet, Riley at the very least will have to prove he can build a championship offense around a QB demoted by the Crimson Tide.

They'll have their arguments: For one, Hurts lacks the deep-ball touch Mayfield and Murray had; in 28 games as Alabama's starter, he completed just 33 percent of throws of 20 or more yards, despite a surrounding cast of NFL talent. And according to ESPN's new PlayStation Player Impact Rating, which evaluates a player against an average replacement, Murray was worth 22 points per game last season and Hurts was worth just six, presuming the same playing time. (Oklahoma won five games by 10 or fewer points in 2018.)

While Riley's two previous QBs both came to Norman as transfers -- Mayfield and Murray each spent three seasons with Riley -- Hurts will also have had all of 7½ months to learn Riley's offense before the Sooners' Sept. 1 season opener. And in running that gauntlet, Riley at the very least has invited a season full of second-guessing from critics who'll question whether he can build a championship offense around a QB demoted by the Crimson Tide.

On the other hand -- well, there are many fingers on the other hand.

Start with Riley's offense, which might not be as ill-suited to Hurts as it first seems. Riley's version of the Air Raid layers in run schemes to use the wealth of talent the Sooners attract on the offensive line and at running back. "Now he has a quarterback who's built like a running back," Kingsbury says. "I could see them calling more runs, schematic things, play-action. Riley will find a way to let [Hurts] make plays with his feet."

As for Hurts' perceived failures at Alabama? Let's just say that Riley and Hurts' former coach, 67-year-old Nick Saban, have strikingly different styles. (Hurts shares stories about Saban "every now and then," Riley says. "We've had some funny conversations.") Says Kingsbury: "Lincoln has a way of seeing it from the quarterback's perspective. He gives his quarterbacks free rein, goal line to goal line. There aren't many coaches who are willing to do that."

Meanwhile, Hurts arrives in Norman more accomplished than any other QB Riley has coached. Mayfield began as a walk-on. Murray threw just five TDs and seven interceptions in a tumultuous freshman season at Texas A&M before transferring. Hurts has a 14-2 record against ranked teams and was SEC Offensive Player of the Year as a freshman.

"It's not like starting with a blank slate," Riley says of Hurts. "This guy's played a lot of football. He's got the qualities to do everything we want to do in our offense."

GRANTED, SOME BELIEVE the same could be said of Austin Kendall, who, after signing with Oklahoma in 2015 and riding the bench behind Mayfield and Murray, was the Sooners' presumptive next man up at QB until Hurts arrived. Kendall, in turn, transferred to West Virginia and was granted a waiver by OU for immediate eligibility. He's been named the Mountaineers' starting quarterback and could start when West Virginia visits the Sooners on Oct. 19.

But no matter who's calling the signals, the standard Riley will have to better is the one he set for himself, coaching two Heisman winners and No. 1 draft picks -- even though his teams have come up short in the games that matter most. Under Riley, OU has been good enough to win just about every game except the ones against Alabama and Georgia. Losing in the playoff again would be a plateau. Missing the playoff altogether would be a major step back.

Rest assured, that is not in Riley's plans. At the Big 12 media day in July, a reporter asked him: "You lost [Murray] and four NFL offensive linemen. I assume your offense is going to dip. ... Can the defense pick up the slack?" Riley leveled his gaze: "We don't plan on the offense dipping. And we definitely expect our defense to be better."

Later in a media scrum, someone else pressed Riley on the Heisman question: Can he win -- and finally beat Alabama and Georgia -- without the country's best quarterback?

Again, here came that squint, and a hint of contempt. That 15-year-old QB with a competitive streak? He has merely been replaced by a 35-year-old coach with the same. And once again, Lincoln Riley had the last word.

"We've lost the Heisman Trophy winner and done it before," Riley said, leveling his gaze again. "I think we have a pretty good handle on it."

SYDNEY -- Order restored. After losing for the first time in nearly 13 years two days earlier, the United States rebounded to outclass Canada 84-68 in a pre-World Cup exhibition basketball game Monday.

At the same arena where the Americans won Olympic gold at the Sydney 2000 Games the U.S. never trailed, leading 20-9 after the first quarter and 46-31 at halftime.

