South Africa are considering a short tour to Pakistan to play three T20Is in late March, immediately after their ODIs in India which finishes on March 18. ESPNcricinfo understands that South Africa will send a security delegation to Pakistan next month, either during the Test against Bangladesh or during the PSL, to assess whether the situation is considered safe enough for South Africa to tour the country.

Sources confirmed that a delegation headed by security expert Rory Steyn will travel to Pakistan and will present their findings to CSA on their return. The group want to visit ongoing Pakistan matches in order to gain first-hand information on the logistics involved, including the team's hotel arrangements, transportation to the grounds and in-stadium experience.

South Africa have not toured Pakistan since October 2007 but have visited them for series in the UAE twice since then, in 2010 and 2013. At least one prominent South African has visited Pakistan in that time. Russell Domingo, the former South Africa coach who is now in charge of Bangladesh, toured the country earlier this month but another South African, batting consultant Neil McKenzie, did not. The current FTP has South Africa scheduled to visit Pakistan to play two Tests and three T20Is in January/February 2021. However, South Africa may be after some extra T20I fixtures ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.

The matches may also provide an opportunity for the reintegration of AB de Villiers into the T20I squad after indications that he was interested in making a comeback for the tournament. It is unclear when de Villiers will return to the national set-up but if he does, he will be required to play in some of South Africa's fixtures as they build towards the T20 World Cup.

South Africa also have home fixtures against England and Australia in the next six weeks and five T20s against West Indies in August, where it is expected that de Villiers will play. De Villiers did not enter this year's PSL draft.

Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi and Jon-Jon Smuts have passed fitness tests at CSA's strength and conditioning camp and will be part of the national squad for the ODI series against England, which starts next Tuesday.

Sisanda Magala, who was also at the camp, has not met requirements and will continue to work with fitness trainer Tumi Masekela with the aim of putting himself into contention for the T20 series which starts on February 12.

"Sisanda has put in an immense amount of work over a short period of time and we want to ensure he has the tools to deal with the high demands of international cricket when the opportunity arises," Graeme Smith, CSA's acting director of cricket said. "The Proteas men have an incredibly busy year of limited-overs cricket ahead of them and we want to be certain that our players are up for the demands that will come."

Magala, who finished sixth on the Mzansi Super League wicket-takers' list and who is renowned for his death-bowling skills, has been identified as a candidate for this year's T20 World Cup. However, he has not been able to pass recent fitness tests and will only be eligible for national selection if he meets South Africa's criteria, something the other three have now done.

ALSO READ: South Africa consider touring Pakistan for three T20Is in March

Smuts was withdrawn from the T20 squad for the tour to India in September last year because of fitness concerns but has now met requirements. So has Shamsi, who is considered South Africa's first-choice ODI spinner, but faces competition for his place from both Smuts, an allrounder who bowls left-arm spin and Bjorn Fortuin, who could earn his debut cap in the series.

Both Shamsi and Ngidi have been named in the Titans squad to play in the domestic one-day cup opener against the Lions on Friday, after which they will join up with the national squad in Cape Town.

The fixture marks a competitive return for Ngidi, who has not played since the MSL in early December, where he injured his hamstring. Ngidi was not available for selection for the recently concluded Test series against England, which South Africa lost 1-3. He will make his return in shorter formats, where South Africa have a busy schedule ahead with three ODIs and three T20s against each of England and Australia in the next six weeks.

Sydney Thunder 5 for 197 (Hales 60, Khawaja 54) beat Hobart Hurricanes 140 (Cook 4-21, Morris 3-27) by 57 runs

Five Big Bash League teams are down to four and it was the fifth-ranked Sydney Thunder who stormed the Hobart Hurricanes' Bellerive Oval home, wresting the initiative through their opening batsmen Alex Hales and Usman Khawaja and never really looking back.

The opening stand of 103 inside 10 overs pushed the Hurricanes onto the back foot and despite some strong recovery work in the back end of the innings, they were made to look inflexible in their plans and combinations by the visitors. A staunch defence of 198 featured superb spells by the spin bowler Jono Cook - who defeated both Matthew Wade and D'Arcy Short - and the seamer Chris Morris, and summarily ended the domestic career of George Bailey, now to be formally installed as an Australian selector.

