The NBA has postponed the Los Angeles Lakers ' next game against the Clippers on Tuesday night after the deaths of retired superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others in a helicopter crash on Sunday afternoon in Calabasas, California.
The league said in a statement Monday that it made the decision "out of respect for the Lakers."
Discussions among the NBA, Lakers and Clippers played out over the past several hours -- ultimately with no objection from the Clippers to honor the Lakers' request of postponing Tuesday's game in the aftermath of Bryant's passing, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Bryant's helicopter crashed Sunday, and the Lakers learned about it while flying home from an East Coast road trip. LeBron James and several other players appeared to be visibly affected by the news when they got off the plane.
The Lakers organization hasn't made a public statement about Bryant's death, choosing to mourn in private. The 16-time NBA champion franchise made grief counselors available to employees Monday after the loss of Bryant, who spent his entire 20-year NBA career with the Lakers.
Dwight Howard is the only current Lakers player who played with Bryant, but the players all knew him. Bryant attended a handful of Lakers games with Gianna in recent years.
The NBA said the game between the Los Angeles rivals will be rescheduled later.
The next game on the Lakers' schedule is Friday night at home against Portland.
ARDMORE, Pa. -- Most of the people didn't know the man they came to honor -- at least not really. Most of those who came to lay down flowers, No. 24 and 33 jerseys, candles, teddy bears and basketballs had never spoken to the man they came to mourn.
The news of Kobe Bryant's death ricocheted around the world on Sunday night. In 41 years, Bryant identified with Italy and Los Angeles, No. 8 and No. 24 -- but it all started here, in a leafy suburb 12 miles to the northwest of Philadelphia, at Lower Merion High School.
Between the hours of 6 a.m. and noon on Monday -- less than 24 hours after Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash that also took the lives of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others -- the shrine set up outside of Bryant's alma mater had grown by a third. It grew so large that faculty had to move the memorial from the gym's entrance to an adjacent rectangle of pavement so it wouldn't block the doors.
Alumni showed up. Local residents came by. Teachers paused on their way into work. Students pressed their noses against the glass doors of the school that looked out at the memorial. A policeman stood watch.
"Honestly, I didn't realize how much he had impacted my life until I found out the news," local resident DaVonn Grosvenor said, sniffling. "It's tough when you lose an icon, when you lose a legend. He had so much more to offer. So I just had to come by and pay my respects. The only way I knew how was on the grounds he walked on once upon a time."
Once upon a time was the mid-1990s. Before the Lakers and before the championship rings, Bryant dominated here. He was a four-year starter for Lower Merion High, where he wore the No. 33 and scored 2,883 points. Now the court that made him the high school's leading scorer bears his name -- the Bryant Gymnasium.
And outside that gym is where mourners gathered to pay homage to a life cut short. Some folks lingered, snapping photos of the memorabilia as though it were a tourist attraction. Others wept inconsolably. One woman stayed kneeling by a photo of Bryant for well over an hour. One man came and prayed. Another man came with his young son. Students meandered over during free periods. Current student-athletes walked over too.
The day after Bryant's death, the entire student body was encouraged to wear black to school to mourn the loss of their most notable alumnus.
The school invited select current and former members of the boys' and girls' basketball teams to speak with reporters about Bryant. The girls' basketball team players -- juniors Bridget McCann and Alexis Hunter -- talked about how Bryant furthered the game for women.
"We walk past his trophy case every day," Hunter said. "We didn't think he would go so soon."
The boys' basketball players -- James Simples III and Matthew O'Connor, who graduated in 2019 -- talked about how his death fuels them to go out and compete. But it was the former players -- the ones who knew Bryant personally -- who spoke about his influence on their lives.
"People don't really know how to react," Simples said.
Gui Stewart, who played with Bryant for three years and graduated in 1995, wept as he talked about his friend. The last time they spoke, Stewart said, was when Bryant was in town promoting his children's book. As he spoke, Stewart wiped away tears.
"It was bigger than basketball, it was deeper than basketball," Stewart said. "When we see each other, we're just kind of in that moment and not worrying about anything else. So I am just glad I got a chance to speak with him recently."
For those who didn't have the chance to have one final conversation -- or maybe one conversation at all -- placing a note by Bryant's photo was their goodbye.
By 2 p.m., school buses began to pull up to transport Lower Merion students back home, and the group that had gathered around the remembrance began to clear. Inevitably, more mourners will show up Monday evening, Tuesday morning and in the days after that. The memories of Bryant will not go away. They are, like Bryant himself, unrelenting, enduring and remarkable.
