CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's recovery from a recent stroke will "take time."

That was the update provided by Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner in a statement Wednesday night on the 57-year-old Gilbert, who remains hospitalized after falling ill and suffering a stroke on May 26.

"Dan's recovery is a process that will take time -- but we are all confident that he will meet this challenge head on as he always does," Farner said.

Farner said Gilbert's family reported he "maintains his strong sense of humor and focus on constant improvement." He relayed a story that Gilbert requested "his favorite beverage" while in the hospital, and when he learned it couldn't be provided, he "insisted that a review of the hospital's beverage best-practices be completed."

Farner said the Gilbert family is grateful for the support it has received.

Gilbert had the stroke after falling ill and being taken to a Detroit-area hospital, where he immediately underwent a catheter-based procedure.

Gilbert has owned the Cavs since 2005. He also founded Quicken Loans, the nation's largest online mortgage lender, and has built a billion-dollar business empire, with numerous company holdings in Ohio and Michigan.

Under Gilbert, the Cavs have appeared in five NBA Finals, and they won the championship in 2016, the first major sports title by a Cleveland team since the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964.

Gilbert recently introduced new Cavs coach John Beilein, who he helped lure away from the University of Michigan for his first pro job.

The Cavs have continued to operate in Gilbert's absence, and the club is currently preparing for the NBA draft, for which they'll have the No. 5 overall pick.

LOS ANGELES -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, in L.A. for a downtown speaking engagement, couldn't stifle a grin when asked about the current state of the Los Angeles Lakers.

"The more screwed up they are, the happier I am," Cuban told ESPN. "But I feel that way about every other franchise not in Dallas. We all go through it. Every franchise goes through cycles, and when your down cycle hits you, it's never fun."

While Cuban offered his support for the Lakers' ownership -- "I love Jeanie," he said of Jeanie Buss, L.A.'s controlling owner and governor -- he was dismayed by former team president Magic Johnson declaring on ESPN's First Take last month that he would be interested in buying the team.

"That's a little bit self-serving," Cuban said. "I don't think Magic could afford them. And that's no disrespect to Magic. That's a reflection of just how well Jeanie has done."

Cuban was in town for the Social Innovation Summit, which took place just about half a mile from Staples Center.

Cuban can relate to the Lakers' struggles. Dallas is in a downturn, having failed to make the postseason each of the past three seasons after qualifying for the playoffs 15 of the first 16 years after he purchased the team in 2000. The Lakers' postseason drought has lasted six years.

"I feel bad for Jeanie, personally, because she's a great person," Cuban said. "I have no sympathy for the Lakers any more than they had sympathy for us."

Cuban is the father of three children. His eldest daughter, 15-year-old Alexis, is only slightly younger than Jeanie Buss was when she started working for the pro sports franchises owned by her father, Jerry Buss. Cuban said he can empathize with the family dynamic at play in L.A.

"Jeanie is smart," Cuban said. "I think, not to speak for Jeanie, but the hardest thing for Jeanie has been that it's family. And so there will be a time when my kids [take over], or not my kids, and I have to make a decision on how to integrate my family and who takes on what role, and that's not going to be easy.

"So, Jeanie had to balance all that, and that's a credit to her that she made her decisions. She stuck by them, and she made the tough calls. So, Jeanie gets all the credit in the world. And unless you're there, it's really hard to understand. How do you balance the personal issues of a family with what you want to do for an organization? That's near impossible to make those decisions, and Jeanie had to deal with it, and she did the best she can, so she deserves a ton of credit."

Talking about the Mavs' Western Conference foe just a few hours before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, Cuban said the attention the Lakers receive is obvious.

"That's just the nature of the beast," Cuban said. "If certain players weren't at the Lakers, you wouldn't be having those same conversations. You weren't talking about it the previous five years. There's just a lot of big names associated with them, and that makes it different."

Cuban was careful to refrain from mentioning the biggest name, LeBron James, so as to avoid any potential tampering penalty.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently told NBC's "Today" show that James missing the playoffs and playing in the West rather than the Eastern Conference has "clearly impacted ratings."

Cuban disagreed.

"In terms of ratings and stuff like that, we're in a different universe now," he said. "I don't think it impacts the ratings at all."

Expanding on his point, Cuban admitted that adjusting the start times of games, whether James is playing in them or not, to cater to the largest potential television audience would be a smart business practice for the league.

