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The baseball world was captivated by left-handed pitching prospect Jim Abbott ahead of the 1988 major league draft mostly because he didn’t have a right hand. Seven teams passed on him before the Angels picked him.

Why? Largely because Angels scouting director Bob Fontaine Jr. ignored the potential limitations that others fixated on when evaluating Abbott. Rather than dwelling on the absence of a right hand, Fontaine saw something wondrous coming out of Abbott’s left hand — a cut fastball.

“He’s actually more suited to the pro game than the amateurs with the aluminum bats,” Fontaine told The Times after the draft. “He’s going to be breaking off a lot of these wood bats with that cut fastball.”

As usual, Fontaine, who died Saturday at age 73, was prophetic in his assessment. Abbott became the rare pitcher to go straight from college — he’d starred at Michigan — to the major leagues, skipping the minors entirely and enjoying a 10-year MLB career while inspiring numerous fans in disabled communities.

Bob Fontaine Jr. as director of player development for the Seattle Mariners.

(Seattle Mariners)

“I think every scout, if they scout for any length of time, is going to have one player that just is special to you. Jimmy Abbott was that,” Fontaine told JapanBall in 2022. “There were people that were even kind of saying, ‘Oh, they did it for a publicity stunt.’ I remember saying, ‘Yeah, we took the eighth player in the country for a publicity stunt? Give us some credit!’”

Fontaine was showered with plenty of posthumous credit over the weekend. He scouted for six teams, and a highlight of his resume was drafting the nucleus of the Angels’ roster that won the 2002 World Series.

“What a character … what a storyteller … and what a talent evaluator … there is no 2002 World Series title for the #Angels without Bob Fontaine Jr. … RIP,” wrote former longtime Times baseball writer Mike DiGiovanna on X.

“Crushed regarding Bob Fontaine Jr.’s passing, as he was a special man who I was lucky to work closely with three times @WhiteSox @Mariners, and @BlueJays. Fun as hell, elite evaluator, and phenomenal people skills. RIP, Robert,” added former Dodgers general manager Dan Evans.

“A gifted talent evaluator and mentor, Bob helped shape generations of Angels by overseeing the signing and development of numerous Halos, including Jim Abbott, Jim Edmonds, Garret Anderson, Tim Salmon and Darin Erstad,” the Angels said in a statement. “Bob left a lasting mark on baseball by devoting over five decades to the game. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”

The Angels frustrated Fontaine at times by declining to spend big on players from talent-rich Latin America. Rather than sulk, however, he scoured the globe, in 1992 signing three players from Russia and a fast-pitch softball player from New Zealand named Gus Leger.

Asked by The Times’ Bill Shaikin if he had ever played baseball, Leger responded, “I haven’t. Would it help?”

The experiment failed — none of the quartet advanced beyond Class A — yet Fontaine maintained the sunny outlook he inherited from his father. Bob Fontaine Sr. was a scout who worked under the legendary Branch Rickey with the Brooklyn Dodgers before becoming scouting director of the Pittsburgh Pirates for 18 years and the first scouting director of the expansion franchise San Diego Padres. He also served as general manager of the Padres from 1977 to 1980.

“[My father] told me when I got started, ‘Don’t you ever, ever not appreciate where you are and what you’re doing, because you’re lucky. You’re going to a ballpark to make a living, so your bad days aren’t that bad,’” Fontaine Jr. said. “I never forgot that, I never forgot how lucky I am.

“Hey, you’re looking at a guy that barely squeaked through high school, who doesn’t have any ability, and I lasted almost 50 years. It’s because in baseball, if you listen, and you’re not afraid to take a chance once in a while, even somebody with my lack of ability can stay around for a while,” he said.

Fontaine got his foot in the door through his father. His first job as a teenager was as a minor league bat boy with the Pirates. Next he became a peanut vendor at Forbes Field. By age 19, he caught on with the Padres as an area scout.

Both Fontaines were scouts well ahead of the deep empirical and objective analysis of baseball data — sabermetrics is the catchall term — that some believe has made scouts obsolete. Fontaine maintained the best evaluations come when scouting is utilized along with numbers.