When Kobe Bryant wanted to talk, he'd shoot you a text or email: "When are you headed this way again?" This was his way of suggesting the booking of a flight. A one-man news cycle, almost anything Bryant shared became a story. He never seemed to grow tired of the swirl surrounding him. In fact, it fueled him.
In most of these interviews, Bryant endeavored to send a message to management or coaches, teammates or opponents -- sometimes all of those constituencies in a single sitting.
Back in November of 2010 -- and unknown to me -- the target was Michael Jordan. The Los Angeles Lakers had won back-to-back championships and Kobe had moved within a title of catching MJ's six rings. Jordan had said something that felt like a slight to Bryant -- leaving him off some sort of list of great players.
When asked about Jordan, Bryant had an opening to tell me his story about Michael Jackson. He told of the pop icon calling him when he was with the Lakers, telling Bryant he could sense that he was taking a lot of grief for being different and that they should get together and talk. This was something Bryant had never discussed before, and I remember my eyes darting back and forth to my tape recorder, fearing a malfunction.
Inside the fourth floor of a Minneapolis hotel restaurant, Bryant was unloading about the late King of Pop and himself. I'll always remember his jacket -- purple and gold, with five Larry O'Brien trophies emblazoned across the back and sleeves. He looked like the varsity letterman wearing his state title patches at the Friday night pizza haunt. Kobe Bryant was 32 years old, and he didn't care at all.
"We would always talk about how he prepared to make his music, how he prepared for concerts," Bryant told me. "He would teach me what he did: how to make a 'Thriller' album, a 'Bad' album, all the details that went into it. It was all the validation that I needed -- to know that I had to focus on my craft and never waver. Because what he did -- and how he did it -- was psychotic. He helped me get to a level where I was able to win three titles playing with Shaq because of my preparation, my study. And it's only all grown.
"That's the mentality that I have -- it's not an athletic one. It's not from Jordan. It's not from other athletes.
"It's from Michael Jackson."
The thing is, Michael Jordan was everything to Kobe Bryant. He wanted MJ's blessing, the way a generation of players wanted Kobe's. Jordan was never close to Bryant, and Bryant was never close to LeBron James, and that's just how it goes with most of these iconic stars. The competition is cutthroat -- and it doesn't matter whether they're competing in real time or for the historical narrative. In the age of player empowerment, Bryant took great pride in something few others might have considered as part of their lifetime achievement: He never had to take a pay cut to win a championship.
play
6:47
Kobe Bryant's career, in his own words
Relive Kobe Bryant's historic NBA career as told by the Lakers icon.
Once, we were having dinner at Javier's in Newport Beach and out of nowhere began one of our strangest conversations: Kobe was convinced that Lakers president Jim Buss wanted to amnesty the remaining money and years on his contract and force him to leave the Lakers. He had no evidence, just a hunch.
"That is never happening," I told him. "They'd burn the city down."
"I think he wants to do it," Kobe insisted.
Well, what would happen then?
"I'll go to New York and play for Phil [Jackson]."
There was no reason to believe Buss ever considered it, but Kobe couldn't stop talking about it that night. In some ways, it was a rare crisis of confidence for Bryant. He had to understand that the Lakers would never cut him loose. Still, he kept coming back to the idea over that long dinner.
We connected a couple of weeks later, and he no longer seemed concerned about the Lakers amnestying his contract. Kobe was on to something else, because he was always on to something else.
I was driving on Sunday afternoon, talking with a front-office executive about the upcoming trade deadline, when suddenly I told him I'd have to call him back. My phone began bouncing with a barrage of texts. I pulled over and tried to understand what had happened.
Word of a helicopter ride on a Sunday morning to what sounded like a basketball game with his daughter Gianna. Lakers president and GM Rob Pelinka -- Bryant's former agent and, perhaps, his closest friend -- had recently been regaling me with stories about Kobe's passion for coaching Gigi's teams. Once I had the information verified and reported, there was still a part of me expecting Kobe to reach out and tell me, "Hey man, you bleeped up! I'm here!"
One of the best parts of this job had long been that random text or email, wondering: "When are you coming out again?" For the longest time, Kobe Bryant had been the center of so many of our lives. That's the hard part today, because he had so clearly become the center of his little girls' world; and all that's gone now.
I always suspected Gigi and her three sisters had gone a long way to give their father's life clearer purpose. Did they change him? I don't know. I do believe they made him a better man, the way most children do for their dads.
