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From Andrew Greif: When the Clippers move into their new arena next season, their franchise cornerstone will remain a familiar face.
The team and star wing Kawhi Leonard have agreed to a contract extension, the Clippers announced Wednesday.
Leonard had been eligible for an extension since July, and could have signed one at any point up until June 30. Leonard could have become a free agent after this season by opting out of his $48-million player option for 2024-25. Instead, he will remain in his native Southern California — a key factor in his decision to sign with the Clippers as a free agent in 2019, and re-sign in 2021 — and headline the roster that opens next season in the team’s new Inglewood arena, Intuit Dome.
Leonard will need to decline that player option to begin an extension that is reportedly worth $153 million over three years. The extension does not include player or team options, according to ESPN.
Hours after the deal was signed, Leonard scored 29 points as the Clippers slowly awoke to outlast the skidding Toronto Raptors, 126-120, at Crypto.com Arena and improve to 24-13.
“We’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Kawhi,” team president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He is an elite player, a terrific partner and a relentless worker who knows how to win and makes it his first priority. He elevated our franchise from the moment he arrived. We feel fortunate that Kawhi chose to join the Clippers five years ago, and excited to keep building with him.”
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LAKERS POLL
Should the Lakers fire Darvin Ham? Vote here in our informal survey and let us know.
RAMS
From Bill Plaschke: The Rams won a bunch of games this season by using sheer toughness to force unsuspecting foes into brutal submission.
But their most overpowering win was against, well, me.
The quarterback is creaky. The running game is questionable. The receiving corps is inconsistent. The offensive line is uncertain. The defense is untested.
The Rams will head to Detroit to face the lovable Lions Sunday in an inspirational playoff appearance that nobody saw coming.
By “nobody,” I mean, me.
The most important Rams race this season might not be a climb to the top, but a sprint toward the bottom. Can they be bad enough to finish with the league’s worst record and the opportunity to draft the most NFL-ready quarterback in a decade?
Few critics liked the Rams chances, but only here, in a Sept. 5 preview column, did you read that they were going to be so bad they should lose on purpose.
That’s right, your brilliant wordsmith wrote that they should tank.
Lions fans want Matthew Stafford jersey ban at playoff game vs. Rams. Wife calls it sad
NFL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE
All times Pacific
AFC
Saturday
No. 5 Cleveland at No. 4 Houston, 1:30 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Telemundo
No. 6 Miami at No. 3 Kansas City, 5 p.m., Peacock
Sunday
No. 7 Pittsburgh at No. 2 Buffalo, 10 a.m., CBS, Paramount+
NFC
Sunday
No. 7 Green Bay at No. 2 Dallas, 1:30 p.m., FOX, FOX Deportes
No. 6 Rams at No. 3 Detroit, 5 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo
Monday
No. 5 Philadelphia at No. 4 Tampa Bay, 5 p.m., ESPN/ABC/ESPN+
Note: Super Bowl is Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m.
USC BASKETBALL
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Just as it appeared USC had turned a corner on offense, the Trojans ran into a crimson wall in a 72-64 loss to Washington State on Wednesday at Galen Center.
Coming off a home sweep of California and Stanford during which the Trojans (8-8, 2-3 Pac-12) shot 50.4% from the field, USC went scoreless for the final 2 minutes 16 seconds against the Cougars to squander an opportunity for its first three-game winning streak.
After Harrison Hornery’s three-pointer put the Trojans up by one, Washington State finished the game with nine unanswered points. The Cougars were led by Isaac Jones’ 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis led the Trojans with 18 points and five rebounds and freshman Isaiah Collier had 12 points and three rebounds but four turnovers to just one assist.
From J. Brady McCollough: Nick Saban, the greatest college football coach of all time, is retiring from Alabama, where he won six of his seven national championships.
Wow. I knew there was a reason we waited an extra day to release my 2024 “way-too-early top 25.” Nothing will ever be the same in this sport — much less this projection of next season’s power rankings. The trickle-down effect of whom Alabama picks as Saban’s successor — Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin, Washington’s Kalen Deboer? — is going to send shockwaves through rosters across the country.