“What the traditional scout gives you is personal reference, like with things I learned on players that I missed on,” he said. “Analytics didn’t do that. I’m a firm believer that the best video camera is your eyes, the best model is your brain, and the best way to make a tough decision is with your heart.”

Fontaine’s methods produced results. Under his guidance in 1977, the Padres drafted future Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith in the fourth round. Four years later Fontaine plucked another future Hall of Famer, taking outfielder Tony Gwynn in the third round.

And when Fontaine moved to the Montreal Expos in 1985, he took a 6-foot-11 left-handed pitcher out of USC named Randy Johnson in the second round — another Hall of Famer.

Fontaine co-authored a memoir in 2021, “In Search of Millionaires (The Life of a Baseball Gypsy): The Accounts of Bob Fontaine Jr.”

“Baseball has provided me with a fabulous opportunity to see the world and work in an industry that most people envy,” he wrote in the book. “I didn’t get rich, except in experiences. To meet and work against so many fine people, as well as some great general managers and owners, has been a privilege.”

Times sports columnist Bill Shaikin contributed to this story.

The NFL has issued suspensions for two officials involved in confrontations with players during Sunday’s games, including one who was caught on camera apparently cursing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride.

“The NFL confirmed today that line judge Jeff Seeman has been suspended for two games and referee Adrian Hill has been suspended for one game, each for an instance of unprofessional conduct toward a player in Sunday’s Arizona-New York Giants (Seeman) and Miami-Minnesota games (Hill),” the league said Monday in a statement. “The suspensions were issued by NFL Vice President of Officiating Ramon George.”

Late in the Cardinals’ 36-24 loss to the New York Giants, McBride argued a non-call with Seeman. A video of part of the interaction between McBride and Seeman, posted on X by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, appears to show the line judge shouting, “F— you!” at McBride two times.

NFL Players Assn. executive director JC Tretter posted a clip of the interaction that zoomed in on Seeman as he shouted toward McBride.

“This kind of behavior from an official towards a player is unacceptable,” Tretter wrote. “Players are consistently held accountable when the roles are reversed. We expect the NFL to hold officials to the same standard.”

CBS reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala reposted Tretter’s post and commented that she was “standing right there” during the interaction between McBride and Seeman.

McBride “was heated for sure, but I never heard a curse from him,” Kinkhabwala wrote. “The harshest he got was, ‘You’re ruining the game.’”

The other incident took place early in the Minnesota Vikings’ 15-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins. On a play that was whistled dead because of a neutral zone infraction, Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson appeared to be shoved into Hill, who was knocked to the ground. When Wilson attempted to help Hill to his feet, the official jumped up and appeared to yell at the player and point for him to move away.

“That was funny, honestly,” Wilson told reporters. “I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation. He was cool about it. He understood what was happening. He just said he was trying to get me — he didn’t want us fighting apparently, me and the Dolphins guy. So he was just trying to break us up.”

The NFLPA said it had no further comment on either incident other than Tretter’s X post. The NFL Referees Assn. did not immediately respond on Monday to multiple requests for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

There are so many ethical dilemmas in high school sports that earning a teaching credential or gaining life experiences from participating in sports won’t always provide a clear path on how to proceed.

And when you bring in rules and regulations set forth by the California Interscholastic Federation, the state’s governing body for high school sports, everyone has an opinion or complaint — especially when there is a perception of inconsistency in how punishment for a rule violation is assessed.

It really comes down to how coaches hold themselves accountable and what a principal believes in supporting. For example, some principals have dismissed coaches for using profanity. Others do nothing.

Here are some of the ethical questions administrators, coaches, parents and players now face:

If cheating is wrong, how come so many cheat?

Should a player who transfers and has superior talent immediately get to start over a player who has been in the program for three years busting his butt?

How do you figure out when it’s OK to share playing time at quarterback if you have two good players or even three?

When is it OK for a parent to ask about their son‘s or daughter’s playing time, if ever?

How important is winning games compared to team grade-point average?

What is the most appropriate punishment for showing up late to practice?

What is a legitimate excuse for missing practice?

When should a coach allow players to wear whatever shoes they want compared to having one universal shoe and color?

Why are coaches allowed to use profanity but players can’t?