The rest of us will survive without hearing from Bryant again, but his wife and those young girls, well, that's an emptiness and loss that no story and no 81-point night and no championship could ever touch. After 20 seasons with the Lakers and legitimate global domination, these had been Kobe Bryant's best years, his finest performance.
Marte, 31, has spent his entire eight-year career with the Pirates. He has a career .287 batting average with 108 homers, 420 RBIs and 239 steals. He had career highs last season with 23 homers and 82 RBIs.
Marte won Gold Gloves in 2015 and '16.
He reached the All-Star Game in 2016 but also served an 80-game suspension in 2017 after testing positive for steroids.
The Pirates are in the midst of a rebuild after revamping their leadership structure following a last-place finish in the NL Central in 2019. The ascension of outfielder Bryan Reynolds during a breakout rookie season in 2019 and Gregory Polanco's expected recovery from shoulder issues that limited him to 42 games last season gave Pittsburgh the flexibility it needed to move Marte.
The players going to Pittsburgh are right-handed pitcher Brennan Malone, the 33rd pick in the 2019 draft, and shortstop Liover Peguero, a toolsy 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic who excelled in short-season ball.
"We're excited about adding two young players of this caliber and the opportunity we'll have to help them continue to grow," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in a prepared statement. "In addition, we now have a greater ability to acquire impact-type talent in this year's international free agent market."
Malone, a hard-throwing right-hander, was considered one of the top prospects in the Arizona system. He went a combined 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven appearances in Class A. Peguero hit a combined .326 (74 for 227) with 11 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs and 38 RBIs in 60 games in the low minors last season.
Arizona was dealing from a farm system that is one of the deepest and best in baseball, along with San Diego's and Tampa Bay's.
ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
NEW YORK -- Big league players, managers and fans might be hearing a lot more from umpires this season.
Much like NFL referees have done for years, umpires could be mic'd up and announce whether reviewed calls are upheld or overturned, sources told ESPN's Pedro Gomez. They may also explain rules, if necessary.
Major League Baseball and the umpires are actively discussing the possibility. If the technical aspects can be worked out and the umps are comfortable with the concept, they could be mic'd up sometime this year. Both sides say there's lots of work to do, making it uncertain whether this could be in place by Opening Day on March 26.
"I feel like getting more information on replay reviews would be great. Being able to hear what they see/say about the play will provide a better explanation of the call, which will be very beneficial for both sides," Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt said.
The NFL and NHL have their referees announce the results of replay reviews. In the NBA, the arena public address announcers relay decisions.
Baseball fans have become familiar with seeing crew chiefs such as Joe West, Ted Barrett and Tom Hallion take off the headsets and signal the ruling from the replay center in New York -- either indicating a player is out or safe, or perhaps pointing to where a runner should go.
Under the innovation, an umpire might tell everyone at the park whether a challenged call is confirmed, stands or is reversed. It is not known whether there would be any additional explanation of a ruling beyond the basics.
"It will be helpful to the fans, which is good," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "Sometimes they're left in the dark as with what is being challenged."
In the NFL and NHL, the referee is apart from the players when he speaks. MLB likely will want to be sure umps turn off their microphones for any disputes that might result.
"Well, sounds like players might be picked up on the umps' mic," longtime outfielder Rajai Davis texted to the Associated Press. "It wouldn't affect me personally, but it will other guys."
It was the one trade everyone has predicted all offseason and it finally happened on Monday: The Pittsburgh Pirates traded outfielder Starling Marte to the Arizona Diamondbacks for two prospects. The Diamondbacks needed an outfielder, and with the Pirates stuck in the mire of Nowhere Land it was for them to trade a 31-year-old outfielder while he still had two years of team contractual control remaining.
What are the Diamondbacks getting? Other than a subpar 2017, when Marte was suspended 80 games for a positive performance-enhancing drug test, he has been a consistent performer at the plate, with an OPS+ ranging between 113 and 120 every other season since 2015. He did set career highs in 2019 in home runs (23) and slugging percentage (.503) thanks to the lively baseball.
Marte is a two-time Gold Glover, with those awards coming in 2015 and 2016 when he primarily played left field. He played center field the past two seasons, and he posted the worst defensive metrics of his career in 2019 with minus-9 defensive runs saved. The Statcast numbers, however, are a little more kind to his glove work, crediting him with two outs above average and a high jump rating. Given his speed remains near elite, Marte reasonably projects as at least an average defender in center field, sandwiched between David Peralta and Kole Calhoun.
