The Memphis Grizzlies said forward Brandon Clarke will miss at least two weeks because of a right quad injury.

Clarke played only three minutes in Memphis' loss to the LA Clippers on Monday, due to what the team initially called right hip soreness.

According to the Grizzlies, additional testing revealed that Clarke suffered a quad injury, with the team saying he will be reevaluated in two weeks.

Memphis already is without Jaren Jackson Jr., who is expected to miss at least two weeks because of a left knee sprain. Clarke started in Jackson's place on Monday.

Clarke, the rookie first-round pick out of Gonzaga, is averaging 12.0 points and 5.8 rebounds this season while shooting 62.3% from the field.

Kobe Bryant will get his wish.

Baseball superagent Scott Boras told the Los Angeles Times that he will create an internship for the teenage daughter of John Altobelli, the Orange Coast College baseball coach who, along with Bryant and his daughter Gianna, was among the nine people killed in last month's helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

During Monday's memorial service for the Bryants at Staples Center, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka told the story of texting with the NBA legend just minutes before his death. While in the air, Bryant reached out to see whether Pelinka had ties to a baseball agent because he wanted to set up his friend's daughter with an internship.

That friend was Altobelli and the daughter was 16-year-old Lexi.

"Kobe's last human activity was heroic," Pelinka said. "He wanted to use his platform to bless and shape another's life."

According to the Times, Pelinka reached out to Boras about a potential position for Lexi in the days after Bryant's death.

The internship will be created, Boras told the newspaper, and will include Lexi gaining experience in "marketing, baseball operations, sports science and office administration," among other areas, at his company.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Anthony Rendon had to laugh at the notion that he picked up right where he left off in helping the Washington Nationals win the World Series last year. Still, it was nice to leave his first game in a new uniform with a 1.000 batting average.

Rendon went 2-for-2 in his spring training debut with the Los Angeles Angels, driving in a run and scoring one Tuesday during a 7-3 win over Cincinnati.

Back from spending time with his wife and newborn child, the All-Star third baseman played three innings in the field.

"It's inevitable. You've got to get out there every day to get comfortable," Rendon said. "So day one, you take in stride and take it slow, too. Not try to get too crazy."

Rendon, who signed a $245 million, seven-year contract as a free agent in December, was just one of the big-name Angels players to play for the first time this February. He batted third, between AL MVP Mike Trout and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, the two-way star from Japan who also pitches.

Outfielder Justin Upton and first baseman Albert Pujols also were in the lineup for the first time.

"Definitely exciting. Just trying to see how it's going to pan out throughout the year," Rendon said. "Kind of getting used to each other and getting in the dugout and seeing what guys' routines are, and you don't want to get in anybody's way at all."

The major league leader in RBI last season, Rendon has hit .301 or better the past three seasons, with two 100-RBI campaigns. He has totaled 83 home runs in that span, including a career-high 34 last season.

Last October, his home run off Zack Greinke began Washington's late rally in Game 7 at Houston for the championship.

"Right now he's one of the better clutch hitters in the game. He almost 100 percent of the time works a great at-bat," Angels manager Joe Maddon said. "He is one of those dudes that can handle good pitching well and you can't say that about everybody."

Rendon, 29, heard the cheers from the small crowd at Tempe Diablo Stadium as he walked up for his first at-bat as an Angel in the bottom of the first inning. He worked the count to 3-and-2 before lining a single to left field, moving Trout to second base.

Rendon scored easily from second base on Pujols' two-out, bases-loaded single.

In the second, Rendon picked up his first RBI wearing Angels red when he sliced a two-out, opposite-field single to right field to drive in David Fletcher.

"He wasn't really swinging too hard. He had a two-strike approach, getting the bat on the ball," Ohtani said through a translator. "It was really impressive. A very professional approach."

At the end of the third inning, Rendon walked back to the Angels clubhouse and stopped to sign autographs for a bit. He said the excitement of being in a new place with a new team hasn't worn off.

