IRWINDALE, Calif. – The annual Irwindale Speedway Breast Cancer Awareness Night started with an afternoon NISSFEST car show where about 50 Nissan owners displayed cars in the front parking lot.

It attracted hundreds of people and helped boost attendance to more than 3,000. Many visitors purchased grandstand tickets and watched a drifting demo event following the National Anthem. Veteran drifting drivers took part in the 15-minute final round of solo and tandem competition following earlier on-track competition from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

NASCAR Irwindale competitors raced for six track championships starting at 7:30 p.m. An all-female drivers demolition derby concluded the program. Championship-deciding events included Lucas Oil Race Trucks and You Race LA Spec Late Models in a pair of 35-lap features on the half-mile. Both series raced in the same twin-35 lap races, but separate points and track titles were awarded in each division. The two features paid the usual 50-points to win.

INEX Legend Cars and Tucker Tires of Covina-sponsored enduro cars followed with 35-lap main events on the third-mile oval. A 25-lap Progressive Paint Super Stock main also used the third-mile and preceded the second truck/spec late model feature. These three divisions awarded double points for the season finales, so winners received 100 points with a dropoff of four points per position.

The final event was the third annual Black Flag Cancer all-female drivers demolition derby organized by veteran enduro competitor Cheryl Hyland. It attracted a new track record 23 drivers in four-cylinder foreign and American sedans. The demo derby purse from various individuals and company sponsors awarded $1,100 to the winner. The event lasted from 9:49 p.m. to 10:25 p.m. with three remaining competitors battling to the checkered flag. One brief red flag at 10:15 p.m. waved because of a small engine fire.

CHAMPIONS CROWNED: Irwindale 2019 track champions by divisions were all point leaders entering the evening.

Kenny Smith, 73, repeated his 2018 spec late model championship in his own RCF-built No. 43 Chevy. He won by 44 points and was the fastest qualifier six times. He is the oldest track champion at Irwindale, which opened in 1999. The Oak Hills resident has won 10 championships including titles at Saugus Speedway, which closed in 1995.

His wife Mary Lou, who has been fighting cancer at the City of Hope Medical Center, was present Saturday. The series had 10 main events with five different winners. Smith won four times, including a non-points race on May 25. Some drivers could not make a rescheduled date so it became a non-points event. Sixteen drivers scored points.

Lucas McNeil, 26, of Saugus, backed up his 2018 truck championship in his No. 78. He was the fastest qualifier six times and won five of ten features. Four drivers won the 10 mains. Ten drivers scored series points. McNeil won his second Irwindale championship by four points (482-478) over three-time feature winner Andrew Porter, Smith’s 26-year old grandson, who won both 35-lap truck features Saturday.

Darren Amidon, 34, from Lakeside, won his sixth INEX Legends car Irwindale championship in his own 1930s-replica No. 33 coupe. His Irwindale title years started in 2007. He has amassed 41 Irwindale main event victories, eighth highest total in Irwindale history. He won four of the eight features and earned his crown by 12 points. Four drivers won the eight features and 24 drivers scored series points. .

Rich DeLong III, 31, of Castaic, became a three-time Irwindale super stock champion. He dominated the series by setting fastest qualifying time in all eight events, leading the most laps, and winning all eight main events in his No. 84 Chevy SS. He won the title by 78 points. Twelve drivers scored series points.

Rodney Argo, 46, from Gardena, won his first Irwindale championship in the Enduro Sport division with his No, 9 1999 Honda Prelude. The former 410 sprint car feature winner at Perris started racing in the four-cylinder enduro sedan class during 2017. Irwindale began awarding enduro points in 2018. For 2019 the series was divided into 2.3 liter sport class and the less-powerful 2.0 liter stock class. Argo, a six-time feature winner, won the hotly-contested sport class by two points (486-484) over three-time winner Bory Molina. Four different winners won the 10 sport division races. Fifteen drivers scored points.