In the end the game was not at all close, setting up the Thunder for a final date on Saturday night with the Strikers at Adelaide Oval, a venue where they were narrowly successful against Travis Head's men earlier in the tournament.

Hales, Khawaja hit it out of sight

A beautiful pitch for batting was unveiled at Bellerive, and Callum Ferguson was more than happy to choose to bat first. In Khawaja and Hales, the Thunder had among the most gifted opening pairs in the tournament, even if the Australian had not enjoyed his most prolific event. But in pristine conditions that afforded the batsmen a great deal of trust in the pace and bounce of the surface, both were quickly into stride, finding the boundary with ease to notch 54 from the powerplay.

Khawaja twice angled James Faulkner over the head of fine leg in successive balls, first off the back foot and then off the front, while Hales connected as perfectly as possible with a length delivery from Scott Boland that he sent skyrocketing onto the roof of the Ricky Ponting Stand - not too far, in fact, from clearing it and perhaps landing nearby the Ponting statue that was erected behind it. Such free striking left the Hurricanes momentarily without an answer, as the partnership sailed to 103 before Khawaja swished across the line and was lbw to Faulkner.

Ellis, Hurricanes pull it back

With that platform, a score in excess of 220 appeared possible, and even during a consolidation period between Ferguson and Hales the run rate still hovered around 10 per over. However, an outstanding spell from Nathan Ellis, who did not concede a single boundary in returning figures of 1 for 18 from his four overs, and considerable improvement from Boland over the course of his four over spell, meant that the Thunder ultimately fell short of where they may have wanted to be at halfway.

Still, 93 from the final 10 overs of the innings was still a more than serviceable accumulation, and left quite a task ahead of Wade and Short as the vaunted pair at the top of the Hobart order. The Thunder, of course, were still lacking their talismanic spin bowler Chris Green due to the need for remedial work on his bowling action.

Wade, Short hint at destruction

Arjun Nair and Brendan Doggett shared the new ball for the Thunder, and when Wade crunched the former through cover before powering the latter over forward square leg for a six not that far away from Hales' earlier in the night, there seemed the air of another innings to rate with his century at Adelaide Oval to squeeze the Hurricanes into the finals. But a full, flat delivery from Cook in the third over proved just the tonic to draw a miscue, held comfortably by Ben McDermott after it hung in the sky for some five seconds, and Wade marched off frustrated.

Short endured somewhat longer, and in surging to 33 off 19 balls, including one percussive pull shot off Daniel Sams, suggested he might this time be the one to guide the Hurricanes towards their target. But Cook returned to the attack as Ferguson shuffled his bowlers around in one over spells, and in leaving a tantalising gap over cover, coaxed Short to miscue to the very man he was trying to clear. The Hurricanes had been only one run short of the Thunder at the end of the Powerplay, but Short's exit left them without a major score from their two dominators.

Thunder stifled, Bailey farewelled

For all the useful role players left in the Hurricanes line-up, they have relied heavily on Wade and Short for the uplift to take them into the finals. This much was to be underlined by what followed their dismissals, as the innings played out with a sense of some inevitability. Bailey, playing his final match in front of a home crowd irrespective of the result, provided a couple of well-timed boundaries to remember him by, plus one fortunate edge past a diving Jay Lenton. But his dismissal left the rest floundering for traction.

McDermott and Simon Milenko both made starts, enough to leave one wondering whether the former might have been better placed in the top three, but they were unable to subvert an increasingly dominant narrative of miscues, catches, and a steadily climbing run rate. The proactive nature of Ferguson's captaincy, swinging his bowlers around constantly and looking for combinations to inconvenience specific batsmen, was amply rewarded.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Novak Djokovic was wondering, right along with everyone else, what sort of shape Roger Federer would be in for their Australian Open semifinal.

Federer, 38, despite dealing with a painful groin muscle and coming off a draining five-setter, came out just fine, it seemed, and soon was up 4-1 and love-40, holding a trio of break chances as Djokovic served.