John McEnroe has called on Serena Williams to overtake Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slams and "leave her offensive views in the past".
On Monday, the Australian Open held a ceremony to mark 50 years since Court completed a calendar Grand Slam.
But the 77-year-old Australian has been criticised for her views on gay marriage and transgender athletes.
McEnroe says Court, who has one more major singles title than Williams, is a "nightmare" for Tennis Australia.
In a video for Eurosport, the seven-time Grand Slam champion said: "There's only one thing longer than the list of Margaret Court's list of achievements: it's her list of offensive and homophobic statements.
"Serena, do me a favour, get two more Grand Slams this year and get to 25 so we can leave Margaret Court and her offensive views in the past, where they both belong. Thank you."
Court is now a church pastor and says her stance against gay marriage - which was legalised in Australia in 2017 - derives from her religious beliefs.
In 2017 she wrote an open letter to Australian airline Qantas, saying she would be boycotting it because it had become an active promoter of same-sex marriage.
That same year she also said tennis was "full of lesbians", while she has spoken against transgender athletes and branded the teaching of LGBT rights as "of the devil".
McEnroe, who called Court a "crazy aunt", added: "Margaret Court is actually a ventriloquist, using the Bible as a dummy to say whatever she wants."
Tennis Australia said it would "recognise" the anniversary of Court's playing achievements rather than "celebrate" them.
The organisation distanced itself from her views, saying: "We cannot condone views that fracture our incredible tennis community, nor indeed the wider community."
Nick Kyrgios says he has "made progress as a human" after his Australian Open ended with an honourable defeat by Spanish top seed Rafael Nadal.
Kyrgios, 24, lost 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4) as Nadal reached the Melbourne quarter-finals on Monday.
The Australian has received wide praise for his improved on-court behaviour as well as his response to the Australian bushfires.
"I'm just taking it day by day, trying to bring positive vibes," said Kyrgios.
In September, he was put on a six-month probationary period after being given a suspended 16-week ban and $25,000 (£20,300) fine for "aggravated behaviour" on court.
An ATP investigation determined Kyrgios' "pattern of behaviour" over the previous 12 months - which included smashing racquets, swearing and a furious tirade at umpire Fergus Murphy, who he labelled a "potato" - was in violation of the governing body's code.
Nadal, a 19-time Grand Slam champion, also criticised his behaviour, saying it lacked "respect".
But Kyrgios has responded favourably - on and off court - over an Australian summer which has seen his country devastated by bushfires.
The Canberra-born player teared up at the recent ATP Cup when he discussed the disaster.
That came after he pledged to donate 200 Australian dollars for every serve he hit this month, a gesture which sparked a huge fundraising effort among his fellow pros.
The total raised by the sport stood at over A$5.6m (£2.9m) on Sunday night.
"I feel like I've made progress as a human. A tennis player, I don't really care about as much," said Kyrgios, who could climb back into the world's top 20 next week.
Nadal had warm words for Kyrgios after their match at Melbourne Park, encouraging his younger rival to keep playing with the same "very positive attitude".
The world number one added Kyrgios has the talent to be "one of the best in the world".
In response to Nadal's advice, Kyrgios said: "I appreciate it. But I already know that. I've known that for the last four years.
"But the trouble for me is being able to actually just produce the same attitude over and over again. Hopefully I can keep doing it."
'Special' Bryant motivated my fightback - Kyrgios
Kyrgios says the emotion he felt at the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant motivated his fightback against Nadal in their thrilling last-16 match on Rod Laver Arena.
Kyrgios, a huge basketball fan, was flat in the first set but fought back to level before 33-year-old Nadal recovered.
"My life is basketball and when I think about it, it is heavy. It is tough," he said.
Kyrgios paid tribute to Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday, by wearing an LA Lakers vest bearing the American's name on the back as he walked out on court.
The 24-year-old, who looked close to tears, kept the jersey on during the warm-up.
Bryant was a keen tennis fan and performed the coin toss before Roger Federer's US Open match against Britain's Dan Evans last year.
"When I woke up to the news, it was pretty emotional," said Kyrgios.
"I don't think they make them like him any more. He was different, the way he trained, the way he did things, the way he played. He was special.
"If you look at the things he stood for, what he wanted to be remembered by, I felt like, if anything, it helped me [against Nadal].
"When I was down a break in the fourth, I was definitely thinking about it. I fought back."