"What is the best start time for ratings? Because we don't have to worry about people showing up for the games -- whatever time we make it, they're going to show up," he said, adding that the 20,000 or so fans that would attend a game live would make the proper adjustments to attend a playoff game or a Finals tilt for the draw of that experience no matter what time the festivities tipped off.

As for the regular season?

"Adam [Silver] said it clear as day: We make far more money off of television than we do from tickets," Cuban said, alluding to the TV deal the league signed with ESPN and TNT through the 2024-25 season worth a reported $2.66 billion annually. "So, that's our biggest customer. And particularly, given the changes with streaming and everything and the demographic makeup of television, we've got to give that a lot of careful consideration. You want to optimize for television first, because even a regular-season game, there's some funky start times and people show up."

Cuban also used his featured speaking appearance at the Social Innovation Summit to address the lessons learned from last year's independent investigation into the Mavericks' workplace culture, which found more than a dozen women were subjected to sexual harassment while employed by the organization and various other serious allegations.

"Personally, do the right thing," he said. "If you're doing the right thing, inherently, you're advocating. And you're pushing things out the right way. At the Dallas Mavericks, I was an absentee owner in a lot of respects and screwed up. Big time. And we didn't have the diversity that was needed, and I learned a lot of lessons from that. But it allowed me to also recognize that diversity isn't just about checklists and having the right count of the right types of people, but it's about using it as a business opportunity."

"I think when you do the right thing," Cuban added, "you don't necessarily have to get out and advocate for big media-type issues or big issues that people are talking about, but you build an underpinning. You build a platform for the right thing to happen, and that's what I try to do."

The Blue Jays already have two sons of Hall of Famers starting for the team this year, and on Wednesday they selected the son of another, Toronto icon Roy Halladay, in the MLB draft.

Braden Halladay, a right-handed pitcher out of Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, Florida, was drafted by the Jays in the 32nd round. Roy Halladay wore No. 32 in the 12 seasons he spent with the Blue Jays from 1998 to 2009.

Braden Halladay has committed to play college baseball at Penn State and said in a tweet Wednesday that the Blue Jays understand he intends to play college ball instead of turning professional right after high school.

Thank you @BlueJays for drafting me in the 32nd round today! It's a great honor! It's with mutual understanding that I'll still be honoring my commitment to Penn State! I look forward to college and bettering myself as a player and person, thank you to all who have supported me! pic.twitter.com/tUcKWZESPl

— Braden Halladay (@BradenHalladay) June 5, 2019

Roy Halladay, taken by the Jays in the first round of the 1995 draft, was an All-Star in six of his seasons in Toronto and won the American League Cy Young Award in 2003. He was traded to Philadelphia in 2010, winning the National League Cy Young Award with the Phillies that year.

The senior Halladay retired after the 2013 season, and died four years later, on Nov. 7, 2017, when his amphibious plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

The Blue Jays organization posthumously retired Halladay's No. 32 in 2018, and he was posthumously elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in January, in his first appearance on the ballot.

Rookie third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, and rookie second baseman Cavan Biggio, the son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, are both starting for the Blue Jays this season.

Craig Kimbrel finally has a new home.

The All-Star closer and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a three-year, $43 million deal, ESPN has confirmed, ending a seven-month-long free agency for one of baseball's best bullpen arms. The Athletic was first to report the agreement. MLB Network reported the money first.

Kimbrel will get $10 million this season and $16 million in 2020 and 2021. There is a $1 million buyout on a club/vesting option for the fourth year.

Speaking earlier Wednesday, Cubs president Theo Epstein said his team had interest in Kimbrel.

"There's usually not quality free agents rolling around at this time of year. Any guy that's out there, we'll certainly do our due diligence and see if that makes sense," Epstein said.

It's a position of need for Chicago. Cubs relievers have been spotty this season, blowing 11 saves, the third-most in the majors.

Ever since Brandon Morrow went down with an elbow injury at last year's All-Star break, the team has mixed and match to close out games. Kimbrel slides into the ninth inning, once he's ready, as Pedro Strop has been the de facto closer -- though he's also missed time with injuries.

The financial wherewithal to sign Kimbrel may have come from an unlikely place as veteran Ben Zobrist left the team for personal reasons in May as he was placed on the restricted list. Zobrist was slated to make $12.5 million in the final year of his four-year deal.