Didn't last. Federer couldn't sustain that level. Neither his body nor Djokovic would let him.

Casting aside a bit of a poor start during the rivals' 50th meeting, Djokovic stretched his Grand Slam winning streak against Federer to six in a row with a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3 victory Thursday night that earned the defending champion a record eighth trip to the final at Melbourne Park.

"Today was horrible, to go through what I did. Nice entrance. Nice sendoff. And in between, it's one to forget, because you know you have a 3% chance to win," Federer said, adding that he discussed beforehand with his team how bad things would need to get for him to stop playing. "Once you can see it coming, that it's not going to work anymore, it's tough."

Djokovic now leads their head-to-head series 27-23, including 11-6 at majors. Federer hasn't beaten him at one of the sport's four most important tournaments since 2012.

"I just want to say, respect to Roger for coming out tonight. He was obviously hurt," Djokovic said. "Wasn't at his best."

The No. 2-seeded Djokovic will try to collect a record-extending eighth Australian Open title on Sunday against No. 5 Dominic Thiem or No. 7 Alexander Zverev.

Djokovic also can claim a 17th major trophy overall to move closer to Federer's record of 20. Rafael Nadal, beaten by Thiem in the quarterfinals, is at 19.

Clearly, for Djokovic vs. Federer, everything hinged on the first hour or so.

They played on a muggy, sweltering evening, with the temperature in the high 90s (high 30s Celsius) and no breeze to offer respite.

Almost from the moment his wild quarterfinal ended Tuesday after he'd saved seven match points and eked past Tennys Sandgren in five sets, speculation swirled about how well Federer would recover.

Might the muscle issue force him to pull out of the tournament? Why didn't he practice Wednesday?

As it happens, Federer showed up, of course. And gave what he could until the end.

He's never handed an opponent a walkover across more than 400 Grand Slam matches, never retired from any of his more than 1,500 career tour-level matches.

"I don't think I would have gone on court if I had no chance to win," Federer said. "We saw I was still able to make a match out of it."

Indeed, Federer appeared to be managing just fine at the outset.

And, oh, did this match set out well, in terms of the atmosphere, in terms of the tension, in terms of the tennis.

The proceedings began with a jolt of a 14-point game as a fugue of "Let's go, Roger!" and "No-le! No-le!" provided the soundtrack, prompting chair umpire Nico Helwerth to passively aggressively admonish spectators: "Please. Thank you."

There was an exchange of 17 strokes. Another of 15. There were two break points for Djokovic, nullified with the help of formidable serves. Federer took the game with three aces, three other clean winners and then broke to go up 2-0 on his way to 4-1.

Soon it was nearly 5-1 in Federer's favor. Close doesn't count, though.

Djokovic put up too much resistance, much like during their epic Wimbledon final last July, when he thwarted two championship points for Federer and wound up winning in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

This time, Djokovic said, "I managed to dig my way back."

After Djokovic got out of that love-40 hole to hold, he trailed 5-2 and love-30.

But Djokovic picked up 10 consecutive points to not only hold there but also break at love in the following game as Federer, one of the most effective servers ever, served for the set. At love! Imagine that.

In the eventual tiebreaker, Djokovic did what Djokovic does: No mistakes and four pure winners, including a down-the-line backhand return to end it.

At the break, Federer took a medical timeout and went off court with a trainer, like he did against Sandgren. Djokovic stayed on the sideline while he, too, got checked out.

When play resumed, Federer did not look as spry or confident as in the first set. He tried shortcuts such as pushing forward on returns or less-than-ideal drop shots. He couldn't generate so much as one break chance.

Djokovic took the set with a final-game break and the last two points were spectacular.

First, he followed up a stinging return by heading far to his left for a sprinting, sliding, stretching cross-court backhand passing shot; he probably shouldn't even have put his racket on the ball, let alone managed to win the point.

Then he reacted to a short shot by Federer by running all-out to flip a cross-court forehand pass that made it two sets to none. Djokovic threw an uppercut and bellowed, "Come on!"