Alabama’s players will now have a 30-day window to hit the transfer portal. What programs gain from the Crimson Tide’s massive loss remains to be seen — perhaps even USC or UCLA could play it to their advantage in the coming weeks somehow.
Alabama coach Nick Saban reportedly retiring after winning 7 national titles
GALAXY
From Kevin Baxter: The Galaxy have reached agreement with Brazilian club Vasco da Gama to acquire winger Gabriel Pec on a $10-million transfer, the richest in franchise history. The deal, which also includes $1.5 million in incentives, could be announced before players begin reporting for preseason physicals on Saturday.
Pec, 22, who will sign as a young designated player, had a career-high eight goals and four assists in 37 Serie A appearances last year and can play on either side of the field as well as in central midfield, providing the Galaxy with a dynamic and versatile attacker.
The transfer fee is a few thousand dollars more than the team paid Sevilla in 2020 for the rights to Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, whose contract with the Galaxy expired last month, and the addition of Pec continues what has already been a busy winter for general manager Will Kuntz.
NHL
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1970 — The AFL wins its second straight Super Bowl as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 behind Len Dawson’s superb quarterbacking and Jan Stenerud’s three field goals.
1973 — The American League adopts the designated hitter rule.
1981 — Jim Plunkett completes 14 of 18 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Oakland Raiders to 34-27 victory over the San Diego Chargers for the AFC title. The Raiders are the first AFC wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl.
1984 — The Denver Nuggets beats the San Antonio Spurs 163-155 in the highest-scoring regulation NBA game.
1987 — Denver’s John Elway leads the Broncos to a 23-20 overtime victory over the Cleveland Browns to win the AFC Championship. Elway caps a 15-play, 98-yard march with a 5-yard TD pass to Mark Jackson to tie the game with 37 seconds remaining. Rich Karlis kicks a 33-yard field goal in overtime to give Denver the win.
1992 — Kristi Yamaguchi, runner-up the previous three years, wins her first title in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Christopher Bowman, the 1989 U.S. champion, wins the men’s title.
1998 — Lleyton Hewitt, an Australian high school student ranked 550th, wins the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championship to become the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP Tour event.
2004 — Detroit allows 100 points for the first time this season, but the Pistons were still able to outlast Dallas 115-102. Detroit has its NBA-record streak of not allowing 100 points snapped at 38 games, including 36 this season.
2009 — Philadelphia, led by Donovan McNabb, eliminates the New York Giants 23-11 to reach the NFC title game for the fifth time in eight seasons. This is the first game in NFL history to finish 23-11.
2014 — LeGarrette Blount rushes for 166 yards and four touchdown as the New England beats Indianapolis 43-22 to advance to their third consecutive AFC championship game. Blount joins Ricky Watters, who had five touchdowns for San Francisco on Jan. 15, 1994, as the only players with four or more in a playoff game.
2014 — Gracie Gold wins her first U.S. figure skating title and 15-year-old Polina Edmunds finishes second. Charlie White and Meryl Davis win a record sixth straight U.S. ice dance title — one more than American ice dance pioneers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.
2014 — Alex Rodriguez is dealt the most severe punishment in the history of baseball’s drug agreement when arbitrator Fredric Horowitz rules the New York Yankees third baseman is suspended for the entire 2014 season as a result of a drug investigation by Major League Baseball. The decision cuts the suspension issued Aug. 5, 2013 by baseball Commissioner Bud Selig from 211 games.
2015 — Roger Federer beats the up-and-coming Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 to register his 1,000th match and win the Brisbane International. Federer is the third player to win 1,000 times on the men’s professional tour’ joining Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071).
2015 — Green Bay rallies from an eight-point deficit behind Aaron Rodgers, who throws two second-half touchdowns to beat Dallas 26-21 in an NFC divisional-round playoff.
2016 — No. 2 Alabama wins its fourth national title in the last seven seasons, outlasting the dynamic play of Deshaun Watson and No. 1 Clemson in a 45-40 victory in the College Football Playoff championship game.
2021 — College Football, National Championship, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida: #1 Alabama beats #3 Ohio State, 52-24.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.