"There are always unknowns that come up during the season that can impact your financial picture," Epstein said. "This year, in particular, there have been some unexpected variables that could possibly give us a little more flexibility than we would have imagined."

Kimbrel, a seven-time All-Star, struggled at times for the Boston Red Sox in 2018 but finished the regular season with 42 saves, a 2.74 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings pitched.

The 31-year-old has a career ERA of 1.91 -- the lowest among all relievers in MLB history with 300 career innings pitched. He has 333 saves -- the youngest pitcher in MLB history to reach 300 saves -- and has 868 strikeouts in 532 2/3 innings pitched. In addition, his ratio of 14.7 strikeouts per nine innings is the best among all pitchers in major league history with at least 500 career innings.

The hard-throwing right-hander went through a rough spell for the Red Sox in the American League Division Series and AL Championship Series. In 6⅓ innings, Kimbrel surrendered six hits and five runs, hit two batters, walked six and struck out eight. He had an ERA of 7.11, and his strike rate dropped from 62 percent to 48 percent. He loaded the bases twice in the ninth inning.

Kimbrel seemed to turn it around in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros, giving up no hits and striking out two for a series-clinching save. After the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Kimbrel had been tipping his pitches and the issue had been fixed. Still, rather than use Kimbrel to lock down the final inning of the World Series-clinching game, Cora went to ace Chris Sale.

Kimbrel, the National League Rookie of the Year in 2011, led the NL in saves during his first four seasons with Atlanta Braves and signed a four-year, $42 million contract prior to the 2014 season. He was traded on the eve of the 2015 season to the Padres, who then traded Kimbel to the Red Sox in 2016, where he experienced his career-best season in 2017 before experiencing a slight dip in fastball velocity in 2018.

ESPN's Jeff Passan contributed to this report.

Paralympic champion Gordon Reid hopes his part in Britain's recent World Team Cup success can "switch" his year around going into the French Open.

The Scot has not reached a singles final in 2019, and has not got past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in singles since 2017.

Reid, 27, helped GB to World Team Cup victory last month - equalling GB's best performance at the tournament.

"It was a really good week for my confidence," he told BBC Sport.

"The last 12 months haven't been great in terms of my form, but I feel like it just takes one event to switch that and this could be the one for me.

"Everybody's level has raised, it's tougher and tougher, and consistency is more important than it ever has been.

"Physically I feel in good shape, but mentally, psychologically, I need to work on a few things to get myself back to the highest level."

Ranked eighth in the world, Reid will play Belgian world number four Joachim Gerard in the first round at Roland Garros, with the wheelchair singles tournament starting on Thursday.

"It's a cliche, but there are no easy draws here," said Reid, a two-time Grand Slam champion in singles.

"Jo is a good player. He made the final of the clay-court event (in Rue, France) we were at last week so he's in good form, but I've had a couple of wins against him recently.

"It will be tough, but if I play well I've got a good chance."

Reid will team up with Alfie Hewett - also a member of GB's victorious World Team Cup team in Israel - in the men's doubles, in which they will play Shingo Kunieda and Gustavo Fernandez first up.

In the singles, Hewett - who won Paralympic doubles silver with Reid in 2016 - will face Frenchman Stephane Houdet in the first round.

Hewett, 21, won the French Open singles title in 2017 and says his confidence has also been boosted before Paris.

On facing world number three Houdet, Hewett said: "We recently played each other in the World Team Cup, I came out victorious on that one.

"It was probably one of my biggest and strongest performances I've had in a long while so that was a confidence booster for me and something I needed.

"The whole week was quite the boost, playing the world number one Shingo and then taking down Gerard as well."

PETTY, Texas – Wednesday’s Summit USMTS Southern Series event at 82 Speedway has been canceled due to unfavorable weather in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“It’s just not in the cards for us to host this event tonight with this forecast,” an official from the track noted. “Mother Nature has not been kind to the racing world this season. Hopefully things will snap back to a more reasonable status soon.”

The USMTS visited the former East Texas Speedway on June 25, 2015, with Philip Houston picking up the win. For now, he will remain undefeated at the sweeping 1/3-mile high-banked dirt oval.

On Thursday, the Monarch Motor Speedway in Wichita Falls hosts the Summit USMTS Southern Series. After two weather delays in 2019 already, officials are hoping the third time’s the charm for the USMTS return to the former Red River Speedway.