On Saturday, Australia stunned the U.S. 98-94 before a crowd of more than 52,000 in Melbourne, a result that ended the Americans' 78-game winning streak.

The U.S. is missing top NBA players such as LeBron James, James Harden, Paul George and Stephen Curry. It was a dour scoring game after the exciting Saturday result in Melbourne, with both teams committing numerous turnovers Monday.

Jaylen Brown had 19 points to lead the Americans, who out-rebounded Canada 55-37. Donovan Mitchell added 12 points and four assists; Kemba Walker scored 12 points and Myles Turner finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

"We have to speed up that learning curve," Brown said of the Americans with less than a week to go before the World Cup starts. "We have a lot of room for growth. It's going to be good when it comes together, the sky is the limit for this group."

Kyle Wiltjer had 21 points for Canada, while Orlando Magic forward Khem Birch -- Canada's lone NBA player in the game -- had 13 points and six rebounds.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but we've enjoyed our time here," Wiltjer said. "Let's not forget these are practice games."

Overall, the Canadians shot just 35% from the field and 6-for-23 (26%) from three-point range.

Andrew Nembhard, who injured his knee last week, and Kaza Kajami-Keane (ankle) both returned for Canada, while Brady Heslip, a late arrival for the Canadians, played his first game in Australia.

The last time the Americans lost a game -- counting major international tournaments and exhibitions with NBA players on the floor -- was the semifinals of the 2006 world championships. The American team has won gold in every competition since, including three straight in the Olympics and two consecutive World Cup titles.

Canada has also been hit hard by missing NBA players, with Miami Heat's Kelly Olynyk the latest big-name player to pull out after sustaining a knee injury.

TIP-INS

Canada: It was the third head-to-head meeting between Canada coach Nick Nurse and U.S. coach Gregg Popovich. They went 1-1 against each other in NBA play last season, Nurse's Toronto Raptors losing in San Antonio on Jan. 3 but beating Popovich's Spurs in Canada on Feb. 22. Canada finished 4-3 in its pre-World Cup exhibitions, starting with a split of a two-game series with Nigeria before five games in Australia.

USA: The Americans finished their four-game World Cup warm-up tour 3-1 after beating Spain and splitting two games with Australia. The U.S. is planning to stay in Sydney until mid-week, then arrive in Shanghai early Thursday.

NURSE TOUR

Nurse is getting the full tour of the other side of the world this year. The Canadians have been in Australia for a week or so, and now head to China for the World Cup. Then, Nurse will be in Japan when the world champion Raptors (albeit now without NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard) play preseason games against Houston on Oct. 8 and Oct. 10.

KUZMA DEPARTURE

Popovich was disappointed that Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma's left ankle injury meant he wouldn't be able to compete in the World Cup. The Americans sent Kuzma home Saturday with the injury, a move that finalized the 12-man U.S. roster. They were in Australia with 13 finalists for 12 World Cup spots. "It's a huge disappointment, because he was a young, energetic guy who was really learning and could play a lot of positions for us," Popovich said. "Hopefully he'll heal quickly."

UP NEXT

Canada: Opens World Cup play Sept. 1 vs. Australia in Dongguan, China.

USA: Opens World Cup play Sept. 1 vs. Czech Republic in Shanghai.

Which players should be the favorites for NBA MVP in 2019-20?

In the latest edition of the ESPN summer forecast, our panel predicted 2018-19 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as having the best chance to win the award. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry finished second, with Curry and Giannis getting more than half of the first-place votes. But multiple players were strongly considered in the running, including LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard.

Which players are being most underrated in the MVP race? Who will be the next first-time MVP? And what are the key things to watch in this race?

Our NBA experts break down the results.

1. What's your biggest takeaway from the voting?

Kevin Pelton: The MVP race, like the season in general, is wide open. That's a lot of different players getting first-place votes and nobody at even one-third of the vote, which shows a lot of disagreement over what to expect.

Bobby Marks: That the best player in the NBA ranked No. 7. Kawhi Leonard has played more than 70 games only twice in his eight-year career, but the NBA Finals MVP should be more than an afterthought in this race. We can certainly blame load management as a reason for these results, but remember that Embiid missed 18 games last season.

