The Pakistan Cricket Board appears to have made peace with potential conflicts of interest with the appointment of Misbah-ul-Haq as the head coach and chief selector.

Though it has not been made public or official yet, Misbah is also on the verge of becoming the PSL franchise Islamabad United's head coach but the PCB contends that allowing him to coach at the PSL will ultimately be to "Pakistan's benefit". That by itself would represent somewhat of a U-turn by the board, given that PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has, in the recent past, spoken about looking at such cases and acting on it.

The issue had come under the scanner with Misbah's predecessor Mickey Arthur, who was also head coach at Karachi Kings, as well as Azhar Mahmood, who was Pakistan's bowling coach as well as Karachi Kings'.

"We have reviewed the policy and made a strategic decision by allowing Misbah to have coaching exposure elsewhere," Wasim Khan, the PCB chief executive officer, said. "He has been a world-class player, he has captained elite players but he didn't work enough as coach so it's good for him to have coaching opportunities.

"It's for Pakistan's benefit because he will work in high-pressure games and get experience. Otherwise out of 365 days Pakistan is going to play only 42 days of international cricket. For the sake of Pakistan's success and the bigger picture it's good to have him get experience so we have discussed and reviewed it and decided to give him the opportunity."

Mani, who was not part of the board when Arthur took over as Pakistan coach in 2016, had questioned the decision to allow Arthur in both roles at the time. After becoming chairman, Mani took up the issue to try and form a policy against such instances. Mani had said he would look at it on a "case-by-case" basis.

It is understood that PCB has now found middle ground not only with Misbah but a junior team selector, Arshad Khan, who is also head coach of Balochistan, although now with the precedent set, the PCB will not be able to restrict other officials who wish to play such dual roles in both the national set-up and the PSL.

Last year, the PCB, under Mani, had removed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq from the PSL player draft committee because of a potential conflict of interest since he was involved in a talent-hunt programme run by one of the tournament's franchises, Lahore Qalandars. Tauseef Ahmed, who was part of the national selection committee while also serving as Islamabad United's spin coach, was also left out of the PSL draft committee.

Sheldon Jackson has questioned India's selectors over the absence of players from his domestic side Saurashtra in the recent India A squads.

In a series of tweets, the middle-order batsman said it was inexplicable that despite Saurashtra's three Ranji Trophy finals appearances since 2012-13 - including last season - no players from the team were picked for 'A' squads, and wondered whether the selectors attached any importance to the feat.

1/1 Saurashtra has played the ranji trophy finals this year, and surprisingly still no player even after performing at all platforms, dont get picked for the A series. so is the importance of playing the Ranji trophy finals zero.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

2/2 or is that small state sides arnt taken seriously coz in the last 5 years @saucricket has played 3 finals under sitanshu kotaks coaching, (we have some very good performers since recent years with the bat and ball. ) but not got the deserved credit.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

i am told not to question, but i strongly believe that we represent this beautiful organisation and association and we as players surely deserve to know why, and where we lack , orelse our carriers are just to goin to end wondering why. selectors should be transparent.

— Sheldon Jackson (@ShelJackson27) September 2, 2019

Jackson, 32, was part of the Saurashtra team that reached the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 final too, where they lost to Vidarbha in a tightly contested game. He was Saurashtra's leading run-scorer in the season, with 854 runs in 11 matches at an average of 47.44. His tally was the fifth-highest among the Elite teams, comprising Groups A, B and C.

However, he wasn't selected in the squads for the ongoing Duleep Trophy. While team-mates Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Jaydev Unadkat are part of Duleep Trophy, and playing in the final, neither of them was selected in the squads that will face South Africa A in two unofficial Tests later this month.

Wicketkeeper Snell Patel was the other Saurashtra player included in the Duleep Trophy.

Jadeja and Unadkat both had standout seasons in 2018-19. Jadeja took 59 wickets, at an average of 27.16, to top the wicket-takers' charts among the Elite teams. In addition, he also scored 277 runs at an average of 21.30, and struck two half-centuries.