"It'll be here throughout the whole year," Rendon said. "You get to know these guys more and more and you get to see them at their highest points, probably, and definitely at their lowest points. So we're going to try to jell together and I'm going to try to jell with them and see where we can go."

Game notes
About two dozen media members from Japan were at the game to see Shogo Akiyama, new to the Reds, and Ohtani, a huge star in that country, face each other. Akiyama debuted in center field on Sunday, and played left field on Tuesday. ... The Angels wore black Orange Coast College caps in the field in honor of head baseball coach John Altobelli, wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, all who died in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna last month. ... Angels OF Brandon Marsh, a top prospect, has an elbow strain from trying to make a diving catch and will be out indefinitely, Maddon said. He suggested that Marsh could miss the rest of spring training.

Andy Murray could return to the tour as early as next month, but admits there is also a real possibility he may need a further operation.

The Scot has not played since November because of a bruise on his pelvic bone.

The former world number one says the last few months have been "unbelievably complex, challenging and difficult".

Murray, 32, now believes his lack of progress is caused by a common side effect of the hip resurfacing operation he had in January 2019.

The three-time Grand Slam champion resumed practice and running a few days ago.

He says the next few weeks will determine whether he needs another operation, or will be able to return to the ATP Tour - potentially as soon as the Miami Open at the end of next month.

"I have not had lots of clarity as to what the issue actually is, because it is difficult to tell," Murray said.

"What I need to do just now is build up in these next couple of weeks to really test it. I will really test the hip out. Hopefully it responds fine.

"I should know by the end of next month whether I'm good to play or not with it. But I think I am now at a point where we're pretty sure as to what is going on."

'I want to keep playing - it's just whether I'm able to'

Murray was diagnosed with a mild bruise on his pelvic bone after beating Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in Great Britain's opening tie of November's Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.

A month earlier, he had won the European Open in Antwerp to claim his first singles title since 2017.

But he continued to experience discomfort in the groin area into the new year, and now believes that was caused by bone growing in soft tissue around his new metal hip.

The medical term is heterotopic ossification, but it is difficult to be absolutely certain as a scan of a metal hip can be hard to interpret.

Murray hopes rest has allowed the condition to stabilise - and that he will now be in a position to resume his career.

But he accepts an operation to remove the growth may be necessary.

To further complicate matters, Murray has been told the bone could continue to grow for another few months. That means any operation is likely to be delayed, which in turn would almost certainly rule him out of Wimbledon and the defence of his Olympic singles title in Tokyo.

"The issue is if you try to remove that too early, while it is still active in the process of growing, it just grows straight back," he continued.

"If I have to have that removed because it is what is causing the problem, then that is a pain ... It's not that long an operation really in terms of the rehab and stuff. But it's just if I wasn't able to have it until May or whatever, with six to eight weeks' rehab, then that would mean missing that period."

The best case scenario, though, is to imagine Murray's name appearing in the draw for the Miami Open, which begins in Florida on 25 March.

"There's no reason not to, because I don't have an injury as such. It's just whether that settles with time and the body gets used to it, and whether you are able to manage it when playing.

"I would [then] play on clay, for sure. If physically I am fine and this responds well to the training again, there is no reason for me not to. In many ways, the clay should actually be better for a metal joint because it is softer impact-wise.

"I do want to keep playing. It's just whether I'm able to or not is the question. I want to play in the Slams again. That's what excites me and interests me. That is the thing that I have missed over these last few years.

"Missing the Australian Open for me this year was rough. At the end of last season I was actually starting to play pretty well, I was feeling good - and then this happened.

"From chatting about it, I feel it's [coming across as] really negative. The negative thing for me would be if something really bad was wrong with the prosthesis. But there hasn't been any problem with that at all.

"I might be playing in the next few weeks. That's what I hope, but over the last couple of years I have become quite pessimistic about time frames and stuff because of what has gone on, and what has been said to me."