Royce Young: For a former winner and last season's runner-up, James Harden just does not seem to generate the kind of MVP attention one would expect. Maybe there's some voter fatigue, maybe it's because of his new MVP-level teammate, maybe it's a stylistic thing, but Harden is going to have another monster season and the Rockets are going to win a lot of games. One would think that would earn him a couple preseason votes.

Tim MacMahon: I can hear the cries coming from Houston about a bias against James Harden. Frankly, I don't see any reasonable explanation for Harden just barely cracking this list. After all, he has been among the top two in MVP voting in four of the past five seasons and has been out of the top five only twice during his seven-year run with the Rockets. There certainly aren't any signs of decline in Harden's game, considering that his scoring average soared almost six points per game last season, when he was coming off an MVP campaign. It's a safe bet that Harden will put up huge numbers in efficient fashion for a contender, maintaining his status as a perennial MVP candidate.

André Snellings: My biggest takeaway is just how many legitimate MVP candidates we have going into the season. Last season, my preseason MVP race had only Giannis Antetokounmpo (my pick), James Harden and LeBron James as serious contenders. This season, I could legitimately see any of the top nine vote-getters winning, with some others not even on the list that should be in consideration. This shapes up to be the wildest, most wide-open NBA season that I can remember.

2. Whose MVP chances are most underrated?

Snellings: The obvious choice for most underrated chances is James Harden, who has finished top two in three straight MVP votes and four of the past five but is currently ninth on this list. However, I'll go off the board a bit and say Damian Lillard. Lillard has led the Trail Blazers to consecutive top-three finishes in the Western Conference, has quietly finished in the top six in consecutive MVP votes, and is at the absolute peak of his powers. He had some marquee Dame-Time moments in the playoffs to put him on the map, has made headlines this offseason by speaking against the super team movement and he dropped a fire rap album. If he leads the Trail Blazers to a top seed again, he'll be in strong MVP contention.

Marks: Anthony Davis. A tumultuous season that included a left-hand injury and a trade demand in late January saw Davis play a career-low 56 games. However, don't forget that Davis is a three-time All-NBA first-team selection (2015, 2017 and 2018) and joins a Lakers team that is one of the favorites to reach the NBA Finals. If Davis can display his dominance from his two prior seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18) when he averaged 28 PPG and 11.4 RPG, the 26-year-old could come away with his first MVP trophy.

Young: A player not receiving any votes, Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz are going to be a premier Western Conference team this season, and with Mike Conley alongside to ease some of the ball-handling burden, Mitchell can settle more into a comfortable scoring role. If the Jazz finish second in the West, Mitchell is going to generate buzz. He was primed for a leap year last season and it didn't quite happen -- he was very good still, just not quite as good as some expected -- but in year three, there's a chance it all comes together for him. Those who have been around him this summer at USA camp have been extremely impressed and see big things for Mitchell this season.

Pelton: James Harden. Yes, his stats are unlikely to be as impressive with the arrival of Russell Westbrook, who could split the vote. But Harden has finished either first or second in voting four times in the past five years and the Rockets could be improved from last season. (Our projections based on real plus-minus have Houston finishing with the league's best record on average.) I'm stunned he got so little support.

MacMahon: I don't want to harp too much on Harden being so low, but he's the easy answer here. I mean, the dude is coming off one of the best individual offensive seasons in NBA history. (Not to go full Daryl Morey, but that's fact, not opinion. Only a handful of players have averaged 35-plus points per game in a season, and Harden had the best true shooting percentage and most assists of the bunch by a wide margin.) And Harden is in the middle of his prime.

3. Which player in top five has the most challenging path to winning MVP?

Marks: Joel Embiid. The easy answer would be to tab Steph Curry here based on the loss of Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson sitting on the sidelines for a good portion of the season. However, No. 4-ranked Embiid faces multiple challenges heading into the season. For starters, while Al Horford will start alongside Embiid, coach Brett Brown has an insurance policy with the former Celtic. Expect Horford to see plenty of minutes at center when Embiid is either in foul trouble or if the 76ers take a proactive approach monitoring his minutes.

Speaking of those minutes, the big question this season (and if Embiid is in the MVP conversation) comes down to fitness and health management. While Embiid has averaged 32 minutes in the previous two seasons, the center has missed 37 games in 2017-18 and 2018-19 -- most of those coming on the second end of a back-to-back.