Unadkat, who had also assumed captaincy midway through the season when Jaydev Shah retired, spearheaded the attack with 39 wickets at an average of 17.17. His returns with the bat were modest, but included a vital 46 from No. 10 in the final.

Unadkat last played for India A in the longer format in 2013, while Jadeja has never represented India A.

Jackson has played one game for India A in four-day matches and been part of the Duleep Trophy only once, in 2016-17, when he ended the tournament with 368 runs in five innings at an average of 122.66. His last appearance for India A in a 50-over match was in a warm-up game against an England XI in January 2017, when he scored 59 off 56 as the entire top order came good to chase down 283 in less than 40 overs.

You wouldn't normally think that Boris Johnson and David Warner had much in common. But, as Warner trudged off the pitch at Old Trafford on Wednesday, he could be forgiven for identifying with Johnson and ruing how hard it can be to leave something. Even if you really want to do so.

For the second time this series, Warner had been dismissed trying to leave but failing. Perhaps more revealingly, it was the fifth time in the series - so the fifth time in seven innings (and 87 balls) - he had fallen to Stuart Broad. This time it took Broad only two balls to get him.

That marks quite a turnaround in the head-to-head record between the two players. Going into this series, Broad had taken Warner's wicket only five times in total - that's five times in 29 innings (and 527 balls) - with each wicket costing him 64.80 runs. In this series, Warner's wicket is costing him just 6.40 runs each time.

Key to this change in the balance of power has been Broad's decision to aim more at Warner's stumps. He has, in the past, looked to find the outside edge of Warner's bat. And while he has alternated between bowling round and over the wicket to him, in this series Broad has operated exclusively round the wicket to Warner, angling the ball and testing both edges of the bat. Broad had never previously dismissed Warner while bowling round the wicket.

At the same time, Broad is also bowling fuller than ever. Prompted by the coach and analyst at Nottinghamshire, Broad realised his leave percentage - the number of deliveries which batsmen were able to leave against him - was too high and resolved to bowl fuller more often. He has never exceeded the percentage of full deliveries he has bowled this series in any previous home summer - 37 percent - and, perhaps tellingly, he has never enjoyed a better average (currently 20.39) or strike rate (38.10), either. He reckons he is bowling better - and quicker - than for three or four years. He may be something of an old dog, in cricket terms, but he has shown he has the hunger to learn new tricks.

"Up until this series, Warner has had the better of me, really," Broad admitted ahead of this game. "I'd always focussed on his outside edge thinking running the ball across him would bring in the slips.

"I had a change of mindset in this series a little bit to try and bring the stumps into play more to him. I'm looking to nip it back onto off-stump. Then, if it holds its line, it brings the outside edge into play and that actually limits the scoring options slightly."

There are other factors at play. Conditions in England at present - the pitches, the weather and the balls - have all combined to make life desperately tough for opening batsmen of both sides. Over the last two seasons, opening batsmen in Tests in England dare averaging a meagre 22 - almost half the figure it was between 2000 and 2009 when it was 40 - with the England bowlers mastering the wobble-seam delivery that gives the batsmen few of the clues of conventional swing or seam bowling. You have to go back to 1932 to find a summer in which opening batsmen have averaged lower.

"I don't want to take too much credit for out-thinking him or anything," Broad admitted. "The fact is it's been a really good time to bowl with that new ball. And the pitches have been in our favour, too."

All this has created something of a perfect storm for Warner. Already standing out of his ground in an attempt to negate the lateral movement of the ball, Warner has given himself less time to judge which way the ball will move and, as a consequence, is increasingly unsure which balls to leave or play. The crisp, certain movements that have typified his career have been replaced by hesitancy and timidity. Here, where he lasted just two balls, he looked confused and muddled.

That is borne out by the manner of Warner's dismissals to Broad. Three times Warner has been dismissed by the ball angled in to him - twice leg before; once bowled - while the other two occasions have seen him caught in two minds; knowing, on one hand, that he should be leaving the balls outside off stump but unsure, on the other, if they were the ones jagging back into him. The result has been two tentative leaves, with the ball brushing the edge of the bat as the batsman half-heartedly tried to withdraw it.