They played for another half-hour or so but all that was left to decide was the score, not who would win.

"He was better on the day today," Federer said, "no question."

Tempers flared in the final minute of Wednesday night's game between New York and Memphis when Knicks guard Elfrid Payton knocked the Grizzlies' Jae Crowder into the first row at Madison Square Garden.

With the Grizzlies up 124-106, Crowder attempted a 3-pointer following the steal of an errant inbounds pass by Julius Randle before Payton delivered a forearm with 48 seconds left.

Crowder and New York's Marcus Morris Sr. were ejected for instigating the fight. Payton was assessed a flagrant foul 2, which carries an automatic ejection.

The 127-106 victory for Memphis was the Grizzlies' fourth in a row.

After the game, Morris called Crowder "unprofessional," among other things, and took issue with his 3-point shot while the Grizzlies were up by such a large margin at that point in the contest.

"He plays the game a different way," Morris said. "He's got a lot of female tendencies on the court, flopping and throwing his head back the entire game. It's a man's game and you just get tired of it.

"When you step back and shoot a 3 ... and like rub it in ... he's unprofessional. He's soft. His game is soft. He's very womanlike."

After his comments to reporters, Morris tweeted an apology.

I apologize for using the term "female tendencies" I have the upmost respect for women and everything they mean to us. It was a Heat of the moment response and I never intended for any Women to feel as though in anyway I'm disrespecting them. Again I apologize with my comments.

— Marcus Morris (@MookMorris2) January 30, 2020

Morris and Crowder have had run-ins in prior seasons.

Payton admitted he would do it all over again and knock Crowder, or any other player, to the floor for attempting to tack on points with the game out of reach.

"That shot was disrespectful," Payton said. "I'm standing on that. I'd a did it again. Doesn't matter who took that shot. Don't disrespect the game like that."

Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins, who appeared to have been shoved by one of the Knicks players while trying to play peacemaker, credited the officiating crew for quickly restoring order.

"Obviously, it can be whole lot worse, but a lot of credit to [the referees], Josh [Tiven] and Ray [Acosta] and Ashley [Moyer-Gleich] for handling that really well," Jenkins said.

Crowder did not address the media after the game.

"The bottom line is we lost our composure in there, and we gotta do a better job in those situations," Knicks interim coach Mike Miller said.

Adding to the drama, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant complained after the game that there was no hot water and only three drops of water in the visitors shower room at MSG.

"This is beyond me," Morant said, according to the New York Daily News.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The NBA has alerted teams to the impending release of adjusted 2020-21 salary and luxury tax projections, signaling the likelihood that a decline in revenue will cause a drop in the figures, league sources told ESPN.

The league office is expected to deliver revised projections as soon as Thursday, an accommodation that allows teams to make more informed financial and roster decisions ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

The advance notice and pre-trade deadline timing of these looming projections, communicated in a recent league memo, is a departure from past protocol.

The loss of the league's China-driven revenue has caused many front-office executives to tell ESPN that they've been preparing for the possibility that the original 2020-21 cap projection of $116 million could drop as far as $113 million.

Teams inquiring with the league office about getting some sense of the projections to come were told that they would have to wait until the NBA shared those figures in a formal release.

These projections have impact on such items as free-agency cap space, luxury tax payouts and player contracts based on percentages of the salary cap -- including maximum deals and midlevel exceptions.

China's decision to pull sponsorships and television coverage because Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong in October is believed to have cost the NBA anywhere between $150 million and $200 million, league sources said.

Based on ESPN's conversations with team executives, the potential drop in revenue isn't expected to significantly impact the deadline behavior of teams. Salary-cap space is less important this summer than in past years, because only seven teams are currently poised to have salary-cap space above the projected $9.8 million midlevel exception. Also, the talent pool of players available in free agency isn't considered strong.

The projected luxury tax figure had been $141 million, which largely impacts teams such as Boston, Brooklyn, Golden State, Houston and Philadelphia that are expected to be luxury tax teams in 2020-21. Three more teams -- Denver, Milwaukee and the LA Clippers -- could be in the tax pending the retention of their own free agents.

