NBA

NBA’s Adam Silver addresses racial tensions in staff memo

Toronto Raptors release statement on racial injustice

Remembering George Floyd means striving for justice after this storm passes

Reflecting on Steve Nash’s impressive NBA career & Canadian sport legacy

Raptors’ VanVleet: ‘We knew we had a good chance’ to defend title

NBA 2K League This Week: How ‘Timelycook’ joined Raptors Uprising

In Conversation: John Salley, k-os talk hip hop, basketball, Dalai Lama

WNBA teams set to make tough decisions on roster cuts amid pandemic

What you need to know about NBA’s return-to-play plan to this point

Jerry Sloan’s Hall of Fame life was the great American basketball story

Raptors Uprising GC downs Hawks Talon GC for sixth straight win

‘Game 6: The Movie’ on Bulls-Jazz finale to air on Sportsnet May 24

Tennis

Golf

Motor Sport

UFC

NBA’s Adam Silver addresses racial tensions in staff memo

bens June 1, 2020

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sent a memo to the league’s staffers Sunday night to address the latest racial tensions in the country, sparked most recently by the death last week of a black man who was in handcuffs when a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.

Silver’s memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, made reference to that Minneapolis man, George Floyd — as well as Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man chased and killed by armed white men as he jogged through a south Georgia

… Read More

MLS players agree to concessions to return to action in Orlando

bens June 1, 2020

TORONTO — MLS players have approved taking part in a summer tournament in Orlando, agreeing to a “package of economic concessions” for the revamped 2020 season in the process.

The 26-team league suspended play March 12 because of the global pandemic, two weeks into its 2020 season.

The MLS Players Association said in a release Sunday evening that its membership had voted to accept “salary reductions across the entire player pool, reduced team and individual bonuses, and additional concessions to existing and future terms of the CBA.”

“While a difficult vote in incredibly challenging times, it was taken collectively to

… Read More

Keselowski lucks into win after wild finish at Bristol Motor Speedway

bens June 1, 2020

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Brad Keselowski has a new crew and is fighting for a new contract at Team Penske. His confidence is still intact and he’s convinced he can compete for a championship this year.

Being in the right place at the right time is helping.

Keselowski inherited his second win in a week when the leaders crashed in front of him with a lap remaining Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. He won the Coca-Cola 600 seven nights ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway when a caution with two laps remaining helped him get to victory lane.

“I felt like I

… Read More

Upset at his pay, Jon Jones says he is giving up UFC light heavyweight title

bens June 1, 2020

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones, embroiled in a pay dispute with the UFC, told his 2.3 million Twitter followers Sunday that he is giving up his title.

“To the light-heavyweight title — veni, vidi, vici,” tweeted Jones, using the Latin phrase of “I came, I saw, I conquered,” attributed to Julius Caesar.

Asked if was giving up his title, he tweeted “Yes.”

When a follower suggested he was hurting himself more than the UFC, Jones replied: “I hurt myself every time I walk out there and take a punch to the head and not feel my pay is worth

… Read More

Toronto Raptors release statement on racial injustice

bens May 31, 2020

As the world continues to mourn the loss of George Floyd and protest against racial injustice, the Toronto Raptors released a statement on Saturday in response to the issue.

The team called for humankind to confront the systemic problem and do more than just grieve.

The statement reads as follows:

“As an organization and a community, we come from all over the world. We are diverse, we speak different languages, but our shared humanity unites us. When we see racism and violence committed against someone because of the colour of their skin, we should, and do, feel outrage. We cannot

… Read More

NFL releases statement regarding death of George Floyd

bens May 31, 2020

The NFL released a statement on Saturday regarding the death of George Floyd, who was killed earlier this week after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground and choked him with his knee.

Commissioner Roger Goodell expressed condolences to Floyd’s family, as well as relatives of other victims of recent racial injustice, including Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. Goodell also emphasized the need for the NFL and the United States as a whole to do more to address systemic racial issues.

The entire statement reads as follows:

“The NFL family is greatly saddened by the tragic events across

… Read More

Dustin Johnson ready for resumption of golf, hopeful fans can return soon

bens May 31, 2020

Dustin Johnson can picture it now: competing down the stretch on a Sunday afternoon in a PGA Tour event, as intensity reaches its peak and the crowd begins to buzz.

But in reality, it will be silent. Golf’s upcoming return will take place without fans lining the fairways or huddling around the tee boxes and greens.

“The fans are very important,” Johnson said during a Saturday appearance on the Joey Vendetta Show. “They bring excitement (and) it’s part of the sport. It’s gonna be different. It’s gonna take time to adjust to it.

“But obviously for the first few

… Read More

U.S. Open plan in works, including group flights and COVID tests

bens May 31, 2020

Charter flights to ferry U.S. Open tennis players and limited entourages from Europe, South America and the Middle East to New York. Negative COVID-19 tests before travelling. Centralized housing. Daily temperature checks.

No spectators. Fewer on-court officials. No locker-room access on practice days.

All are among the scenarios being considered for the 2020 U.S. Open — if it is held at all amid the coronavirus pandemic — and described to The Associated Press by a high-ranking official at the Grand Slam tournament.

“All of this is still fluid,” Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Tennis Association’s chief executive for professional tennis, said

… Read More