The emergence of Marnus Labuschagne and the sustained excellence of Steve Smith have allowed Australia to cope with Warner's decline. But in one key battle, England clearly have the edge.

First, there was Steven Smith. At Edgbaston and Lord's, through three consecutive innings after his return from the Newlands scandal ban, he drove England's bowlers to distraction. They tried all manner of plans, filed placings lines, too many really, without much at all in the way of success. Two centuries went by and a third beckoned, even as Jofra Archer cranked up his pace on an up-and-down pitch, angling the ball back down the slope.

Watching, waiting, anticipating and perhaps dreaming a little, was Marnus Labuschagne. No-one in the Australian squad more closely resembled Smith's voracious pursuit of batting knowledge, skill and method, with both as likely as each other to keep teammates awake in the middle of the night with the sound of their bats tapping on hotel room carpet, miming shots for the next day. Labuschagne was watching closely when Archer homed in on Smith, felt the jolt alongside 28,000 spectators, and rushed for a vantage point to see if he was ok.

Struck down but not out, Smith returned briefly, distractedly, having passed concussion tests in the immediate aftermath of the blow. He did not fare as well the following morning, and as he netted in reserve on the Nursery Ground ahead of the final day's play, Labuschagne was given the word from the captain, Tim Paine: he was in as Smith's substitute. Having removed one obstacle, England found another immediately. Labuschagne, too, was hit by Archer, but only on the helmet grille. His resultant half-century scrounged a draw.

More was to come at Headingley, in two innings from Smith's customary post at No. 4. Thrice Labuschagne passed 50, runs that could have, indeed should have, been enough to secure an Australian victory at Leeds and retained the Ashes there and then. If he was the beneficiary of several dropped chances in a second innings of 80, his first-day contribution of 74 out of 179, when conditions were at their hardest, more than compensated for this good fortune. At the end, cruelly, one of Ben Stokes' match-winning sixes floated a matter of centimetres beyond Labuschagne's hands on the boundary.

Watching it all was Smith, leavening his pain at the result with appreciation of its extraordinary circumstances. Each day of the Leeds Test he gradually increased his level of activity, batting under the studied eye of the team doctor Richard Saw, before facing pace bowlers and taking part in a tour match against Derbyshire. Throughout, he tried to get used to the addition of a protective stem guard to the back of his helmet, even though it wade him so claustrophobic as to feel as though his head was inside an MRI machine. Nets against throwdowns were deemed, subconsciously, as more useful preparation than match batting against Derbyshire spin.

In Derby, Smith and Labuschagne played together and did not bat together, but they did not have long to wait. Chosen and Nos. 3 and 4, displacing Usman Khawaja, they trained together pre-match, Smith sidearming balls down at Labuschagne, who also enjoyed the rare sensation of having Steve Waugh clean mud out of his spikes. "A bit surreal, I had Steve Smith throwing sidearms to me for 30 minutes," he said. "I love talking to him about the game and learning off him, obviously a great experience and a great player. I'm taking it all in as much as I can."

For all the shuffling of Australia's top order to try to secure a better start, none could be found at Manchester. Again, the openers were separated before the score was into double figures, David Warner edging Stuart Broad when trying to leave him alone for the second time in the series. Marcus Harris, looking a little more comfortable, was nonetheless figured out pretty quickly by Broad, who quite obviously targeted the line of the stumps and won an lbw verdict before the score had reached 30.

Also read: The key to Broad's edge over Warner

Labuschagne had looked comfortable once more from the moment he arrived, leaving the length ball well outside off stump and scoring from anything that drifted either full and wide or too straight onto his stumps and pads. He had spoken before the series of sculpting a game very much around making lots of adjustments within lots of plans for every bowler in every set of conditions, eschewing the time-honoured Australian line of "playing my natural game" for something more scientific.

Smith, of course, had rather pioneered this method among contemporary Australian batsmen, keeping at least one step ahead of the world's bowlers for most of the last six years. Together, they were a hive mind of ideas, adjustments and tweaks, all done within the context of a moving ball and an English pitch. They have one inbuilt advantage, that of being right-handed and so denying Broad and Archer the chance to bend the ball away from them from around the wicket in the manner Warner, Harris and Khawaja have had to contend with, but the rest is skill and forethought.