For example, the Warriors -- considered a repeater tax team -- would lose more than $14 million if the tax projection dropped $3 million. With an extension for Draymond Green starting next season, the salary slot for a potential top-five draft pick in the 2020 draft and full use of the $5.9 million exception on a free agent this summer, the Warriors could face a nearly $80 million penalty if the tax drops to $138 million. Golden State was projected to pay $65 million in tax with a $141 million salary cap.

Other contending teams -- including the Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers -- could be impacted by a decrease in projected luxury tax. For instance, the Lakers would become hard capped if they use the full $9.8 million exception this summer, which would limit their flexibility to make a trade next season.

A salary-cap decrease of $3 million also would impact the players who signed rookie scale contract extensions over the past year, including Philadelphia's Ben Simmons and Denver's Jamal Murray ($4.3 million) as well as Toronto's Pascal Siakam ($3.3 million). Maximum contracts are based on percentages of the salary cap.

NEW YORK -- Kyrie Irving wanted the cheers to be louder.

As the final seconds ticked down in Wednesday night's game between the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons and the crowd began to chant, "Ko-be Bry-ant," Irving raised both of his arms and egged the fans on. "Louder," he seemed to be signaling.

The Nets' 125-115 win was the first game Irving had played in since Bryant's death on Sunday. The Nets had a game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks on Sunday night, but Irving missed it to grieve.

"Out there on the court, I am not the only one that is hurting," Irving said after Wednesday's contest in his first public comments on Bryant's death.

"I don't want to make this about me and just our relationship because we all shared something really, really strong with him."

While several of Irving's teammates had relationships with Bryant, Irving was especially close to the Lakers giant. Bryant was Irving's mentor. The two overlapped in the league for five seasons. In 2012, one year after Irving was drafted, he made a video challenging Bryant to a one-on-one duel.

Irving said that at the time, he probably wasn't ready for the sort of guidance that Bryant offered him.

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear," Irving said Wednesday. "I had that mentorship relationship with him, where I was able to ask him almost anything. You know no matter how nervous I was or how fearful I was, he was just easy to approach with those type of questions about what goes on in the day-in and day-out basis of chasing something that's bigger than yourself and when you're trying to leave a legacy or something of a mark on a game."

When Irving was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside LeBron James, the young guard sought out Bryant for advice on playing next to another superstar. Bryant and former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal had clashed during their joint tenure in Los Angeles. Irving looked to Bryant for guidance on how to avoid friction between him and James.

Irving also leaned on Bryant when he was experiencing knee pain that eventually required surgery during the Cavaliers' 2014-15 playoff run.

"I was in a terrible mental space, knowing I couldn't be as effective as I wanted to be," Irving said in 2015. "He was the first person I called, and we've had a great dialogue over the last few years, so it's been great."

Irving's game against the Pistons wasn't a perfect on-court performance -- and it was an emotional one. Irving scored 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting.

Irving streaked up and down the court, releasing 3-pointers and jump shots, in a pair of his Kyrie 3 "Mamba Mentality" sneakers

Scribbled on the sides was "1/26," the day Bryant died in a helicopter crash alongside eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. Irving also had written "Whiplash" on his shoe -- a reference to the 2014 film about a young drummer who was pushed to his breaking point by a mentor.

"Our relationship was so much deeper than basketball," Irving said.

Irving cried during the Nets' pregame tribute that included a two-minute video and two courtside seats that the Nets had left vacant in honor of Bryant and Gianna. The father and daughter had sat together in those very seats on Dec. 21 when the Nets played the Atlanta Hawks.

"For me, it's a lot of grieving going on," Irving said. "I'm just paying my respects. I know in the next coming days it will be some more news and things that are going to be done to commemorate the lives lost."

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- When Kawhi Leonard returned to the Los Angeles area to play for the Clippers, he called his friend and mentor Kobe Bryant for advice.

Still in disbelief and trying to process Bryant's death, Leonard recalled Wednesday how he talked to Bryant about everything from basketball to where to live to commuting in Los Angeles. Bryant lived in Newport Beach and talked to Leonard about using a helicopter.

