Spike Lee is attending the Oscars in a suit honoring the late Kobe Bryant.

Lee arrived to Sunday's Academy Awards wearing a purple-and-gold suit with Bryant's No. 24 on the lapels and the back. Lee also wore a pair of Bryant's Nike sneakers.

Respect. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/CxlWD2tmFW

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 9, 2020

Lee, who won his first Oscar ever last year for best adapted screenplay, is slated to present an award during the ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, will be part of the Oscars' In Memoriam segment.

Bryant won an Academy Award in 2018 for best animated short film for "Dear Basketball."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After retiring prior to summer free agency last year, veteran guard Darren Collison considered a midseason return to the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers or the Clippers but has decided to stay retired, league sources told ESPN.

Collison had been weighing a February or March comeback with one of the NBA's two championship contenders in Los Angeles, but Collison informed teams on Sunday that he simply isn't ready to return to the NBA -- and it's unclear if or when he will, league sources said.

The Lakers had hosted him at a recent game courtside with owner Jeanie Buss, and he had become central in an aggressive recruiting battle between the two L.A. teams.

The Lakers and Clippers had hoped that he could become a secondary ball handler and 3-point shooter for their bench. Now, those teams will look elsewhere for post-trade deadline additions.

Collison, 32, exited the league abruptly in late June despite an expectation that he would attract multiple contract offers in the neighborhood of $10 million-plus a season.

In an interview with The Undefeated and ESPN's Marc J. Spears on June 28, Collison cited his religious reasons for retiring.

"While I still love basketball, I know there is something more important, which is my family and my faith," Collison said. "I am one of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and my faith means everything to me.

"I receive so much joy from volunteering to help others and participate in a worldwide ministry. The joy I feel is unmatched."

Collison averaged 11 points and six assists with the Indiana Pacers last season. He has become a progressively better 3-point shooter in his career, shooting a career-best 47% during the 2017-18 season with the Pacers.

Collison also had stops with the Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are sending right-hander Kenta Maeda and cash to the Minnesota Twins for right-hander Brusdar Graterol, outfield prospect Luke Raley and the 67th pick in the 2020 draft, a source confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

A different version of the deal was originally reported as being part of a three-team trade with the Boston Red Sox that sent Mookie Betts to Los Angeles wherein Boston was getting Graterol, but it ended up as a separate deal after the Red Sox reportedly had issues with the prospect's medical review.

The Athletic first reported the new Twins-Dodgers deal.

Graterol, a hard-throwing, 21-year-old right-hander, pitched 9⅔ innings last season in the majors, going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA. In the minors last season, the Venezuelan was 7-0 with a 1.92 ERA across three levels. He was rated the No. 83 overall prospect for 2020 by MLB pipeline.

Maeda, who missed time last year after fouling a ball off his left thigh resulting in a left adductor contusion, rallied to go 10-8 with a 4.04 ERA with the Dodgers, striking out 169 along the way. Maeda, 31, is 47-35 for his career with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.

Raley, 25, hit .302 in 33 games with Triple-A Rochester last season. Raley was originally a seventh-round pick by the Dodgers in 2016; he was acquired by Minnesota as part of the Brian Dozier trade in 2018.

ESPN's Jeff Passan contributed to this report.

A deal that would have sent Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson and additional players to the Los Angeles Angels is now off the table, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The deal, which had been agreed to last week, was hung up while the Dodgers and Red Sox were working through the details of the Mookie Betts trade, sources said.

But even with that deal going through Sunday night, the Angels and Dodgers could not finalize their deal.

The Athletic first reported that the Pederson deal is dead.

Mookie Betts is finally going to Los Angeles. Sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan a deal has been agreed upon to send the 2018 MVP to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package that includes outfielder Alex Verdugo, shortstop Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong going to the Boston Red Sox.

A blockbuster, three-team deal was agreed upon almost a week ago. Betts and starter David Price were going to the Dodgers for Verdugo and Twins pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol. Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda was headed to the Twins.