FREMONT, Ohio – The Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame will hold its 11th induction ceremony on June 8, with eight new members joining the hallowed halls.

The ceremonies will be held rain or shine in the historical grandstands at Fremont Speedway in the Sandusky County Fairgrounds, beginning at 2 p.m.

Those planning to attend need to purchase a ticket – ticket gates open at 1 p.m. – which also includes the evening’s racing following the hall of fame induction.

Those being inducted into the Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame are:

John Wisbon – John began racing in 1987 after buying a sprint car from hall of fame member Joe Keegan. He was named the Fremont Speedway rookie of the year in 1987, finishing sixth in the track’s points. In 1988 John finished third in the track’s points in a season that saw him record 20 top 10 finishes in 34 A-main starts. John got his first feature win in 1989 at Butler Speedway in Michigan and he finished fourth in Fremont and Attica Raceway Park’s point standings.

In 1990 he once again finished third in Fremont’s points. John won Ray Bowman Chevy-Olds Invitational race at Attica in 1991 and finished ninth in Fremont’s points. In 1993 John scored two feature wins at Buckeye Speedway (what is now Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio). John also recorded a pair of top 10 finishes during Ohio Sprint Speedweek including a best seventh place finish at Fremont Speedway. He retired from racing in 2005.

Bruce Berryman – Bruce started racing late models in 1975 and was Fremont Speedway’s rookie of the year. He recorded four feature wins in the late model division at Fremont Speedway and won the track’s 1978 championship. After retiring from driving in 1988 he would later purchase a 305 sprint car and later a 410 sprint car for his son Doug to drive. From 2000 to 2007, Bruce and Doug racked up some 15 feature wins, including winning two 305 feature on the same night at Fremont Speedway (a make-up feature and the night’s regular feature).

One of the things Bruce is most remembered for, however, is giving future racers a start in go-karts. Racers like Paul Weaver, John Ivy and Phil Gressman all drove go-karts for Bruce. When Skunk Hollow began a kids kart division it was Bruce who built most of the karts.

Dave Marko – Dave raced a late model from 1979 to 1988 and scored over 100 feature wins in that time span including 13 at Fremont Speedway. He won the late model track championship at Eldora Speedway five years straight and also recorded a championship at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio.

Dave nearly scored a Fremont Speedway title in 1983, coming up just two points short of Ken Clark despite missing six races that year at the track. Dave scored some of late model racing’s biggest events, including the Johnny Appleseed Classic at Mansfield Speedway.

Jerry “Dude” Creeger – Jerry was Fremont Speedway’s 1982 Sportsman Six-Cylinder champion and also earned the track’s Herbie Robinson Sportsman of the Year award that season. Jerry was the 1983 Herbie Robinson Award for Outstanding Personality and Attitude at Fremont and received a certificate of appreciation and dedication from the track in 1985.

Jerry scored nine feature wins in two divisions at Fremont Speedway and also scored wins at Oakshade Raceway (Wauseon), McCutchenville Speedway, Attica Raceway Park, Coshocton Speedway, East Bay Raceway (Florida) and Millstream Speedway (Findlay). Jerry drove his first late model in 1997 and recently drove a limited late model at Fremont in 2018 after 25 years.

To continue reading, advance to the next page.

MONTPELIER, Ind. – Tanner Thorson looked like a man who was just glad to be getting back on his horse as he traversed the pit area during Tuesday night’s Indiana Midget Week opener at Montpelier Motor Speedway.

Thorson was making his first start back in a race car in three months, after a March highway accident in Modesto, Calif., sidelined him with serious injuries that put continuing in the sport he loves in doubt.

Not only was it his first race back in 92 days, it was also his first start with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – the team Thorson won the 2016 USAC national midget title with – in nearly two years.

Though he made his comeback a successful one, with a runner-up finish to defending NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series champion and KKM teammate Logan Seavey, Thorson was quick to note that climbing behind the wheel and immediately running right at the level expected of him again wasn’t as simple as it may have appeared on the surface.

“To come right back out of the box and perform like we did on Tuesday night is absolutely a big deal for me. It’s a reminder that we know how to do this and that I can still perform at that level,” Thorson told SPEED SPORT. “The last three months have been really hard on me. It’s something that I’ve never shared with anyone, really, but after the accident and getting hurt like I was … I didn’t know if (racing) was going to be the same, or if I was even going to be able to continue to do it.

