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Who is Victor Wembanyama? The NBA is about to get the answer to that question

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Basketball Writer)The Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes has a winner. It’s the San Antonio Spurs.The NBA draft lottery was Tuesday night in Chicago and 14 teams had hope that the ping-pong balls will bounce their way, giving them the No. 1 pick this year and the chance to draft Wembanyama.The Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Spurs all had the best chance of winning the lottery and getting the No. 1 pick — 14%, or about 7-1 odds. But the Spurs got the win, and now Wembanyama’s career will start with legendary coach Gregg Popovich, the NBA’s all-time win leader.Here is a look at what all the fuss is about:WHO IS VICTOR WEMBANYAMA?He’s one of the most talked-about players in the world right now, for good and obvious reasons. He is a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old phenom who is wrapping up his third professional season in France and is about to start his NBA career. LeBron James calls Wembanyama “an alien,” and says that with the utmo...

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expresses disappointment over latest Morant video

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Basketball Writer)NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed disappointment Tuesday that Memphis guard Ja Morant apparently held a firearm again on social media this past weekend, but did not predict what punishment the league may impose. Morant has already been suspended him from all team activities by the Grizzlies and the league has opened another investigation into the star guard’s off-court conduct.Silver met with Morant after a similar incident in March and suspended him for eight games.“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw, this weekend, that video,” Silver said in a televised interview with ESPN before the draft lottery in Chicago. “We’re in the process of investigating it and we’ll figure out exactly what happened as best as we can. The video’s a bit grainy and all that, but I’m assuming the worst. We’ll figure out exactly what happened there.”It’s the second time in less than three months that ...

Child killed in Riverside head-on collision; 4 hurt; 4 others injured

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

An eight-year-old boy was killed and four other people were hospitalized after a head-on crash in Riverside early Tuesday.The collision occurred around 7:30 a.m. at Arlington and Stover avenues and involved a gray Nissan sedan and a white Honda sedan.Home security video obtained by KTLA shows the driver of the Honda apparently losing control and veering into the path of the Nissan. The violent impact scattered car parts and debris across the roadway and into yards.Video from the scene showed Riverside City Fire crews extricating the occupants of the Nissan, at least two of whom appeared to be unconscious. May 16, 2023. (OC Hawk)Four people in the Nissan, a female adult and three juveniles were rushed to a hospital with injuries ranging from critical to serious, a spokesperson for Riverside Police said. An eight-year-old boy later succumbed to his injuries.The man driving the Honda was hospitalized in serious condition.“I was at work watching everything from the cameras. I was shocke...

Wembanyama Winners: French star Texas-bound as San Antonio Spurs win top pick in most anticipated NBA Draft in decades

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

The San Antonio Spurs have won the No. 1 pick in the NBA's Draft Lottery, clearing the way for them to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama in June's draft.The Spurs were tied for the best odds to win the top prize in Tuesday's Draft Lottery. The Spurs beat out the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons, each having a 14% chance to win the top pick. Odds were not in the favor of Detroit, who had the worst record in the league but fell out of the top four picks.The NBA "flattened" lottery odds in 2017 in an effort to deter teams from intentionally losing games to better their draft odds, a practice known among NBA circles as "tanking."Despite reduced odds for the league's worst teams, there was no shortage of NBA franchises willing to spend a season in the muck for any chance to be the team to ultimately draft Wembanyama.The 7-foot-5 French center is widely regarded as the most dominant and high-upside NBA prospect since LeBron James. He's been on NBA Draft radar since his early teens...

Los Angeles Dodgers receive visit from Larry O'Brien trophy

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed a special guest into the dugout this week. The Larry O'Brien Trophy, awarded to the winners of the NBA Finals, made a brief trip to Los Angeles as part of a nationwide promotional tour ahead of June's championship series.Videos and photos posted to Twitter showed Dodgers players Mookie Betts, Tony Gonsolin, Austin Barnes, David Peralta and Yancy Almonte posing with the NBA's highest honor. The Larry O'Brien Trophy has been touring the country in the weeks leading up to the NBA Finals. During its trip to Los Angeles, it also stopped for a photo op at the Greek Theatre and a meet-and-greet with the Jonas Brothers.It's not unusual for championship trophies to go on road trips to promote the league and its teams. The Stanley Cup, awarded to the winners of the NHL Championship, is the most famous professional prize to travel the globe.The L.A. visit comes as the hometown Los Angeles Lakers begin their Western Conference Finals series against the Denver Nu...