MacMahon: Embiid, just because all signs are that load management will be a priority for the 76ers' big man, as it should be. After adding Al Horford, Philadelphia has the luxury of resting Embiid for 20 or so games during the regular season. That's a smart plan for a team that expects to make a long playoff run and needs Embiid as healthy as possible to maximize title odds, but it's difficult to justify giving MVP votes to a guy who sits so often.

Young: LeBron James. First, his age and the complications of an 82-game schedule will impact it. LeBron's overall motivation could be questioned last season, but his motivation to win the MVP has been in doubt for a number of seasons. He already has tried to give Anthony Davis his number anyway, and since he has to wait a year, he may try to make up for it by helping win Davis the MVP.

Pelton: Joel Embiid. I suspect the Sixers intend to manage Embiid's playing time more during the regular season given the way his knee soreness lingered into the 2019 playoffs. With Al Horford around, Philadelphia has another proven All-Star capable of sliding over to center. Besides reducing Embiid's minutes, Horford's presence also probably means that Embiid won't have quite the same impact in terms of the team's performance when he's on the court as opposed to on the bench.

Snellings: Anthony Davis has the most challenging path, because he has to contend with teammate LeBron James for votes. I wrote in spring of 2018 that Davis was peaking, and thus ready to challenge hard core for the MVP, and his production last season supported such a contention before things went off the rails in New Orleans. This season, he would have the perfect MVP narrative as a peaking player who joins a new team and likely boosts that squad way up the rankings. The only problem is, four-time MVP LeBron was there first, is the face of the franchise right now, and it may be difficult for Davis to do enough to win the narrative argument over the King.

4. Who will be the next first-time MVP?

MacMahon: Nikola Jokic has the best shot over the next few years, but I'll go with Luka Doncic down the road. He just had the most productive season by a teenager in NBA history and appears to have followed that up by working his (previously too big) butt off this summer, based on pics he posted on Instagram. Doncic can probably be a perennial All-Star with a puffy body, but how seriously he takes strength and conditioning will determine his ceiling. A sleek version of Doncic should develop into a perennial MVP candidate, particularly if the Mavs can build a contender around Kristaps Porzingis and him.

Pelton: Anthony Davis. As tempted as I was to pick Luka Doncic, I think Davis is the choice given he could win as soon as this season while Doncic's chances are realistically a few years away. As LeBron ages, AD has the chance to emerge as the leading contender on a Lakers team that should be in contention in the West.

Young: As long as we're not talking Finals MVP, it's Kawhi Leonard. Two main reasons: (1) he's too good -- and too complete of a player -- to not win one, and (2) the LA Clippers are going to be extremely good.

Marks: Nikola Jokic. Not only does the best team in the NBA reside in Denver but so does one of the favorites for MVP -- Jokic. While the 24-year-old (and Denver) will not be able to play the underdog role this season, the center could average a triple-double during the season -- something that has never been done by a center. The best passing big man in the NBA has seen his assists increase from 2.4 his rookie season to a career-high 7.2 last season. If there is a stumbling block, it could come down to Denver monitoring his minutes in the early portion of the season. After playing into mid-May, Jokic has had little time off as he leads Serbia into the World Cup. With training camp starting in late September and international play ending Sept. 15, Jokic could have little rest before the NBA season starts.

Snellings: Joel Embiid is the next first-time MVP, and may legitimately take it home this season. Davis, Lillard, Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard are all strong candidates as well, but Embiid has the game, the motivation after the way that the 76ers came oh-so-close but didn't quite make it last season, and the team around him that is strong enough to contend but that doesn't have any other primary scoring options to muddy the vote. This leads to a scenario in which Embiid will get the lion share of the points and the credit if the 76ers succeed, and they have a team that looks poised to push hard for the top seed in the Eastern Conference this season.

5. Who is your preseason MVP pick and why?

Snellings: For the second straight season, my preseason pick for MVP is Giannis Antetokounmpo. He is such a unique talent, and even though he took over the NBA as I predicted last season, he still is only 24 years old and, in his own words, is still only at about 60 percent of his potential as a player. Add that he is one of the most obviously motivated players in the NBA, that he has improved in every season and that he also feels that he has unfinished business after his Bucks came just short last season, and only injury or distraction from his upcoming super-max extension discussions next summer loom as potential obstacles from him hoisting the MVP trophy two years in a row.