Brad Stellman, 56, from Gardena, became a first-time Irwindale champion in the second year of Irwindale stock enduro car racing. He drove his No. 62 1995 Honda Accord and was the top stock class enduro driver in the combined divisions four times as six drivers scored first place points. He finished eighth overall in the season finale behind faster sport enduro cars. All stock class cars started in front of all sport class cars after the 11-race enduro series was divided into two classes for the second 2019 event onward. Stellman beat runner-up Robert Rice by eight points (474-466).

The next Irwindale racing event on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 10 will be the Fall Spectacular featuring the King of the Wing 410 winged sprint cars that reach 140 mph on the straights. JoJo Helberg set the fastest lap ever recorded at Irwindale on Nov. 22, 2014. His fastest Irwindale record lap was 130.520 mph. Also on the program will be Legend cars and enduro sedans racing on a new 12-turns road course using both ovals and the infield. A first-time RV Demolition Figure-8 race will follow.

Gates for the rare Sunday Irwindale event will open on Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. with autographs at 12:45 p.m. and the first race at 2 p.m. Admission prices are $12. for adults, $7 for kids 6-12 and free for kids 5 and under. The most recent King of the Wing race in Meridian, Idaho, on Sept. 20-21 had 31 and 30 sprint cars.

King of the Wing teams will race at Kern County Raceway Park Saturday night, Nov. 9 before coming to Irwindale. The high-point driver after those two races will be crowned the King of the Wing Series West Coast Region champion.

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Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, surprisingly preferred to Gonzalo Higuain, scored twice in three minutes late in the game as the Turin side came from behind to beat a defiant Lokomotiv Moscow 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Despite enjoying 69 percent of possession over the 90 minutes, Juventus trailed to Aleksei Miranchuk's first-half goal and appeared to be heading for their first defeat under coach Maurizio Sarri until Paulo Dybala curled in an exquisite goal in the 77th minute.

The Argentine, who has started only five of Juve's 11 matches this season, then pounced to drive home a rebound and give his side a 2-1 win which kept them level with Atletico Madrid on seven points at the top of the Group D.

"I'm very happy, I really needed two goals like this," said Dybala. "It was a difficult game but tonight you could really see the level of experience of our team. We always remained calm until we finally scored."

Sarri sprung a couple of surprises with his lineup as he chose Dybala to partner Cristiano Ronaldo in attack and fielded Rodrigo Betancur in a new position behind the attacking duo.

However, the Serie A leaders produced a lacklustre first half and rarely looked like piercing injury-ravaged Lokomotiv's blanket defence.

Instead, Lokomotiv, whose 72-year-old coach Yuri Semin is in his fourth stint at the club and was also in charge when they met Juventus in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup, went ahead when Portugal midfielder Joao Mario's shot was saved by Wojciech Szczesny and Miranchuk followed up to score.

Juventus livened up after Higuain replaced Sami Khedira early in the second half.

Dybala volleyed over from one chance and then his fellow Argentine Higuain produced a delightful piece of control before driving his shot just past the post.

Dybala finally levelled in the 77th minute when he exchanged passes with Juan Cuadrado -- who minutes earlier had been lucky to escape with a yellow card for a wild, lunging tackle on Joao Mario -- and curled his shot past Guilherme from 25 metres.

Shortly afterwards, Alex Sandro's fierce long-range drive was parried by Guilherme and the ball landed at the feet of Dybala who drilled it into the net for the winner.

Kylian Mbappe came off the bench to grab a second half hat-trick and inspire Paris Saint-Germain to a runaway 5-0 victory at Belgium's Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The win kept up their 100% record in Group A with the French team on nine points at the halfway mark and on the cusp of qualification for the next phase, a comfortable five points ahead of second placed Real Madrid.

Mauro Icardi put PSG into a seventh minute lead but it was only after World Cup winner Mbappe, working his way back after a hamstring injury, came on early in the second half that they clicked into gear.

"I wanted to start. I thought I would start. The coach chose otherwise, which I had to accept. I wanted to show it it is difficult to do without me," Mbappe said. "When I was not there, the others did well. Football is a passion and to go without playing for two months was painful. I want to play every match and score goals.