"I talked to him about it before our transition to playing in L.A.," Leonard said after practice. "Just seeing how [he] got back and forth from Newport, and he said he was doing it for about 17 years or so."

Leonard, who has a residence near Staples Center but stays at his home in San Diego when he can, said he not only adopted that mode of transportation but also shared Kobe's pilot, Ara Zobayan.

Leonard hasn't been able to think about whether the helicopter accident Sunday that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna, Zobayan and six others has given him pause about continuing to use that mode of transportation.

"I feel like that ... I mean ... the things that you hear, you don't know what's real yet," Leonard said when asked if he has any trepidation now. "I can't really speak on it. I don't know. I don't know yet. It's a lot of thoughts in my head."

Leonard, who grew up in Southern California's Moreno Valley and played college basketball at San Diego State, knew Bryant personally for about seven years. They shared the same intensity and love for the details of basketball, they had friends in common and they used the same mode of transportation at times.

"Yeah, same pilot, everything," Leonard said. "The whole situation, this whole program, the setup, how [Bryant] was traveling back and forth was the same way I was getting here from San Diego."

Leonard said he flew many times with Zobayan, who sometimes flew Bryant and Leonard on the same day.

"Great guy. Super nice. He was one of the best pilots," Leonard said. "That is a guy who you ask for to fly you from city to city. It's just surreal still.

"He will drop me off and say he is about [to] go pick up Kobe, [and] Kobe said hello. Or he'll just be like, 'I just dropped Kobe off, and he said hello.' Vice versa. So it's a crazy interaction. He's a good dude, and I'm sorry for everybody."

Leonard said he worked out with Bryant before the start of the previous season, thought about his friend "every game" as motivation during the Toronto Raptors' title run and celebrated with Bryant on the phone in the locker room after winning it all.

Like so many others, Leonard said he wants to believe the news is not real.

"It's sad every day," Leonard said. "You know, you kind of feel like life isn't real once you start seeing these little monuments or the pictures that people are putting up with his face and the year he was born and the year he died. It's not all come together yet."

The Clippers were supposed to play the Lakers on Tuesday, but the NBA postponed the game. The Clippers agreed with the decision.

Like Leonard, Paul George grew up in Southern California. George, who hails from nearby Palmdale, said the Lakers star was the reason he picked up a basketball and was his inspiration to overcome a gruesome broken leg injury suffered during a scrimmage with Team USA in August 2014.

"We from here. It's different when you talk about what guys thought of him from another state," George said. "We grew up here. We saw him every day on TV. He's the reason all of us played the game, so it's different. It hits different for us, from Russ [Westbrook], DeMar [DeRozan], myself, Kawhi, just all the SoCal guys, it just hits different. He was our MJ [Michael Jordan]. He was our hero. He was our GOAT. It's just going to hit different for us."

Leonard and George visited Bryant at his camp in nearby Thousand Oaks before this season, even though they were both recovering from injuries and didn't participate.

"From idolizing him as a kid to developing a friendship, a brotherhood," George said, "to now having conversations with him this summer at his Mamba Academy and talking about fatherhood.

"Just some s--- you can't get over."

Leonard said that he and Phil Handy, who was an assistant with Toronto last season before he became an assistant with the Lakers this season, were close with Bryant.

"Just the competitive drive, just wanting to do everything you can -- on and off the court -- to be a better player," Leonard said of what he will take away from his talks with Bryant. "I mean, it's so much. It's just hard to think of the conversation we had together right now, just summing up in a sentence. Just everything he did.

"It's just that motivation. I thought about him every game. He [was] a sense of a drive for me last year, trying to get that championship."

In her first public comments since the death of her husband, Kobe, and daughter Gianna on Sunday, Vanessa Bryant said her family is "completely devastated" and thanked the millions of fans who have shown support during what she called a "horrific time."

She also announced the formation of a fund to help support the other families who were affected by the crash.

"There aren't enough words to describe our pain right now," Bryant wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by a picture of her entire family. "I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon."