Perhaps the most obvious counter offered up by Smith was in how he played Archer's bouncers, choosing to ensure he took evasive action to the off side of the ball, to eradicate the chance of him being hit by a delivery that follows him as he tries to sway back away from it. If the Old Trafford pitch was not yet a speedy one, and Archer was somewhat short of his best, the bouncer caused Smith zero trouble at all, leaving Joe Root and company with yet more thinking to do. At the other end, Labuschagne could only admire it.

"One thing he's very good at [is problem solving], I see that at the other end but I think you can see that as a spectator," he said. "When different guys come on, how he changes, different guards, the way he bats, different pre-movements and I think that's what makes him the best in the world. He's always one step ahead and thinking ahead, not waiting, not being reactive, he's being proactive, which makes him very hard to bowl to because he's always thinking ahead.

"We were constantly talking out there about what the bowlers are trying to do, what he's trying to do and we're thinking similarly and trying to think about where they're trying to get us out and stuff like that. Always trying to learn off everyone really, it doesn't matter whether your'e a batter or bowler, just trying to learn different things off different people and trying to make sure you're always open to learning off anyone.

"It was good fun, good to have some time. I'd never batted with him before so it was a good experience to see how he goes about it and learn from him out there."

Late in the day, heavy winds swept through a shower that was intense enough to have the umpires virtually suspend play, only for the same wind to have it disappear so quickly that Craig Overton, having twice stopped in his run to the wicket due to the rain, ended up bowling uninterrupted. So stop - start was the day that it looked made to ruin a batsman's concentration, but Labuschagne's well is clearly deep. When Overton did finally bowl, he dabbed the resultant delivery neatly down through third man to the boundary, and at the end of the over walked down the pitch gesticulating repeatedly how the ball had skidded off the surface.

It was a mannerism instantly familiar - not from Labuschagne, but from the man at the other end. Amid the broken nature of this wet and windy day, Labuschagne and Smith were the ideal men for Australia to have in the middle, not only as their leading run-makers this series but as two cricketers never happier than when cocooned at the batting crease. And even though Labuschagne did allow one through his guard in the closing overs, granting Overton access to the top of the off stump, Australia had the platform for the 300-plus score coach Justin Langer has so craved this week.

A deal reportedly struck between Labuschagne and Smith after Edgbaston - for the younger man to clean up Smith's bag at the end of each Test in return for a couple of the former captain's bats - may need revision should this century stand be the bulwark of the victory Australia need. There will be a few other members of the Australian top six who, on the basis of their runs together, might do well to clean up the bags of Smith and Labuschagne both.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- With just days left before the Arizona Cardinals unveil their secretive offense against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, first-year coach Kliff Kingsbury still can't get a read on how his star quarterback, No. 1 pick Kyler Murray, is handling the moment.

No one can.

Murray is quiet by nature, and has been since he was a child growing up in Lewisville, Texas, but he has yet to open up now that he's in the NFL and playing for a coach he has known since he was 15.

"Y'all have interviewed him, right?" Kingsbury asked. "What does he usually give y'all?"

Not much.

"It's the same," Kingsbury said. "That's what he is and who he is. I guess he thought he was going to be here his entire life, so it's just the next step for him. I've said it all along: He's a rookie quarterback in the NFL starting Week 1. There's going to be some ups and downs. We're going to make some mistakes. We'll work through those and try to continue to improve together."

Kingsbury can't even get Murray to tell him which plays he wants to run this week.

"It's like pulling teeth with him trying to [get him to] tell me that 'I don't like a play' because he wants to make them all work and that's his attitude," Kingsbury said. "But there's good conversations and after today, walking off the practice field, I'll try to get, 'Hey, what don't you like?' and he'll say, 'I love it all' and we'll move forward. That's how he is.