"My injury is now gone, so I thank the medical staff. This was not a win for Kylian, but a win for PSG."

PSG's opener was simply done with a long ball over the top from skipper Thiago Silva to find Angel di Maria, who in turn slipped a square pass for his fellow Argentine to convert.

Mbappe came on shortly after half-time and within nine minutes had PSG further ahead.

His quick footwork set up Di Maria for a square pass that Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet got a hand to, serving only to pop it up in the air for a quick-thinking Mbappe to head back over him and into the net.

Mbappe then set up the third for Icardi two minutes later after a defensive slip.

Di Maria was again the provider as Mbappe made it 4-0 in the 79th minute and then completed the quickest hat trick by a substitute in Champions League history four minutes later.

On both occasions it was the pace of the 20-year-old in carving his way past the Brugge defence and his deft finishing that underlined his prowess.

Club Brugge have two points from their three group games and go to Paris for their next Champions League match on Nov. 6.

Just hours after MLS named Sacramento as the league's latest expansion team, MLS commissioner Don Garber expressed frustration over the latest political maneuverings in Miami as it relates to Inter Miami's stadium proposal, dubbed Miami Freedom Park.

A meeting of the Miami city commission is scheduled for Thursday, and there are two resolutions on the agenda related to the project, whose plans include a 25,000-seat venue as part of a $1 billion development of Melreese Country Club. The first is a yes/no vote on the current version of the lease. The second would instruct the city manager to cease negotiations on a lease with Miami Freedom Park LLC -- the business entity attempting to develop the land on Inter Miami's behalf -- and open up development of the site to competitive bidding.

There is a chance that neither resolution is voted on at Thursday's meeting. But if the first resolution passes, there is nothing to stop Inter Miami from submitting a revised lease at a later date. But if the latter resolution is approved, it would at minimum cause considerable delay to the Miami Freedom Park project, and could end up killing the deal.

The political machinations have been noticed by MLS, which back in 2014 first announced its intention to place a team in Miami with an ownership group led by David Beckham. The process has seen proposed stadium sites as well as potential investors come and go. In the meantime, Inter Miami is expected to play at least its first two seasons at a temporary facility in Ft. Lauderdale.

"There have been continuous challenges in Miami, and it's frustrating," said Garber in an exclusive interview. "MLS has shown such a commitment to the City of Miami, and been so patient for so many years. We've done everything we said we would do. We found an unbelievable local owner in Jorge Mas and his partner Marcelo Claure. They've invested over $100 million in a temporary facility, all based on the fact that there was public referendum that supported our path to signing a lease at the Melreese site.

"Now all of a sudden, there's a bunch of folks that are backtracking on some of the commitments that were made. I find it frustrating and at times infuriating. It seems as if we're getting caught up in a political mess that is not of our making. I'm very disappointed."

Last November, voters approved a referendum by a 20-point margin that authorized the city commission to negotiate a 99-year lease for the project. That was by no means the end to the political obstacles. Since the project is a no-bid deal, four of the five city commissioners have to approve the lease. Commissioners Manolo Reyes and Willy Gort have long voiced opposition to the project. Reyes has sponsored both of the resolutions related to the Melreese proposal.

"I understand Mr. Garber's frustration but his job is to promote MLS, and for Mr. Mas and his partners this is a business decision," Commissioner Reyes said via email. "My job is to protect the interest of the residents and our greenspaces/parks of the City of Miami.

"I am not sure who Mr. Garber is referring too with his statement of 'all of a sudden, there's a bunch of folks that are backtracking' because I have been against this real estate development/land grab by group of businessmen. I have nothing against soccer. If Mr. Mas and his business partners want to buy land within the city of Miami and develop it I am sure the City would assist in any way possible."

Both sides have accused the other of dragging their feet in terms of getting a lease in front of the city commission. With Gort set to leave office due to term limits, it's been alleged that Inter Miami is merely waiting for a more favorable composition of the city commission before finalizing the lease. The stadium's proponents have countered that it wasn't their fault that commissioners took so long to hire outside consultants to help negotiate the deal.