But the Red Sox, as first reported by The Athletic and confirmed by ESPN, were spooked by a medical review of Graterol, a hard-throwing, 21-year-old right-hander who has undergone Tommy John surgery and missed time in 2019 with a shoulder injury.

The reworked deal still has Betts and Price going to Los Angeles. The Red Sox, sources say, have agreed to pay half of the $96 million left on Price's deal.

In what is now a separate deal, Maeda and cash will still go to Minnesota, with Graterol, outfield prospect Luke Raley and the 67th pick in the draft headed to Los Angeles, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark weighed in on the delay Friday, saying the teams needed to complete the deals or move on.

The delay also prevented the completion of a trade sending Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson, starter Ross Stripling and prospect Andy Pages to the Los Angeles Angels for infielder Luis Rengifo and a prospect, sources said.

Downs is a 21-year-old infielder who split time last year between Class A and Double-A. He hit a combined .276 with 24 homers and 86 RBIs, making the leap from prospect with upside to legitimate top-100 prospect. Downs was drafted by the Reds but traded to the Dodgers in the deal that sent Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood to Cincinnati.

Downs is named after Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter.

Wong, 23, is a utility player who was a shortstop early in college and converted to a catcher out of need, later becoming a primary catcher in pro ball after the Dodgers made him a third-round pick, although he still contributed at infield positions regularly. He also played at the Class A and Double-A levels last season, hitting .281 with 24 homers and 82 RBIs.

Verdugo had 377 plate appearances with the Dodgers last season. The 23-year-old hit .294 with 12 homers and 44 RBIs.

The 27-year-old Betts is coming off a season in which he hit .295/.391/.524 and finished eighth in American League MVP voting. He won the 2018 MVP, hitting .346/.438/.640 during the Red Sox's championship-winning season.

Throughout the winter, Boston entertained offers for Betts, whose free-agent haul following the 2020 season could exceed $400 million. Betts will make $27 million this year.

Information from ESPN's Kiley McDaniel was used in this report.

‘Any one of 10 players could win it’ says flying Scot
By DANIEL REES – Squash Mad Correspondent

Scotland’s No.1 squash player Greg Lobban believes there are as many 10 competitors who are in the mix to win the AJ Bell British National Championships in Nottingham next week.

The 27-year-old from Inverness, who will be competing in his eighth British Nationals, is bidding to become the first Scot to win the British title since John White in 2004.

He is part of a growing number of players attempting to challenge the dominance English players have exerted in the tournament in recent years, and foresees more Scottish and Welsh competitors coming to the fore in the near future.

“For a long time, Nick was always favourite. However now, over the last two championships, there are ten guys who on their day could take the title home. There’s no one clear favourite in the event and there are players from Wales and Scotland that are really challenging.”

Heading into Nationals ranked 29th in the world, Lobban has good reason for optimism. The Scot ousted World No.5 and defending champion Paul Coll in straight games in the quarter-finals of the Edinburgh Open last weekend, then took out England’s Daryl Selby in the semis before falling to World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad in the final.

Indeed, Lobban attributes his upturn in form to his relocation to Sheffield, where he now works under the tutelage of coaches Neil Guirey and Nick Matthew.

“Over the last six years, I’ve been around 26 and 35 [in the world]. I moved down to Sheffield last year at a new training facility – I feel that’s helped bring me to my highest world ranking, but I’m certainly not content with that.”

Lobban will equally be encouraged by his improving performances at the Nationals over the last few years. Having exited the competition in the second round for three years consecutively between 2013 and 2015, he has since reached the quarter-finals twice, and made it to the semis last year before being eliminated by eventual winner James Willstrop.

“I’ve gradually made my way through the rounds and started in the main draw. Then I made the semis last year, but you take it for granted sometimes being able to make it that far. I was disappointed last year as I had the chance to go on and make the final – and potentially win the event.”

And as Lobban looks to go a couple of steps further this year, he considers the British Nationals at the top of his list of priorities.

“It’s a big title to win and it’s one we really want to take back home. It would be high on my list of achievements if I was to come and win that event.”