Coaching legends look on as 58 College teams battle it out
By RICHARD MILLMAN – Squash Mad Correspondent

Fifty-eight of the sixty-eight ranked men’s teams of the CSA Intercollegiate Men’s Squash association are scheduled to compete in the Intercollegiate Men’s Team Championships to be held at Harvard University, MIT and Tufts University this weekend.

Once again we will see the ferocious intensity of the world’s leading scholastic team competition, just as we did last weekend for the women at Yale.

At Yale, the Harvard women were unstoppable, epitomised by the performance of their third string player Hana Moataz, as she set out the Harvard stall in the first match of the final encounter against Princeton.

Her opponent, Emme Leonard, a stylish and efficient athlete whose flow and control around the court is exemplary, was ultimately powerless to deal with Moataz, a whirlwind combination of a buzz saw and a machete who, from the first rally, simply took no prisoners.

With the talented and world class Gina Kennedy from England and her compatriot Amelia Henley to follow, in similarly destructive mood in the numbers one and two spots respectively, Harvard delivered a knockout blow that Tyson Fury would have been pleased with in his heavyweight boxing match in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

The men’s championships promises more of the same from Harvard, who, led by a truly world class talent who is only improving week by week in the shape of the Frenchman Victor Crouin, must be in confident form.

However, coach Mike Way will certainly be reminding his charges that the National Championships has a way of upsetting the form guide, as emotions bubble and expectations load unexpected burdens on the shoulders of favourites and give the wings of Hermes to fleet footed underdogs who take this opportunity to produce legendary performances.

Not only will we be looking to the top division for tremendous excitement, but throughout the 58 team strong competition, athletes who have given heart and soul for each other, their coaches, their families and their colleges and universities, will pour their final ounces of passion, energy and desperate fight into this, the ultimate college clash of squash titans.

Beyond the players, in the background, some of the greatest former players and coaches the world of squash has ever seen will be plying their trade to help their teams to success and in doing so, hope that they are also providing an attractive storefront for the next generation of talented high-school squash players in order to tempt them into their institutional ranks.

Names such as Thierry Lincou, David Palmer, Martin Heath, Mark Talbott, Hansi Wiens, Gavin Jones, Jacques Swanepoel will compete with the previously mentioned Mike Way and legendary coaches like Dave Talbott and stalwarts like Jamie King from Hamilton College, who has smoothed the path for literally hundreds of talented young people on their life journeys, as they have passed through the doors of Hamilton.

Why do these institutions put so much energy, resources and enthusiasm into our sport and in doing so make the CSA the most powerful driving engine of squash in the USA and the much of the rest of the world?

I asked this question of the bursar of Cornell University some 24 years ago when I started my college coaching career.

It’s simply a matter of math, he told me. In a leading academic institution we try and recruit about 11% of the student body as athletes. Why, you may ask? Well, we know those students will bond cohesively, enjoy an extraordinary experience as a team while they are here and compete to the zenith of their ability for this institution.

But then he told me the exciting piece.

Having had a marvellous life experience at college, these extraordinary and competitive young people go out into the world and continue to compete hard and they invariably succeed in whatever they do.

Having succeeded, often to an extraordinary degree, they usually look back warmly at their college days and want to see both their team and other young people like themselves succeed and bond and grow in their lives.

And so they give.

And they give big.

Typically in a modern American college such as Harvard, that 11 percent of the student body are responsible for 33 per cent of the annual giving. Three to one over non-athletes!

And since the squash demographic is one of, if not the most successful of all graduate student demographics, these colleges know that they can rely on these extraordinary young people.

So this weekend, as you watch epic battles unfold, hearts broken, teams explode with joy and some of the best technical squash you will see anywhere – combined with some pretty rough and ready, highly ‘testosteronized’ behavior, bear in mind that you are watching powerful human beings in whose hands our sport will likely be safely secure for much of the next half century – long after the final point of their college careers is done.