"Some commissioners continue to try and substitute their judgment for the will of the voters," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said in a statement to ESPN. "It's anti-democratic, frustrating, and a blatant betrayal of the public trust. We have to stop playing games and exercise the will of the voters to bring this global sport, one of the few things missing in Miami, to our beautiful global city."

In response, Reyes said, "The Mayor and I have a very different interpretation of what the voters supported, or what they were [led] to believe during that referendum. I have been clear on my position from day one. This should have and must follow the process put forth in our City Charter and we must have full transparency. But most of all we must stand up to land grabs and protect our greenspaces/parks."

With regard to the resolution to approve the lease, Mas told ESPN, "There's no agreement to vote on,' pointing out that such key items as determining the fair market value (FMV) of the land, as well the cost of remediation to remove toxic materials from the site has yet to be determined, and are thus not yet specified in the lease.

"Nobody is in more of a hurry here than I am to get something done and present it to the city," said Mas, who added that he'll make a presentation at Thursday's meeting. "They took a little bit of time in hiring the appraiser, the outside consultant, only a couple of months ago. We're hoping that in the next 30-45 days they can get most of their work done."

One area of concern for the project's backers is that commissioner Joe Carollo, thought to be in favor of Miami Freedom Park, is the co-sponsor of the resolution requesting that the Melreese by opened up to competitive bidding. Whether that points to actual opposition, or other internal political maneuvering remains to be seen, but Mas remains optimistic.

"Commissioner Carollo has been on the record wanting to develop Miami Freedom Park, so I feel confident that Commissioner Carollo also wants to see a fully filled agreement before him so he can vote on it," Mas said.

LONDON -- When you're in the desert, you'll take even the murkiest glass of water to quench your thirst. Tottenham will greedily guzzle down Tuesday's 5-0 win over Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League group stage, even if it was a victory gained over a team so limp and passive they barely qualified as opposition.

This was one of those games in which players struggling for form tried to boost their self-confidence with a couple of freebie goals, eschewing sensible passes in favour of slightly implausible shots because, well, why not? The other team wasn't going to stop them, so they might as well.

Red Star were such a nonentity that we can't draw broad conclusions or make definitive statements heralding the return of Tottenham's form or even place it in the context of their season as a whole. Sure, they swept aside what was put in front of them clinically, kept a clean sheet and will thus feel much better about themselves, but they play Liverpool on Sunday. This win won't carry them too far.

-- Ogden: Man Utd need Kane, but are they bold enough to get him?
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But if nothing else, it showed that there is a spark left somewhere in this Spurs team: It might have seemed dormant for most of the season, but they're not completely dead.

There was nothing more sparky than the performance of Harry Kane. There are statistics to suggest that his potency as an out-and-out No. 9 has faded a little in recent times, but his brace here took him to nine goals from 12 games (plus six in four for England) this season; not bad in a good team, and in one struggling as badly as Spurs have been, it's exceptional.

Yet the goals almost felt like a sideshow compared to the rest of his performance, which was that of an expert playmaker as well as a goal scorer -- a No. 10 and a No. 9 rolled into one. There was Kane, dropping deep and curling a beautiful pass over the defence; there was Kane, on the wing looking for a telling cross; there was Kane, allowing Dele Alli to run beyond him and play a neat one-two; and there was Kane, scoring two goals of precision and delicacy, one a header, one a caressed finish into the bottom corner having worked space for himself to shoot.

He started early. Just after settling a few nerves with that opening goal, Kane dropped so deep he was almost standing on right-back Serge Aurier's toes, as he fizzed a pass behind the Red Star backline that Kevin de Bruyne would have sagely approved of.

Not long after that, he created the space for Tottenham's second goal. As Erik Lamela ran down the right side of the box, Kane hung back slightly, when you might expect a centre-forward to drive for the 6-yard box. That movement seemed to briefly flummox the Red Star defence, unsure whether to track him or keep their line, and in the end they did neither. That meant Son Heung-Min had room to run into when Lamela crossed, and he could barely miss.