Thriving in his new coaching set-up, Lobban senses an opportunity for Scotland to make its mark in the competition. Having represented his country twice at the Commonwealth Games – in Glasgow and in the Gold Coast – he is determined to see his compatriots do far more than make up the numbers.

“I’m very proud to be Scottish and represent Scotland when I can at these events. I’m trying to prove a point that we do it very well in team events when we play for Scotland. We like making a statement and show people we’re not seeded to just get to certain rounds. I’m looking forward to that challenge of trying to lead the Scots to a good event.”

Tickets start from as little as £10 and can be purchased at isquashstore.com. Save £5 when booking online. 

Pictures courtesy of Edinburgh SC and Nick Matthew Academy 

Evans sinks Soares after two marathon matches
By BOB BALLINGER – Squash Mad Correspondent

Emyr Evans continued his storming run through the Linear Logistics Bankers Hall Club Pro Am, beating No.3 seed Rui Soaes to reach the final.

Semi Final Saturday at the Bankers Hall Club in downtown Calgary produced two high quality matches and as a result we have two first time finalists here at the 19th version of this event.

First up was Welsh No.8 seed Evans up against the tall and stylish Soares, from Portugal. Both were coming off of five-game victories the day before to get into the semis. On this day the quickness of Evans’ movements and his pace of play were just a bit too much for the talented world #74 Soares. Evans won this one in three straight games.

It was another phenomenal performance from Evans coming on the back of two marathon victories against Scotland’s Rory Stewart (77 minutes) and Mexican No.1 seed Leonel Cardenas (88 minutes) to reach the semi-finals.

Next up was second seeded Dimitri Steinmann (Switzerland) and sixth seeded Christopher Gordon (USA). A wonderful match to watch for the packed house at Bankers Hall Club. Both players displayed a full array of shots and retrieving … any interference between the two was irrelevant as each of them cleanly played through it.

The young Swiss star was up 2-1 in games but found himself in a big hole in the fourth game, going down 6-2. Some taxing rallies started to slow Gordon a bit and slowly but surely Steinmann was able to come back to win that game 11-7 and secure his spot in the final.

Should be a great match with the #2 seed Steinmann and the #8 seed Evans. Neither have made it this far here at the Pro Am before, and both will be pushing hard to achieve that breakthrough victory.

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Quarter-Finals

The quarter finals once again provided an amazing level of squash combined with some high drama squash. First match of the lunch time session had one of the giant killers of round one Joeri Hapers take a two-game lead over Rui Soares the #3 seed only to see his hopes of a second big win here go down in five long games.

Kudos to both players here as Soares overcame an early injury in the first game to then take that two to zero lead and same back to the big Portuguese player to climb out of that deficit.

Next up the stylish second seed Dimitri Steinmann took to the court against another day one giant killer Curtis Malik. Steinmann was able to stay steady despite a strong push from the Englishman Malik to win in four games.

Onto the evening session where the defending champion and top seed from Mexico, Leonel Cardenas took on the eighth seeded Welsh player Emyr Evans. These two seem to draw one another often it seems in PSA events….one year ago here at this same event they battled for five games in the semis; in November they also had a five game match in the finals of an event in Kelowna, BC; and next week they have a possible match up in Portland.

In the recent match ups it has been the 19-year-old Cardenas (turning 20 here this weekend) prevailing in five games. This time it was similar in that they went five games but it was Evans who turned it his way in a long, tight match, finishing strongly to win 12-10 in the fifth.

The final match of the night had USA veteran player Christopher Gordon go up against the impressive and in-form Abhay Singh of India. Gordon took the first somewhat handily; then a long second game also went to Gordon 15-13; but an unfortunate injury slowed Singh and he had to retire in the third game giving Gordon a spot in Saturday’s semi finals.

First Round

The first two matches went the distance and the other two went to four games … and two of our seeded players were eliminated! Second seed Dimitri Steinmann overcame a great effort from Matias Tuomi to win in four games while third seed Rui Soares held off an impressive challenge by Tristan Eysele.