Pictures courtesy of College Squash Association and PSA

CONCORD, N.C. – This weekend at Auto Club Speedway near Los Angeles, Axalta will remember the late Kobe Bryant and the other eight victims of the Jan. 26 helicopter accident with a special purple and gold paint scheme on William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

In honor of the victims, Axalta will make a donation to After-School All-Stars, a non-profit organization where Bryant served as a National Ambassador. In addition, proceeds from the sale of die-cast replicas of the car will be donated to After-School All-Stars by Byron, 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports and collectibles manufacturer Lionel.

Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and 18-time all-star, wore No. 24 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the Bryant, Altobelli, Chester, Mauser and Zobayan families,” said Wade Robinson, managing director of global motorsports at Axalta Coating Systems. “Kobe Bryant was a legend in many ways, namely through his remarkable athletic ability but also due to his great work in the community and his philanthropic endeavors. He touched people around the world and in every walk of life. Axalta is honored to be a part of the No. 24 tribute benefiting After-School All-Stars and to remember Kobe, Gianna, Payton, Sarah, Alyssa, Keri, John, Christina, and Ara.”

With locations across the country, including Los Angeles and Bryant’s hometown of Philadelphia where Axalta is based, After-School All-Stars provides free, comprehensive after-school programs that keep children safe and help them succeed in school and life. Founded in 1992, it serves students and supports working families in cities across the nation. The organization partners with schools and communities on innovative programs that provide transformative experiences.

“We continue to pray for all of the families,” Byron said. “It’s humbling to be able to run such a special car, especially in the Los Angeles area. I’m a huge sports fan and followed Kobe’s career really closely like so many other people. He left a legacy that goes beyond basketball and has reached across all of the sports world and into many different communities where he gave back. I’m very happy that Axalta wanted to do this, and I hope to make everyone proud in the No. 24 on Sunday.”

The Arizona Coyotes, clinging to life in a congested Western Conference playoff race, will welcome back a key component Tuesday.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper will start at home against the Florida Panthers, coach Rick Tocchet said. It will be Kuemper's first game since he suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 19.

"He's been our best player for the last year, year and a half. Now we got our best player back," Tocchet said. "Goaltending hasn't been our problem, but this just strengthens our goaltending."

Kuemper is 15-8-2 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .929 save percentage this season and was a key cog in the Coyotes' impressive start to the season. Arizona has struggled without him, including a five-game losing streak in January. But entering Tuesday, the Coyotes are in the No. 2 wild-card slot in the West, one point ahead of Winnipeg.

Antti Raanta took the share of the workload in Kuemper's absence. He is 14-14-3 this season with a 2.65 GAA and a .909 save percentage.

Arizona hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2012.

Two second-half goals in less than three minutes from Serge Gnabry and another from Robert Lewandowski earned Bayern Munich a thumping 3-0 victory at Chelsea in their Champions League round-of-16, first-leg at Stamford Bridge.

All eyes were on Bayern striker Lewandowski prematch, but rather than score the vital goals he set them up for teammate Gnabry to score twice early in the second-half.

A Cesar Azpilicueta slip let Lewandowski in on 51 minutes and he squared across the face of goal for Gnabry to score from close range.

And three minutes later the pair combined to devastating effect again for Gnabry's 17th goal of the season and his sixth Champions League goal in London this season.

By the time Lewandowski got his own name on the scoresheet with 15 minutes to play, thanks to great play by Canada international Alphonso Davies who registered the assist, the tie was as good as over due to Bayern's three away goals.

Bayern had been on top for much of the first-half as well, Willy Caballero, making his first Champions League appearance in almost three years, saving from Lewandowski on more than one occasion and Thomas Muller hitting the bar with a back-header.

By contrast Chelsea, who were reduced to 10 men when Marcos Alonso was shown a red card for a foul on Lewandowski, could only muster half-chances in their heaviest home defeat in European football.

As well as having to play the return leg without Alonso, Chelsea will also be without Jorginho after the midfielder was booked for dissent.