That sort of thing isn't an accident: Kane was half making himself available for a cut-back, half dragging his opponents out of position for the benefit of a colleague. Either way, the result was probably going to be the same, and it was the work of a player more cerebral than he is often given credit for.

Lamela himself could barely miss not long after half-time when, again, Kane dropped deep and curled another pass over a dawdling Red Star defence to put the Argentinean clean through, but miss he did, almost trying to be too careful about the finish. It was a shame that Kane wasn't able to find Kane with some of those balls.

Kane didn't actually register an assist, but that feels like a technicality. Just because he didn't provide the final pass doesn't mean he wasn't the creative force behind Tottenham's other three goals. Take the fourth, for which he again dropped deep to feed Aurier with a precision ball, the move ultimately finished off by Lamela.

It almost seems unfair, really. Kane is England's best goal scorer in a generation, and it now looks like he's developing into one of their better creative players, too. Having the vision to spot some of his passes on Tuesday was one thing, but the skill to pull them off is something else entirely.

Kane's dropping deep is not exactly a new thing. He has been doing it for a while, but it feels like he's getting so much better at it that we can almost think of him as two players in one, like the result of some gloriously outlandish experiment involving Jurgen Klinsmann, Teddy Sheringham and a madcap scientist's latest contraption.

This looks a little more like the role he has been playing for England, where he's usually flanked by two nominal wingers who are actually more like wide forwards, giddily filling the attacking spots when Kane drifts, menacingly. It's probably not a coincidence that Kane played like this with Son and Lamela either side of him, both in sparkling form themselves.

This is a player maturing, like one of those bands that bursts onto the scene with youthful energy, initially grabbing you by the lapels, but by the third album, they've discovered keyboards and produce richer, more fulfilling sounds. It has been an odd season for everyone at Tottenham, but good things could still come of it, not least the flowering of Kane into something even better than he was before.

Lockie Ferguson will make his return from injury for the New Zealand XI in England's warm-up matches ahead of their T20I series.

Ferguson suffered a fractured thumb at the start of the tour of Sri Lanka in August and the two practice matches at Lincoln on October 27 and 29 will give him a chance to get up to speed ahead of the T20Is.

He was one of the stars of the World Cup, finishing as New Zealand's leading wicket-taker with 21 at 19.47.

"The thumb has healed well and I'm looking forward to having a hit-out at Lincoln," he said. "While it's obviously frustrating to be side-lined, it's actually been good to take some time to freshen up and be able to return with plenty of motivation and energy. It's the beginning of a really big summer of cricket and it's exciting to be starting it against a quality England side."

He will be joined in the New Zealand XI by current internationals Colin Munro, who will captain the team, and Tim Seifert.

Squad Colin Munro (capt), Katene Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Blake Coburn, Anton Devcich, Lockie Ferguson, Jake Gibson, Brett Hampton, Anaru Kitchen, Christian Leopard, Tim Seifert (wk), Anurag Verma

The Detroit Lions traded starting safety Quandre Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2020 fifth-round pick on Tuesday.

Diggs had been a starter for the Lions since 2017 at slot cornerback and safety. Over the past two seasons he had become one of Detroit's most reliable players in the secondary, along with Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay.

Diggs, 26, was a Pro Bowl alternate last year after a 78-tackle, three-interception season with eight passes defended. This season, he missed one game and part of another due to a hamstring injury, but had been on the field for a high percentage of snaps otherwise.

He wasn't playing as well as he did in 2018, but still had 20 tackles through five games for the Lions.

In an Instagram post Tuesday night, Diggs thanked his former Lions teammates and expressed excitement over his new team, writing, "Seattle let's get it!! Ready to get to work and win more games!! Too hyped!!"

The Seahawks already have a logjam at safety, although starter Bradley McDougald is dealing with back spasms that kept him out Sunday against Baltimore and Lano Hill is expected to miss at least another week with an elbow injury. Rookie second-round pick Marquise Blair impressed coach Pete Carroll on Sunday while making his first career start. Free safety Tedric Thompson, meanwhile, allowed a 50-yard completion on Baltimore's first possession that Carroll lamented as a "big mistake."