"He's competitive, and he wants to make it all work. But, yeah, there's definitely those conversations going on. We want to make sure he's as comfortable as possible because it will be a tough challenge. It's hard to step in as a rookie Day 1 and win a football game, and we understand that, so we're going to try to help him as much as possible."

Kingsbury said he might have been "overstating" Murray's quietness a little, but it wasn't by much. And he expects Murray to open up a bit, be more opinionated on plays and start talking more as the season goes on.

"What you see is what you get," Kingsbury said. "He's not going to be over the top, rainbows and sunshine with you, and I like that because that's how he carries himself. He's very confident, very competitive. I like where he's at. I don't ever see him bringing me cupcakes on game day or anything like that. I think he's going to be who he is and we'll continue our relationship."

Murray's confidence that he can run every play stems from his familiarity with Kingsbury's system, which he was first introduced to in eighth grade. From the day he arrived in Arizona, Murray understood some of the operation, execution, reads and terminology, Kingsbury said.

And it has helped Murray adapt to NFL football quicker than most rookie quarterbacks.

"It's not like he's coming in here trying to learn Chinese as a lot of those first-year quarterbacks are," Kingsbury said "Therein lies a little bit of comfort level that maybe some of those other guys didn't have going into Week 1 having to be starters."

All that familiarity will help Murray on Sunday, when he runs the Cardinals' offense for the first time in a game. Kingsbury kept it tightly under wraps during the preseason -- maybe even a bit to the extreme, he admitted Wednesday.

Kingsbury did not run all of his base plays during the preseason, he said, but it won't matter.

"You just rep it in practice, and you make those situations as game-like as possible and take advantage of your practice reps," he said.

But Kingsbury has a strong belief that his version of the Air Raid will work in the NFL because of one primary reason.

"Because it's never been used before in the NFL," Kingsbury said. "I know Chip [Kelly] did a version of what he does, but yeah, there's only one way to find out and it's never been used. Nobody really knows what we're going to do or what it's going to look like and so, we'll kind of take it one game at a time."

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell will play a football game Sunday for the first time in 20 months -- 601 days, to be exact -- but he's not interested in easing into the regular-season flow.

"Don't hold back," Bell told coach Adam Gase, the playcaller.

In other words, Bell believes he's ready for a full workload in what could be the Jets' most anticipated debut by a veteran player since Brett Favre in 2008.

Bell, their prized free-agent addition, was held out of the preseason for precautionary reasons, but he didn't miss a single day of practice and insisted he's ready for heavy duty.

"I can carry 50 [times] if you ask me," Bell said Wednesday after practice. "When I say, 'Don't hold back,' I mean literally that. I don't want to go out there and try to sprinkle me in or anything like that. I'm ready to play football.

"I've been waiting a long time for this moment. A lot of people are excited to see me play. Quadruple that, and that's how I feel."

The Jets will open against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Bell has faced the Bills only twice in his career -- most recently on Dec. 11, 2016, when he rushed for 236 yards and three touchdowns and added 62 receiving yards.

Bell sat out the 2018 season in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers, as he refused to sign the franchise tender for $14.5 million. Because of the extended layoff, his return has attracted a lot of attention.

"I'm not trying to prove anybody wrong," said Bell, who signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets. "I'm not trying to prove the Steelers wrong. Everybody is trying to format me with the Steelers. I'm not talking about the Steelers anymore. I'm done talking about the Steelers. I want to worry about the Bills, and I want to worry about the Jets. That's it.

"I'm going to go out there and prove to myself I'm the same player, if not better. I want to prove to my teammates I'm the same player, if not better -- and the Bills."

In five seasons with the Steelers, Bell averaged 129 yards from scrimmage per game, the highest average in NFL history among players with at least 50 games played.

Initially, Gase wasn't enamored with the idea of signing Bell because of the cost, sources said. On Wednesday, he was upbeat about his new running back.

"I love it, it's going to be fun," said Gase, adding that he rewatched old Pittsburgh tape "to remind ourselves who that is back there."

Bell said he will have "a lot of butterflies, anxiety and nerves, and all types of things will be hitting me before I hit the field."