MacMahon: I went with Steph Curry. He's the clear-cut focal point of the Warriors' offense again, and Curry won back-to-back MVPs the last two seasons that was the case, the latter coming by a unanimous vote. The biggest concern about Curry is his durability. He played 79 games in each of his MVP seasons but has missed a total of 43 games over the past two years.

Young: Kawhi Leonard. There's a considerable chance the Clippers finish as the West's best team, and he's their best player. Those things typically combine to form a leading MVP candidate. The primary thing that kept Leonard from the conversation last season was load management, but he says he's set to play more games this season. And if that's the case and Leonard plays 70-plus, he'll be a leader -- and quite possibly, the winner.

Marks: It would be a surprise if Jokic is not leading the MVP race when we get to the quarter mark of the season. Not only do the Nuggets carry the label of team continuity -- 12 players return, including five starters -- but the team has an early season advantage with their schedule. The Nuggets face 13 teams below .500 in the first 20 games and will have a total of 19 (out of 33 total) home games before we reach Jan. 1. Factor in, too, that Jokic will be front and center when it comes to exposure. The Nuggets will have 24 games on national TV this season -- last season they had 18.

Pelton: Giannis. The conditions that helped him win MVP last season are still in place. He's not competing for votes with any other teammate and -- RPM projection aside -- the Bucks have an excellent chance of posting the league's best record in the weaker Eastern Conference. Antetokounmpo will have to battle the high bar he set last season, but I think the notion that voters are reluctant to vote for the previous winner is overstated at best.

Milwaukee Brewers slugger Christian Yelich, world No. 1 golfer Brooks Koepka and the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive line are among the athletes featured in the final print edition of ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue.

The magazine hits newsstands on Sept. 6, its final appearance in print after 21 years. ESPN announced in April the magazine would continue online with the same types of stories.

Joining Eagles offensive linemates Brandon Brooks, Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, Isaac Seumalo and Halapoulivaati Vaitai in posing are Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints.

Others appearing in the Body issue include Oklahoma City guard Chris Paul, Evander Kane of the San Jose Sharks, IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe, WNBA player Liz Cambage, basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, UFC champion Amanda Nunes, former UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi and soccer player Kelley O'Hara.

Photos from the Body issue will be available online Sept. 4.

IAAF series undergoes changes ‘to become stronger and more relevant to athletes and fans’

The Weltklasse Zurich meeting is to host the 2020 and 2021 IAAF Diamond League finals under the already-announced new one-final format.

The Diamond League was established in 2010 with two finals, traditionally held in Zurich and Brussels, but for the next two years a single final will take place in the Swiss city.

From 2022 to 2024 the final is set to rotate annually as all meetings will be invited to apply to host it.

The announcement follows details of changes to the format of the IAAF series which will incorporate 13 meetings, including the final, from next year.

The Diamond League finals will feature a 150-minute international broadcast window, which is an hour longer than the regular season meetings which will move to a 90-minute international broadcast, featuring a tailored programme of disciplines.

Each meeting can add extra events to its schedule, outside the core broadcast window, if the organisers wish.

A total of 24 disciplines – 12 male and 12 female events – will run across the 12 meetings during the international broadcast window, with each meeting hosting 12 of the 24 disciplines.

“Zurich has been the home of many of the most extraordinary moments in athletics over more than 90 years, including 25 world records, and we are delighted that it will host the pinnacle one-day meeting of 2020,’’ said IAAF president Sebastian Coe.

“The Diamond League is vital to our future growth as it provides an annual showcase of the very best in athletics, which is why we must ensure that every contest broadcast to the world is of the highest standard.

“We expect the new Diamond League format to be even more thrilling for our global audience as it builds excitement throughout the outdoor season and reaches a crescendo in Zurich.”

The IAAF and current 14 meeting organisers began discussing reforms last year, with a working group said to have since consulted with athletes, fans, broadcasters and partners to identify what needs to change and evolve to keep this annual showcase of athletics relevant and fresh for athletes and fans.

The Diamond League board is set to decide on the full 2020 schedule of 12 regular season meetings at its next session in September.The list of disciplines that will be included in the broadcast window will be decided at the end of the outdoor season.