"I hate that we gave them that," Carroll said. "There's no way that should ever happen."

The Seahawks have an additional 2020 fifth-rounder from the Nick Vannett trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Trading Diggs means the Lions are likely to start third-round pick Will Harris at safety along with Tracy Walker, who replaced the retired Glover Quin in the lineup this season.

Detroit does have an abundance of safeties to use with Walker. Besides Harris, both veteran Tavon Wilson and rookie C.J. Moore could see more work in the defensive backfield, particularly in nickel and dime packages.

But moving on from Diggs makes this the second consecutive season in which Detroit traded a player who was popular in the locker room and with fans. Slay was among Lions players to react on Twitter, calling the trade "bulls---" in one of his tweets. Running back Kerryon Johnson, who was placed on injured reserve earlier Tuesday, also weighed in.

This one hit me bra? https://t.co/coKjDwUrTq

— Darius Slay (@_bigplayslay23) October 22, 2019

Well this has been a tough day personally....my dawg...imma miss the hell out of you @qdiggs6

— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) October 22, 2019

Nooooooooooooooooo

— Mal (@jamalagnew) October 22, 2019

Wowwwwwwwww no way

— Damon Harrison Sr. (@snacks) October 22, 2019

Last year at the trade deadline, the Lions sent Golden Tate to Philadelphia for a third-round pick. Tate returns to Detroit on Sunday to play the Lions with his new team, the Giants.

Unlike Tate, Diggs was not in the final year of his contract when Detroit traded him. Diggs signed a three-year, $20.4 million extension last season. He is under contract until 2021 and has cap hits of $6,991,666 in 2020 and $7,341,668 in 2021, but no guaranteed money in either season.

ESPN's Brady Henderson contributed to this report.

Chinese state television did not air the NBA's opening night games Tuesday, and the league's streaming partner, Tencent, reduced its schedule and was showing just the Los Angeles Lakers-LA Clippers game.

CCTV has customarily shown the league's opening night games but has pulled all NBA broadcasts in the wake of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's tweet on Oct. 4 supporting anti-government protests in Hong Kong. Tencent has reduced its schedule but did stream some preseason games.

Tencent is a media partner of ESPN and the NBA. The NBA declined comment.

In a commentary over the weekend, CCTV said NBA commissioner Adam Silver will face "retribution sooner or later" for saying last week that Chinese officials made it clear they wanted Morey fired. The Chinese government denied Silver's claim.

Meanwhile, outside Staples Center before the Lakers-Clippers opener, a small group of protesters chanted and offered fans T-shirts that read: "Fight For Freedom Stand For Hong Kong"

Over the summer, the NBA agreed to a five-year extension to the streaming rights deal with Tencent reportedly worth $1.5 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO -- After saying during a recent interview that it was "unlikely" Klay Thompson would return this season as he continues to recover from a torn left ACL, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged there's still a chance the All-Star swingman could return to action this season.

"My comment was very matter of fact," Kerr told reporters Tuesday. "It's just ACLs, generally they take nine to 12 months. So nine months takes us right to the end of the season. So I wasn't announcing anything; he's doing great in his rehab. It's still possible that he could play -- but I forgot with modern media that 'unlikely' is going to become a [story] on the ticker, 'out for the year' and all that stuff, so probably my mistake for opening my mouth. Not the first time I've gotten myself in trouble for doing that. But it's an ACL so if you just do your research with the history of ACLs he had surgery July 2nd, get a calculator, do the math."

In a recent interview with NBC Sports Bay Area that aired Tuesday, Kerr said that "realistically" Thompson, who tore his ACL in Game 6 of last season's NBA Finals, would miss the entire season. After the comment created headlines throughout the league, Kerr walked back that statement, leaving open the possibility that Thompson could still come back this season.

"He's doing great," Kerr said. "The rehab's going great. He's getting shots up now, he's doing good but again an ACL, so just being realistic."

Thompson, who has been around the team throughout most of training camp, took shots with his teammates after Tuesday's practice. When reporters walked in and cameras started filming Thompson putting up shots, the veteran swingman looked frustrated as he realized all the focus was on his rehab.