The Jets are planning to capitalize on Bell's versatility, making him a key component in the passing attack. Gase said "the whole playbook opens up" with Bell on the field. He called him the best running back he's ever coached.

"Not even close," said Gase, who coached Frank Gore -- the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher -- last season with the Miami Dolphins. "There's a reason why the guy has been what he's been since he's been in the league."

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown posted on social media a letter he received from the team that detailed about $54,000 in fines for missing time during training camp.

Brown's response: WHEN YOUR OWN TEAM WANT TO HATE BUT THERE'S NO STOPPING ME NOW DEVIL IS A LIE. EVERYONE GOT TO PAY THIS YEAR SO WE CLEAR."

The letter, posted by Brown on Instagram on Wednesday, was from Raiders general manager Mike Mayock, who informed Brown that he was being fined $13,950 for missing a walk-through on Aug. 22, an unexcused absence. Brown was with the team in Winnipeg for a preseason game that day, and although he may have missed the walk-through, he did participate in pregame warm-ups and ran routes and caught passes from quarterback Derek Carr.

The letter also mentions that the team previously had fined Brown $40,000 for missing camp on Aug. 18 -- the day the GM issued his ultimatum to Brown, saying, "It's time for him to be all-in or all-out, OK?"

Mayock also advised Brown that should he continue to miss mandatory team activities, including practices and games, the Raiders reserved the right to impose additional fines and discipline.

ICYMI, here's what Antonio Brown posted this morning on his Instagram story, showing displeasure with being fined by the Raiders for missing part of training camp. https://t.co/Jb2Va3cBt6 pic.twitter.com/OCzB2CFyOF

— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 4, 2019

Brown, who usually stretches on his own during the team stretch period, was not on the field during stretching on Wednesday. He appeared during individual drills and, after catching a pass from Carr, ran to the end zone and fired the football into the fence.

Antonio Brown fires the football into the fence after catching a pass from Derek Carr at #Raiders practice. pic.twitter.com/TmWu6A9tYI

— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) September 4, 2019

Brown was acquired from Pittsburgh in a March trade for a third- and a fifth-round draft pick. After being a mainstay during the Raiders' offseason program, Brown began camp on the non-football injury list because of frostbite on the soles of his feet after a cryotherapy mishap in France in early July.

He left camp for two weeks seeking therapy for the feet, which included laser treatments.

Brown was also upset with the league for not allowing him to wear his Schutt Air Advantage helmet, the only helmet he has worn in his NFL career, because it is older than 10 years, thus no longer certified. He lost two appeals to use the old helmet.

On Wednesday, Brown announced he will wear the Xenith Shadow helmet this season, believing it makes him feel more agile and comfortable while allowing for better visibility.

While Raiders coach Jon Gruden would not discuss specifics of Brown during his two-week absence, he later talked of his support for the player while saying Brown had been in contact via technology.

"I think that's what needs to be said," Gruden said after the preseason opener on Aug. 10.

"Is this foot injury his fault? This was a total accident," Gruden said. "It wasn't his fault. It's a serious injury. I know some people were smarting at it, but it really is a serious matter. It's a guy who's hurting, who's innocent, who didn't do anything wrong. The helmet thing is a personal matter to him. He has a strong feeling about what he's worn on his head. We're supporting him. We understand the league's position as well, so we're in a tough spot. We hope Antonio is back here soon because he's exciting to be around. I'm excited, I have some plays for him. I hope I can start calling them."

MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee city officials have offered $400,000 to Bucks guard Sterling Brown to settle his lawsuit accusing police of using excessive force and targeting him because he's black when they confronted him over a parking violation.

However, an attorney for Brown said the offer is insufficient because it doesn't include an admission of guilt.

Attorney Mark Thomsen said Wednesday that any settlement would have to include such an admission.

The city's Common Council authorized the offer Wednesday during a closed session. Brown has 14 days to accept or decline it.

Brown illegally parked in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens on Jan. 26, 2018, and was talking with a group of officers while waiting for his citation when the situation escalated. Officers took him down and used a stun gun because he didn't immediately remove his hands from his pockets, as ordered.