Man gets more than 2 years in prison for BB gun attacks on Pasadena Planned Parenthood

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

A 53-year-old man from San Bernardino County was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Monday for repeatedly firing BB guns at a Planned Parenthood facility in Pasadena and illegally possessing firearms and ammunition, the United States Department of Justice announced early this week.  Richard Royden Chamberlin began his BB gun assault on the Pasadena Planned Parenthood health center in June 2020, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The attacks involved the 53-year-old firing BB gun pellets out the window of his vehicle, causing shattered windows at the clinic and scaring the staff at the facility.  In a March 2021 attack, Chamberlin again drove by the facility firing a BB gun, peppering the banners of the facility while it was open and receiving patients. A person seated on the front porch was nearly hit by the BBs.  Just two months later, in May, officers with the Pasadena Police Department stopped Chamberlin after another attack on th...

CCS, NCS golf championships: De La Salle wins another team crown

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

Four teams and a handful of individuals from the Bay Area News Group’s coverage area have advanced to the Northern California regional boys golf championships next week at the Berkeley Country Club.De La Salle finished first on Monday in the North Coast Section Division I championships at Foxtail Golf Course in Rohnert Park to capture its third consecutive team crown.The Concord school tied with Campolindo at 374 points apiece, but DLS won on tiebreakers. Amador Valley finished third, four strokes back.The top three teams and four individuals not on a qualifying team in both the NCS and Central Coast Section championships move on NorCals on Monday.Amador Valley’s Kush Arora captured medalist honors in the NCS finals, shooting a 65. He finished one stroke ahead of De La Salle’s Colin Keith and two in front of Foothill’s Brandon Knight.Knight and Mission San Jose’s Matthew Almajano (69) qualified as an individual for NorCals.Crystal Springs Uplands finished sec...

Missouri terminates emergency rule limiting trans care

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

By Margaret Stafford | Associated PressKANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri officials terminated the Republican attorney general’s emergency rule that would have placed limits on transgender care for minors and some adults.The move was announced Tuesday without explanation on the Missouri Secretary of State’s website. The website says: “This emergency rule terminated effective May 16, 2023.”The rule would have required adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery.Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment.Bailey’s move comes less than a week after the Missouri Legislature approved a ban on minors starting care. Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, is expected to sign that law.The ACLU of Missouri filed a lawsuit in late April seeking to block the rule, which woul...

Athletics shut down Mason Miller indefinitely with `mild’ UCL sprain

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

OAKLAND — A’s top pitching prospect Mason Miller was diagnosed with a “mild” UCL sprain in his right elbow, and while the injury falls far short of a tear and the resulting Tommy John surgery, his absence could be a lengthy one.As much as the Athletics are hoping Miller can pitch again this season, there are no guarantees.Miller visited with Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas, the same doctor who repaired 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s right elbow and who has treated pitchers for years.“Basically it showed a little inflammation around the ligament, and we’re going to follow a conservative plan of care,” A’s director of sports medicine Brian Schulman said Tuesday before the A’s hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Coliseum. “He will start throwing when he’s asymptomatic and we’re going to build him back up and get him back out there when he’s safe.”Miller last pitched on May 7, reported some sorenes...

Elizabeth Holmes loses final bid to delay imprisonment

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:33 GMT

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes on Tuesday afternoon lost her final bid to stay out of prison while she appeals her fraud conviction and sentence.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a one-page ruling denied Holmes’ attempt to overturn her trial judge’s decision on her incarceration date.Late last month, two days before she was to surrender herself for imprisonment, Holmes asked the appeals court to reverse U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila’s order that she surrender herself for imprisonment April 27, arguing that Davila made “numerous, inexplicable errors” when he denied her attempt in district court to delay her incarceration.That request bought her some extra time, but the Ninth Circuit, which is hearing her appeal, said in its ruling Tuesday denying her motion to stay free on appeal that Holmes had failed to show that her appeal of her conviction and sentence raises a substantial question of law or fact. It remains unclear when she must be...