"Klay's bored more than anything," Kerr said. "He's bored. He wants to play. He loves basketball so much. The good thing is he's starting to shoot as you see out here. He's starting to do more things, but we've had internal discussions, several of them in recent weeks, and we all understand the circumstances. Again, I probably opened up a can of worms yesterday with that comment ... but it's really not news. It's more reality. We'll leave the door open and we'll see what happens at the end of the year, but Klay's doing great."

Warriors general manager Bob Myers initially said during media day last month that Thompson would be out until at least the All-Star break, at which point an update on his status would be given.

The Warriors told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Tuesday that the plan was still for Thompson to be reevaluated at the break, as previously announced.

Kerr was asked Tuesday if the constant questioning surrounding Kevin Durant's potential return in last season's playoffs played any part in how the Warriors are handling the messaging surrounding Thompson's return.

"I think in general these days it's more difficult to get out ahead of the messaging on any issue," Kerr said. "And so you have to be careful, and like I said I probably made a mistake yesterday, but we're just handling it as we would handle any injury and he's doing great. Like we said in training camp, we'll have an update at the All-Star break."

Warriors center Kevon Looney said that the players haven't really thought much about Thompson's return. They want him to return whenever he feels comfortable.

"It's something that we really haven't talked about or thought about," Looney said. "An injury of that seriousness, you got to take your time and make sure. It's up to Klay to know when he's ready. Nobody's putting no pressure on him to have to rush back or come back. We just want to go out there and play and try to be the best that we can be. And if he comes back, great, and if he doesn't it's good as well. The most important thing is him getting healthy and be able to have a long career."

Looney, who missed most of training camp because of a hamstring injury, said he was "95 percent" sure he would play in Thursday night's season opener against the LA Clippers.

TORONTO -- It was a gray and gloomy morning in Toronto on Tuesday with rain showering the city off and on throughout the day. But as the afternoon hit, the sun started to shine -- almost as bright as the Raptors' new championship rings.

Prior to tipoff against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Raptors presented their players and coaches with their championship rings and unveiled the 2019 NBA champions banner in the rafters of the Scotiabank Arena.

Here are some of the features of what the team called the "largest NBA championship ring" ever produced:

• A 1.25-carat diamond atop the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the largest single diamond in any professional sports ring

• The front of the ring depicts the Toronto skyline and the Scotiabank Arena along with the team's chevron logo

• The 74 diamonds in and around the Toronto skyline represent the team's 74 wins in the regular season and playoffs

• Above the arena on the front of the ring are six round diamonds representing "The Six," which rapper and Raptors global ambassador Drake popularized as another reference for the city of Toronto

A historic ring for a historic accomplishment. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/IZdkXQTj4B

— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 22, 2019

• 16 rubies and the 16 numbers of the players on the championship roster encircle the ring

• Inside the ring, the championship logo is engraved above the Raptors' postseason series records and a ruby is set inside a maple leaf representing Canada

• One side of the ring features the player's name and number

• The opposite side features "World Champions 2019" above the Raptors' logo

In total, the ring boasts 14 carats worth of diamonds and more than 650 total diamonds -- both are the most ever in any professional championship ring.

The banner -- hanging near the spot where Kawhi Leonard's bouncing shot sent the Raptors to the Eastern Conference finals -- is next to just two other banners: a 2019 Eastern Conference championship banner and a single banner commemorating all six of Toronto's Atlantic Division titles, replacing the individual banners the team used to have for each title.

When it was time to unveil the banner, Kyle Lowry took the mic and called his teammates over to stand behind him and then led the crowd in a countdown. As the drape covering the banner fell, Queen's "We Are The Champions" blared throughout the arena as fireworks and pyrotechnics went off.

The black banner features a gold Larry O'Brien Trophy, with "Toronto Raptors" and "2019 World Champions" in white above and below the trophy. It is trimmed in red and the names of the players are featured on the sides.

Each of the fans inside the arena received a replica of the championship ring.