Meanwhile, seeded Czech players Daniel Mekbib (#5 seed) and Martin Svec (#7 seed) both went out in five games. English player Curtis Malik beat Svec in one hour while Joeri Hapers of Belgium took Mekbib in 65 minutes.

In the evening session, eighth seed Emyr Evans held off Rory Stewart in a long five gamer; fourth seed and Canadian veteran player Shawn DeLierre went down in three straight games to the impressive Abhay Singh from India.

Local star and past champion Andrew Schnell could not exact his revenge from last year’s loss to Leonel Cardenas, going down in three great games; and USA veteran player Chris Gordon managed to keep his seeded position going in a straight game victory over Robert Downer of England.

PSA Challenger Tour $12,000 Men’s Linear Logistics Bankers Hall Club Pro Am 2020, Bankers Hall Club, Calgary, Canada.

Final:
[8] Emyr Evans (WAL) v [2] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI)

Semi-Finals:
[8] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt [3] Rui Soares (POR) 3-0: 11-7, 12-10, 11-7 (36m)
[2] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt [6] Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-1: 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-7 (60m)

Quarter-Finals:
[8] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt [1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) 8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10 (88m)
[3] Rui Soares (POR) bt Joeri Hapers (BEL) 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 (67m)
[6] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt Abhay Singh (IND) 11-7, 15-13, 6-1 ret. (44m)
[2] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Curtis Malik (ENG) 11-4, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 (45m)

First Round:
[1] Leonel Cardenas (MEX) bt [WC] Andrew Schnell (CAN) 11-6, 12-10, 11-9 (47m)
[8] Emyr Evans (WAL) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2 (72m)
Joeri Hapers (BEL) bt [5] Daniel Mekbib (CZE) 7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7 (54m)
[3] Rui Soares (POR) bt Tristan Eysele (RSA) 11-4, 6-11, 14-12, 11-8 (29m)
Abhay Singh (IND) bt [4] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 11-9, 12-10, 11-8 (53m)
[6] Christopher Gordon (USA) bt Robert Downer (ENG) 11-3, 11-6, 11-2 (38m)
Curtis Malik (ENG) bt [7] Martin Svec (CZE) 5-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-5, 11-5 (57m)
[2] Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt Matias Tuomi (FIN) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-8
 

Pictures courtesy of Bankers Hall Club

Wales were left shivering and frustrated as they slipped to a second Six Nations defeat against Ireland.

After being drenched in a second-half hailstorm, Wales were left cold as the visitors' showers were not working.

"The girls are a bit disappointed with cold showers in the dressing room," said fly half Robyn Wilkins.

The Irish Rugby Football Union have apologised to Wales on social media and say "every effort was made to resolve the problem" at Energia Park in Dublin.

Wales eventually did manage to get some hot water after the problems in the away dressing room were fixed.

The worst conditions of Storm Ciara blasted across Dublin after 15 minutes of the second half, but Ireland already had a 24-12 lead and held on comfortably.

"It was the worst weather I've played in, it was windy and cold but the main thing was that it was icy," captain Siwan Lillicrap told BBC Sport Wales.

"With those hailstones, we were cold to the core even though we were working hard to warm up."

But Lillicrap, one of Wales' try-scorers alongside late call-up Lauren Smyth, was not using the conditions as an excuse.

"We probably dominated territory and possession in the first half, but they capitalised on our mistakes and scored three tries," she added.

"We need to look at why we're making so many errors and put things right over the next few weeks. We're having possession but we're not turning our attacking plays into points."

Wilkins agrees that Wales need to improve with and without the ball after two defeats, as they prepare to face France, who have two wins from two, in Cardiff on Sunday, 23 February.

"We just got dominated, we went a bit too high (in tackles) against their massive carriers, and then it's about tightening our attack, looking to keep the ball and then being clinical in those areas when the chances are on."

Wales have already qualified for the 2021 World Cup but will now find it difficult to match their 50% record from the 2019 Six Nations.