Serge Gnabry has warned Chelsea that Bayern Munich won't allow them to mount a Liverpool-style comeback in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg.

Bayern were dominant against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, winning 3-0 thanks to two goals from Gnabry and a third from Robert Lewandowski.

Chelsea were humbled by one of Europe's finest at Stamford Bridge tonight as Bayern Munich ran out 3-0 winners in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie.

Following a strong first half from Frank Lampard's side it all seemed to fall apart courtesy of a three-minute Serge Gnabry brace not long after the interval. The cherry on top came from Robert Lewandowski who scored a tap-in after a lovely assist from youngster Alphonso Davies.

Positives

In the first half it was clear to see that Chelsea were charging Bayern down well and giving them something to think about as opposed to giving up possession with ease. They found success in cutting through Bayern with the occasional through ball, and from the wings they were having some joy with dangerous balls into the box.

Negatives

The gulf in class between these two clubs became painfully evident as the game went on with Bayern Munich wearing the hosts down with each and every passing minute. Chelsea left gaps at the back, kept getting dragged out of position and struggled massively with the pace that Bayern were able to utilise down both flanks.

Manager rating out of 10

5 -- It felt like a free roaming kind of formation from Frank Lampard, to the point where they were set up to be quick on the ball and go for the counter -- but it just didn't really pay off for them. As opposed to trying to catch Bayern out, Lampard should've gone for a simple two banks of four to give them the best chance of keeping the Germans at bay. All of his substitutions were positive, although you could argue it left his side vulnerable at the back.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Willy Caballero, 6 -- The popular keeper was confident in his timing, made a few key saves in the first half and had a nice battle with Lewandowski -- but there's an argument to be made that he could've positioned himself better for the second and third goals.

DF Cesar Azpilicueta, 5 -- There's no real point to pressing forward when you don't have any sort of productive contribution to make, and that was the case for Azpilicueta who kept finding himself out of position with poor distribution to go alongside an unfortunate slip for the opener.

DF Andreas Christensen, 5 -- The Dane was out of his depth and really struggled to keep up with Bayern's relentless attacking prowess through questionable communication with Antonio Rudiger.

DF Antonio Rudiger, 4 -- Should've known better than to play Lewandowski onside for the first and not to track back with his man before being a step slow on the second.

DF Reece James, 5 -- While he may be quick to the ball on occasion, there was a hesitation from the youngster to go forward. As the game progressed, he appeared to regress with his marking and timing off the ball.

DF Marcos Alonso, 4 -- A low shot in the 43rd minute after cutting inside was as good as it got for Alonso, who didn't follow the play well at all before eventually being sent off for a straight red in the second half.

MF Jorginho, 5 -- The experienced midfielder was getting stuck into tackles and looked composed at points, but he couldn't replicate N'Golo Kante's leadership in midfield. He also picked up a really foolish yellow card for aggressive behaviour towards the referee and will miss the second leg.

MF Mateo Kovacic, 7 -- From splendid through balls to wonderful runs through the heart of Bayern's midfield to dispossessing the opposition, he was comfortably Chelsea's man of the match.

MF Mason Mount, 5 -- The trickery shown from Lampard's golden boy helped to generate a few chances but when he finds himself in dangerous positions he flounders -- especially when put up against the pace of Davies.

MF Ross Barkley, 4 -- Aside from battling hard in the opening 15-20 minutes, the former Everton star went missing and wound up chasing shadows in the middle of the park.

FW Olivier Giroud, 5 -- The World Cup winner brings others into the game well and adds nice hold-up play, but his laziness off the ball will forever harm his goalscoring consistency.

Substitutions

MF Willian, 6 -- The Brazilian found a handful of openings but couldn't quite mastermind a comeback for the Blues.

FW Tammy Abraham, 5 -- It was a cameo to forget for the Englishman who seemed off the pace with his decision-making and positional play.

FW Pedro, N/R -- Created a series of opportunities for Chelsea through great runs through the middle, nice balls into the box and solid link-up play.