National associations took ownership of the project’s creation in order to meet their needs and desired outcomes. The nature of supported projects was manifold, ranging from table tennis development in schools, to tournaments, workshops, training camps and coaching sessions.
Most significantly since the launch, Latin American national associations have been most active.
Suriname
In Suriname, the initiative supported its own “Girls in Motion” programme, the concept aims at increasing the number of girls playing table tennis.
The Suriname Table Tennis Association organised a series of training sessions under the guidance of experts, Gieta Girjasing and Kurt Uhlenkamp. Overall 15 girls and two female coaches attended throughout weekends from September to December. The itinerary was complemented by two tournaments.
In addition, participants were able to take part in an educational seminar focusing on female empowerment. The experts were also able to advise on the set up of three new table tennis clubs, one step further in increasing participation numbers and the level of play.
Ecuador
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the programme picked up speed from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th November, when 28 girls met in the city of Cuenca for a training camp and workshop. The stated objective was acquirement of practical and theoretical knowledge required to target gender equity in sport.
“Sport has no gender,” was the premise of the workshop. Additional to providing lessons that optimised the athletic performance of girls, who were between nine and 13 years old, sports psychology, biomechanics, and physiotherapy were covered.
Under the direction of Rafael Armendariz, the players found new ways to improve both their workouts and sports careers. Maybelline Menéndez, current under 11 girls’ South American and Latin American Champion, was particularly impressed.
”It was a unique opportunity, I learnt many new things; I realised that there is nothing that is impossible for us.” Maybelline Menéndez.
The experience set a precedent to expand the possibilities of growth for national athletes.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua was the next national association to embrace the programme in a wholehearted manner.
Currently, the national association is focused on increasing participation in schools and universities as well at amateur and high performance levels.
From Thursday 12th to Saturday 14th December, the first women’s table tennis camp “My Gender. My Strength” was held at the Nicaraguan Sports Institute in Managua. A total of 19 players of different ages participated. Notably 12 girls between the ages seven and 11 were beginners; also there were intermediate level players, nine from the youth selection, members of the senior team, and veterans.
During the Camp, theoretical and practical classes were presented, focusing on basic techniques, the teaching of the rules of table tennis, the importance of warm-up and physical preparation of athletes. Also, the planning of training and exercises were introduced plus the use of equipment such as balloons. Multi-ball was adopted for the advanced groups, for the starter group relaxation and stretching exercises were arranged.
At the end, a competition was held according to the levels of the participant; the whole itinerary being applauded. In particular Mariana Gutierrez, 10 years old, a beginner was delighted.
“I liked it because I learned several techniques. I played table tennis a year ago and now I realise that it is something more beautiful than I knew before. I liked it a lot. I have learnt new techniques, several movements, the rules and I have also met more people who have helped me, I played a lot. I invite girls to join because it is a very nice sport that can help them and it’s something fun that can distract them.” Mariana Gutierrez
Venezuela
The final activity under the programme’s umbrella in Latin America was Venezuela’s Table Tennis Festival of the Capital Region. The main objective was to strengthen the promotion of our sport through mass activities, as well as to offer the possibility to girls from the Vargas, Miranda and Capital District states to live a different experience through recreational activities focused on sport values.
Overall 26 players assisted by six coaches participated in the Festival, which was supported by the sports authorities from the local region. They are committed to the promotion of table tennis in the area through the combined efforts of community leaders and state coaches; the aim is to develop a rerecruitment programme in public and private schools.
During the activity, the expert Kathiuska Chirinos explained the importance of values in sport: effort, resilience, perseverance, respect and especially teamwork.
Practices were designed to assess the technical and physical level of the girls, with a view to implementing support policies from the Venezuelan Table Tennis Federation in the formation of the women’s national sports seed bed.
Finally, with the intention of assessing the attitude of the girls in competition, a tournament was held which served as a fun and enriching experience. Kenderly Brito, from the Pedro Fontes School, eight years old, was delighted.
“I am very happy to meet and share with other girls in table tennis. I like to learn, practise and play. Thank you for this beautiful experience to all who made it possible.” Kenderly Brito
In 2019, the “My Gender. My Strength.” Programme had 192 participants in total in Latin America, 165 of whom were female.
We are looking forward to seeing a significant impact on women’s development in table tennis in the five selected national associations and to witness a legacy. We hope that the continuation of the programme in 2020 will bring even more interest and further advance women’s development in table tennis.
I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information. Today I Dig®attracts millions of users every month.r
Phone: (800) 737. 6040 Fax: (800) 825 5558 Website: www.idig.com Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
