Sports
Adam Silver Signals Potential Draft Pick Penalties in Fight Against Tanking
Nothing is worse than a sore loser, except maybe an intentional one.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed a number of topics facing the league at his annual All-Star Weekend press conference on Saturday and the biggest of them at the present time surrounds teams tanking for better draft picks.
The Utah Jazz were just fined $500,000 for limited court time of two of its best players, while the Indiana Pacers were docked $100,000 for roster manipulation that kept three starters from a recent game.
Silver is not ignorant as to the reasons why teams would prefer to lose during a season that has already gone sideways. But he is not shy about showing that the blatant way they are going about it is an eyesore.
“Are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view,” Silver said before All-Star Saturday festivities. “Which was what led to those fines, and not just those fines but to my statement that we’re going to be looking more closely at the totality of all the circumstances this season in terms of teams’ behavior, and very intentionally wanted teams to be on notice.”
It’s the integrity of the game that Silver says gives him the most pause.
While $600,000 in fines were handed out this week alone, Silver says the league could offer more punishments, up to and including the draft picks the teams are so intent on making as valuable as possible.
“I think we’re coming at it in two ways,” Silver said. “One is, again, focusing on the here and now, the behavior we’re seeing from our teams and doing whatever we can to remind them of what their obligation is to the fans and to their partner teams. But No. 2, … the competition committee started earlier this year reexamining the whole approach to how the draft lottery works.”
While Silver also addressed NBA expansion, he said more on the topic will be known next month. The WNBA’s labor strife was presented as a far more pressing issue, with the commissioner hopeful that the approaching season will create an eagerness to reach a deal.
“I’m not ready to set a drop-dead date, but I will say, as I look at the calendar and the amount that we need to get done really over the next two months, because training camps are scheduled to open roughly two months from now,” Silver said.
“… I’m encouraged there has been more back and forth over the past few weeks. I think there’s been more direct engagement from players and team owners. I have not been at the table, but I’m very involved behind the scenes.
Las Vegas and Seattle have been rumored to be the next in line for NBA expansion teams, with Silver not confirming or denying the interest in either city. He did say that the NBA is not looking into relocation of one of its teams at the time.
“My sense is at the March board of governors meetings we’ll be having further discussions around an expansion process,” Silver said. “We won’t be voting at the March meeting, but we will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties.”
Sports
Sabastian Sawe shatters 2-hour barrier to win London Marathon
Apr 23, 2023; London, UK; Participants of the London Marathon seen in the finish area after completing the race. Mandatory Credit: Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe became the first runner to complete an official marathon in less than two hours as he broke the world record at the London Marathon on Sunday.
On a calm, sunny morning, the 31-year-old finished the marathon in one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. That crushed the previous record — set by Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum in the 2023 Chicago Marathon — by 65 seconds.
“I am feeling good,” Sawe told BBC Sport. “I am happy. It is a day to remember for me.”
Not only did Sawe blast through a psychological and physiological barrier akin to the four-minute mile, he set the pace for Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha to go under two hours as well. Kejelcha finished in 1:59.41.
“We started the race well and approaching the end of the race, I was feeling strong and I remember (Kejelcha) was so competitive,” Sawe said. “I think he helped me a lot. Finally, reaching the finish line, I saw the time. I was so excited.”
Pushed by Kejelcha, Sawe ran a reverse split to defend his London Marathon title. After reaching the halfway point in 1:00.29, he needed just 59:01 to complete his second 13.1 miles.
Sawe wasn’t the only racer to set a world record in London on Sunday. Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa needed just 2:15.41 to break the tape, which placed her in the record books — again — for a marathon run only by women. Last year in London, she ran the marathon in a record 2:15:50.
–Field Level Media
Sports
BetBoom Team captures PGL Wallachia Season 8 over Aurora Gaming
BetBoom Team swept Aurora Gaming 3-0 on Sunday to win the grand final and the $300,000 top prize of the PGL Wallachia Season 8 event at Bucharest, Romania.
It was a rematch of Saturday’s upper-bracket final that BetBoom Team won 2-1.
To reach the grand final, Aurora needed to beat Team Falcons earlier Sunday in the lower-bracket final. Aurora pulled off the 2-0 win to advance to the best-of-five grand final.
Sixteen teams began the $1 million Dota 2 tournament with the top eight advancing from the Swiss-system group stage. The double-elimination playoffs continued with all matches best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday.
BetBoom Team opened the grand final with a challenging 62-minute victory on green, then followed with a 42-minute triumph on red. They wrapped up the championship by winning again on green, this time in 49 minutes.
Russian Danil “gpk~” Skutin guided BetBoom with a 32-2-48 kill-death-assist ratio over three games. Russia’s Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov aided BetBoom with a 32-9-33 K-D-A ratio.
Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko of Russia posted a 9-15-21 K-D-A ratio to pace Aurora Gaming. Indonesia’s Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman finished at 14-17-15.
PGL Wallachia Season 8 prize pool:
1. $300,000 — BetBoom Team
2. $175,000 — Aurora Gaming
3. $120,000 — Team Falcons
4. $80,000 — Team Liquid
5-6. $60,000 — South America Rejects, PARIVISION
7-8. $40,000 — HEROIC, Team Spirit
9-11. $20,000 — GamerLegion, Xtreme Gaming, MOUZ
12-14. $15,000 — Vici Gaming, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere
15-16. $10,000 — Team Yandex, Tundra Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Oilers not saying if Tristan Jarry or Connor Ingram will man net in Game 4
Apr 7, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry (35) blocks a shot by the Utah Mammoth during the third period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Connor Ingram served as the Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender for the first three games of their Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.
But with the higher-seeded Oilers trailing 2-1 in this best-of-seven set heading into Game 4 in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday night, might head coach Kris Knoblauch change goalies? Backup Tristan Jarry spent practice on Saturday in the net typically used by the next game’s starter, but Knoblauch said Saturday that wasn’t necessarily a tell.
“We haven’t decided,” Knoblauch said. “I think going in (to this series), we were pretty sure (about our No. 1). And it was the same thing last year, and maybe the year before. Today in the NHL, very rarely do you have one goalie play all the games in the playoffs.”
He continued: “Twenty years ago and before that, it was unheard-of to be swapping goalies. But we’ve got two good goalies. We feel confident they can both play. And going into the playoffs, we felt there was going to be a time where we’re going to have to make a switch at some time. Whether that’s for Game 4 or Game 5 or whatever it is, we have confidence in both of them.”
Ingram, 29, who posted a 16-10-3 record with a 2.60 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 32 regular-season games, has been less effective during the postseason. In the wake of Friday’s 7-4 win by the Ducks, Ingram has surrendered a league-high 14 goals and enters Game 4 with a 4.70 GAA and .849 save percentage.
Jarry, who turns 31 this week, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12. He fashioned a 9-6-2 record with a 3.86 GAA and .858 save percentage in 19 appearances for the Oilers. He has not started a game since April 7 — a 6-5 overtime loss at Utah — and has not played since handling the final 20 minutes on April 8 in a 5-2 win against San Jose.
If Jarry gets the Game 4 nod, it will mark his first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since a 4-3 overtime loss by the Pittsburgh Penguins against the New York Rangers on May 15, 2022.
Jarry started eight postseason games for the Penguins from 2020-22 and produced a 2-6 record with a 3.00 GAA and .891 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
Sabastian Sawe shatters 2-hour barrier to win London Marathon
BetBoom Team captures PGL Wallachia Season 8 over Aurora Gaming