“With the way that my arms bend in the car, how my foot was hurt an everything that I went through, there were a lot of unknowns that we had to get through to get back to this point,” he continued. “Everything’s worked out really well though, and I feel good. Thank God I got a call from Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby) to come back and do this, because it’s like family here and I’m glad to be back.”

Thorson’s first stint with the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian team was wildly successful, building Thorson into a top prospect in the racing industry as he notched six wins, 10 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes in 19 races en route to the title.

The Minden, Nev., native also led a series-high 180 laps that season as well.

However, following a disappointing 2017 season that saw Thorson drop to fourth in points and only pick up two USAC-sanctioned victories, the two sides went their separate ways.

Thorson headed out west to California and linked up with veteran team owner Clyde Lamar’s Tri-C Motorsports operation, learning from crew chief Lee Lindgren for a while and building and wrenching on many of his race cars himself.

He also spent a portion of 2018 in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, racing for Young’s Motorsports as a part of the Team Dillon Management family.

But eventually, through an up-and-down start to the season with Tri-C and his accident while heading home from a World of Outlaws event in Las Vegas, Thorson’s racing road led him back to the place where his journey began.

“I got my start here with these guys. Coming back to their shop again, it really was like coming home to family,” Thorson noted. “We just picked up right where we left off the last time I ran for them, too. It was as seamless as you can hope for as a driver. It was bittersweet, to finish second in our first race back together, but it’s something that I’m going to take with me as motivation into the next race to run even harder than I did the first time out.

“I pushed myself as hard as I could, but there’s still more to go; I’m just trying to take it easy a bit and get my boundaries right again.”

While he now appears to be just as good as he was before he got hurt – having recovered from a broken right foot, fractured left arm, cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung – Thorson admitted that he’s simply grateful to have another chance to participate in the sport he grew up loving as a kid.

That opportunity, and not just his positive performance on Tuesday, is the true joy according to Thorson.

“Being out for three months is hard. Everyone says it’s like riding a bike, which it is, but you lose your finesse a bit,” Thorson noted of spending time away and recovering. “With my left arm and right foot being the two things I use the most in the car, I had to make sure that all that would be right when I got back in and got going again, and so far it has been.

“I just can’t thank this team enough,” he added. “I’m blessed to be alive and healed up from my injuries, I’m blessed that Keith and Pete trusted me and wanted me to come back and drive their cars and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week with them. It’s special to be a part of and to be racing again.”

Miami Freedom Park LLC (MFP), the business entity attempting to build an MLS stadium for Inter Miami CF, submitted the first draft of its proposed lease agreement to the City of Miami on Wednesday.

The city is authorized to negotiate with MFP following the approval of a referendum last November that passed with 60 percent of the vote. The submission of the draft lease allows negotiations with the city to begin immediately with MFP targeting at Melreese Country Club.

The final plan requires approval from four of the five city commissioners. Both Manolo Reyes and Willy Gort have so far voiced opposition to the proposal. Negotiations must be completed by Sept. 16.

City commissioner Joe Carollo has suggested that if a deal cannot be reached by the deadline, the city will open up development of the site to other bidders.

If the proposal is approved, the stadium portion would likely not be completed until the 2022 MLS season. With its entry to the league taking place in 2020, Inter Miami will play its matches at a temporary venue on the grounds of Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale.

The plan calls for an initial 39-year lease that would see MFP pay annual rent of at least $3.577 million, which could rise based on the revenues generated by the project. MFP would then have the right to exercise two options of 30 years each.

In addition to the stadium, the proposal also calls for the creation of a 58-acre park, 11 soccer fields, entertainment and retail space, an office tech hub and hotel, all of which will be delivered at no cost to taxpayers.

"We look forward to working with the City of Miami to finalize the voter-approved, fair-market-value lease agreement that provides residents with an expansive public park, 11,000 construction jobs, 2,300 permanent jobs and more than $40 million in tax revenue, while using zero City taxpayer dollars," said Jorge Mas, managing owner of Inter Miami CF.

It was discovered last year that the stadium site at Melreese Country Club is contaminated with toxic waste, but the plan calls for MFP to pay for the full remediation of the property to all for public use of the park.

The proposal also includes a community benefits agreement which will provide $5 million for the city's Riverwalk/Baywalk project, $20 million for park maintenance and free access to the soccer fields at Miami Freedom Park for city of Miami youth.