Why can’t coaches welcome multi-sport athletes instead of seething when they have to miss an offseason game?

Should benching a player for receiving a technical foul be automatic?

Should a player be immediately removed for committing a personal foul in football?

How much consideration should be given to the parent with money versus the parent with no money?

How much acting is required to pull off a pregame or halftime speech to inspire your players?

How can you teach teamwork and unselfishness for the team but lay low and suddenly go silent when the top player doesn’t follow the example away from the team?

When a parent offers to become an assistant coach, what instructions and guidelines must be imposed to prevent other parents complaining about “daddy ball?”

When is yelling at an official ever appropriate?

When is the margin of victory too large?

Why is it OK to recruit players, then complain when someone else recruits your players?

For years, baseball coaches have broken rules by holding batting practice before playoff games, resulting in teams forfeiting and coaches learning ignorance of a rule is no excuse. That leads to how can a coach receive only a two-game suspension from his district for playing three ineligible players during an out-of-state football game while claiming he didn’t know the ineligible players couldn’t play outside of California when he’s been coaching for more more than 10 years?

Any coach who says “I don’t want to know” where a transfer lives to escape accountability might want to start realizing an entire program can go down when they abdicate responsibility.

Finally, many claim whatever they are doing “is for the kids,” but when is it time for an adult to enter the room and explain the end doesn’t justify the means?

As someone who has seen virtually every kind of behavior, both good and bad, during 50 years of covering high school sports, I can say I don’t have all the answers to many of the questions posed. But when it comes to education-based high school sports. everyone has a responsibility to follow high ethical standards so that maybe a little bit might rub off on their players and help them navigate their future real-life decisions from a position of strength and confidence.

The Corona Centennial High football team has an interesting blend of players spelling their similar first names differently, leaving coach Matt Logan to be the referee as to which parents got the spelling correct.

There’s Jaden Jefferson, Jaden Walk-Green, Jaden Bynum, Jayden Steeber, Jayden Rodriguez and Jaiden Sapp on varsity.

Asked for a comment on what the correct spelling should be, Logan replied, “Which one?”

With six player possibilities, he better be specific as to which Jaden, Jayden or Jaiden he’s trying to alert when shouting the name.

Luckily, Logan isn’t the freshman or JV coach because there’s also Jayden Morales, Jayden Bullard and Jaidon Wilkerson. That’s nine players who qualify to join a club or create a T-shirt: Which first name is spelled correctly?

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

“Grey’s Anatomy” and “One Tree Hill” actor Sophia Bush reveals in her new memoir, “And I Will Tell You Mine: Notes From a Life in Progress,” that she married former professional soccer player Ashlyn Harris in summer 2025.

The private ceremony took place in upstate New York with Harris’ children, Sloane and Ocean, attending, Bush and Harris revealed in a Vogue exclusive published Wednesday. The couple said they later made the rounds, visiting friends and family to divulge their secret nuptials.

Sophia Bush, in a 2025 episode of “Grey’s Anatomy,” told Vogue she married Ashlyn Harris in a private ceremony with Harris’ children in attendance.

(Anne Marie Fox / Disney)

“We got to have personal experiences with everyone we love, and once we got through all of those, how do we put it out? Because I don’t want to keep sitting on panels or in interviews and being like, ‘My partner,’” Bush told Vogue over Zoom, then turning to Harris. “You’re not my partner, you know? You’re my wife. And it feels so amazing to say that.”

After Harris described her kids running around, picking flowers and generally having fun, stepmom Bush recalled the family roasting marshmallows on their wedding night: “It was so precious, and zero pressure. I will never forget it.”

The newlyweds also explained that, though they value privacy, optics are important for at least one very important reason.

“We understand how sacred and how pure our love is. But the visibility piece matters,” Harris said, “because there are still kids hiding who don’t feel seen, and if we make room and space for one person, that’s worth maybe costing us a little bit of peace in the public eye.”

The Ducks have signed promising young defenseman Tristan Luneau to a six-year contract extension worth $43.2 million after just 14 NHL appearances.

The Ducks announced the deal Thursday with the 22-year-old Luneau, whose promising career has been slowed by injury. Now healthy and ready for a full-time NHL role, he inked a long-term deal with the team that drafted him in the second round in 2022.