SHANGHAI -- Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will miss at least the next two World Cup games for Team USA with a sprained left ankle.

Tatum turned the ankle in the final seconds of overtime in Team USA's 93-92 win over Turkey on Tuesday night. He was examined Wednesday and was declared out at least five days. He will get reevaluated on Monday.

Team USA plays Japan in its final pool play game Thursday. There is nothing at stake for either team; the U.S. has already advanced to the next round, and Japan has already been eliminated.

The U.S. will open second-round play Saturday in Shenzhen, but that is not an elimination game. The first time the Americans could face elimination is Monday, the day Tatum will be reevaluated.

Tatum is averaging 10.5 points in two games. He had 11 points and 11 rebounds against Turkey, including two clutch free throws that forced overtime.

LOS ANGELES -- Before signing with the Lakers in one of the more surprising reunions in NBA history, Dwight Howard said his life away from the court hit rock bottom this summer.

"It didn't have anything to do with basketball," Howard said Wednesday during an introductory phone call with reporters. "It was just stuff going [on] in my personal life. Mentally, physically and spiritually. It had nothing to do with me as a basketball player or anything like that. It was just personal things that I had to deal with which made me stronger."

The Lakers are banking on Howard, 33, strengthening their interior defense and plugging the void left from DeMarcus Cousins' torn left ACL that the big man suffered during offseason workouts.

Howard has already played one season in L.A. -- the disastrous 2012-13 campaign marred by in-fighting, injuries and the death of longtime Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss -- before spurning the franchise to sign with the Houston Rockets as a free agent.

He said that the chance to come back -- he tweeted to fans in April 2013 after the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs that "I hope I get the chance to make it up to you" -- is "a very big blessing" and an "awesome experience."

"I never had any ill will toward any of the fans here in L.A.," Howard said. "I loved this city from the first moment I've been here and started playing in the NBA. It was never nothing against anybody here [on] the team or anything like that, it was just a decision I made. I love this city. I love playing in L.A. I'm back here so none of that stuff in the past even really matters to me anymore. I think we all have a fresh start."

"It's been six years, in 2020 it'll be seven years. ... I'm big on numbers. Seven is for new beginnings ... I'm looking forward to having a fresh start with the fans and stuff like that. Show them my only dedication is to putting another banner up here in Los Angeles."

Of course, that was the same song he sang when he left for Houston all those years ago, telling ESPN at the time he was "betting $30 million" -- the amount of money he left on the table from the Lakers' offer versus the Rockets' offer he accepted -- that he would win a championship in the Bayou City.

He busted on the bet -- the Rockets went 13-16 in three postseason appearances with Howard -- before bouncing around the league, playing one-off seasons for the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards. He was bought out by the Memphis Grizzlies before ever playing a game, facilitating the move back to the Lakers on a non-guaranteed contract, as earlier reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Howard said he tackled his personal strife this summer through reading and meditation exercises to center himself.

"This summer was very important to me as an individual," he said. "Got a chance to really isolate myself. Not from people but just really isolate, really try to get alone and become one with myself and become more balanced. This summer was really, really important for me."

But he also made sure to immerse himself in conversation with new teammates -- he name checked Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee -- to let them know how serious he is about helping the group.

"Everybody here wants to win, and I want to win, too," Howard said. "It wasn't about selling myself. It was just letting them know everything I'm about, and what we're trying to accomplish."

Several times on the call, Howard, who will wear No. 39 in L.A., was reluctant to make any kind of statement that would cause any eyebrows to raise. "I've always said a lot of words but I'd just rather show you guys," he said at one point.

He kept that same tact when asked about former Lakers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant trolling him on Twitter last week while they were squashing their latest beef.

"Shaq and Kobe are some of the greatest players to ever play this game of basketball. I have nothing but love and respect for both of those guys and I think what they've been able to accomplish in their lives after basketball has been amazing," he said. "My job is to come here and help this team win. It's not to get into any arguments or fights with Shaq or Kobe or anybody. I don't plan to allow anything to distract me from helping this team win a championship."