View this post on Instagram

My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who've shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe - the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna - a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren't enough words to describe our pain right now. I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon. I'm not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it's impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless - and that's to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever. Thank you for sharing your joy, your grief and your support with us. We ask that you grant us the respect and privacy we will need to navigate this new reality. To honor our Team Mamba family, the Mamba Sports Foundation has set up the MambaOnThree Fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org. To further Kobe and Gianna's legacy in youth sports, please visit MambaSportsFoundation.org. Thank you so much for lifting us up in your prayers, and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka, Capri and me. #Mamba #Mambacita #GirlsDad #DaddysGirls #Family ❤️

A post shared by Vanessa Bryant ? (@vanessabryant) on Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59pm PST

Kobe and Gianna, 13, died in a helicopter crash on Sunday in Calabasas, California. They were among nine victims in the crash, which remains under investigation.

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant married in 2001, and they had four daughters together. Their oldest, Natalia, is 17, and their youngest, Capri, is 7 months old. They also have a 3-year-old, Bianka.

"I'm not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it's impossible to imagine life without them," Vanessa Bryant said as part of the post. "But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way. Our love for them is endless -- and that's to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever."

Kobe Bryant was on his way to a youth basketball game with Gianna when the helicopter crashed. Gianna was a budding basketball star and played at her dad's Mamba Sports Academy, where he also coached her.

Other victims of the crash were identified by the Los Angeles County coroner's office as pilot Ara Zobayan; Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli; Altobelli's wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa; Sarah Chester and 13-year-old daughter, Payton; and Christina Mauser, Kobe Bryant's assistant coach with the Mambas girls' basketball team.

"We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately," Vanessa Bryant wrote.

We are devastated and have been forever changed by the sudden loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. We send our love to Vanessa, the Bryant family, and to the families of the other passengers.

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 30, 2020

Later Wednesday night, the Lakers issued a formal statement on Twitter.

"We are devastated and have been forever changed by the sudden loss of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. We send our love to Vanessa, the Bryant family, and to the families of the other passengers," the team wrote. "Words cannot express what Kobe means to the Los Angeles Lakers, our fans, and our city. More than a basketball player, he was a beloved father, husband, and teammate. Their love and light will remain in our hearts forever."

The Mamba Sports Academy also posted a statement to Twitter on Wednesday that read, in part: "Kobe Bryant was so much more than a partner in Mamba Sports Academy. He was a caring father, husband, coach, and champion of youth sports. We mourn not only one of the greatest athletes of all time, but an active and engaged member of our community, and a visionary whose impact was only beginning to be felt by society. He will be remembered most for the care he placed and pleasure he took in educating the next generation, none more so than Gianna, Alyssa, Payton and their Mamba teammates.

"Through the shared values of attention to detail, relentless pursuit of passions, and dedication to excellence, we remain committed to honoring Kobe's mission of inspiring the next generation of leaders in the world of sports and beyond."

Vanessa Bryant closed her post by expressing thanks "for lifting us up in your prayers, and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka, Capri and me," while including the hashtags #Mamba, #Mambacita, #GirlsDad, #DaddysGirls and #Family.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Reliever Greg Holland is back with the Kansas City Royals, agreeing Wednesday to a minor league contract.

The 34-year-old right-hander would get a one-year, $1.25 million deal if added to the 40-man roster, plus the chance to earn performance bonuses.

Holland was 1-2 with a 4.54 ERA last year in 40 relief appearances with Arizona, which released him on Aug. 9. He signed with Washington and pitched in eight games at Double-A but did not get called up.

A three-time All-Star, he pitched for Kansas City from 2010 to 2015, helping the Royals win consecutive AL pennants in his final two seasons. He injured his pitching elbow in September 2015, had Tommy John surgery and missed the World Series victory over the New York Mets. He saved 47 games in 2013, 46 the following year and 32 in 2015.

He returned from surgery and signed with Colorado. Despite a drop in average fastball velocity from 96.5 mph to 94 mph, he led the NL with 41 saves. His average fastball velocity dipped to 93.5 mph in 2018 and to 91.5 mph last year.