Luneau was the Quebec major junior league’s top defenseman in the 2022-23 season and he made the Ducks’ roster out of training camp the next fall. But Luneau came down with a viral infection that winter while practicing with Canada’s national junior team, forcing him to miss the rest of the year.

Anaheim took a deliberate approach with Luneau’s health for the past two seasons, keeping him with its AHL affiliate in San Diego for most of that time. But the Ducks never wavered in their belief that Luneau will be an above-average defenseman, and they proved it with a long-term contract for a player who suited up in just one game for the NHL club last season.

Luneau will be expected to play a significant role this season for the Ducks, who lost four veteran defensemen — Jacob Trouba, captain Radko Gudas, John Carlson and Olen Zellweger — from last season’s already mediocre blue line group over the summer.

Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek moved aggressively to lock up Luneau after being burned repeatedly in restricted free agency over the offseason.

Verbeek spent months failing to reach a deal with center Leo Carlsson, who then signed a $90-million offer sheet with Philadelphia that briefly made him the NHL’s highest-paid player before Anaheim matched it. Carlsson is among the best young centers in hockey, but his deal is worth much more than he was expected to get as a restricted free agent — as is the five-year, $36 million deal given to Pavel Mintyukov by Verbeek after other teams began to sniff around the Russian defenseman in the wake of Carlsson’s massive offer sheet.

Verbeek then signed high-scoring forward Cutter Gauthier to a six-year, $81 million extension last month, but the resulting salary cap constraints from Verbeek’s summer of misadventure effectively forced the Ducks to waive 22-goal scorer Chris Kreider, damaging their depth.

Luneau will join Jackson LaCombe and Mintyukov as the new core of the Ducks’ defense. Rising star LaCombe agreed to an eight-year, $72-million extension a year ago.

Anaheim ended a seven-year playoff drought last spring, advancing to the second round under coach Joel Quenneville. The Ducks open the regular season Friday at Vegas before their home opener Sunday against Florida.

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

LAFC on Thursday named Xavi Tamarit its interim head coach, replacing Marc Dos Santos, who was fired Sunday amid a slump that has seen the team win just two of its last 13 games in all competition.

Tamarit, 44, was named to Dos Santos staff last January. He has more than two decades’ worth of elite coaching experience, including stints in the English Premier League, Spain’s La Liga and Argentina’s top division. A Spanish citizen, he is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

“Xavi brings a wealth of experience at the highest levels of the game and a clear understanding of our players, their strengths and what this group needs now,” John Thorrington, LAFC’s president of soccer operations, said in a statement. “We have full confidence in Xavi and the rest of the staff to get the best out of this team. Our standards and ambitions remain unchanged, and we are committed to giving everything to finish the 2026 season strong.”

LAFC (11-9-8) is sixth in the 15-team Western Conference table with six regular-season games left. That’s good enough for a playoff berth but two places and five points out of home-field advantage for the postsesason. LAFC is 3-6-6 on the road by 8-3–2 at home this season.

Dos Santos, an assistant for both Bob Bradley and Steve Cherundolo at LAFC, was named the third manager in team history last winter and was unbeaten in its first 11 matches in all competition, outscoring opponents 27-3 and advancing to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where LAFC lost to Mexico’s Toluca, the eventual winner. But the team has gone 6-9-7 in MLS play since then, including a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas last Saturday in which Dos Santos was without six key players — including leading scorer Denis Bouanga and captain Son Heung-min — who were with their national teams.

Tamarit’s first game as manager will be at home on Oct. 10 against conference-leading Vancouver.

If there’s one positive to come out of the controversial play and video from Saturday’s USC vs. Oregon football game during which Oregon quarterback Dante Moore suffered a concussion after a late hit by USC’s Desman Stephens, it’s that high school football coaches are using it as a teachable moment on how not to react after a player is injured.

Stephens received a one-game suspension from USC after he was seen celebrating when hitting Moore in the head as he gave himself up on a slide to end a running play.

Whittier coach Lorenzo Hernandez said he reminded his players, “You’re always in someone’s lens.”

“You have to be compassionate about someone being injured,” he said.

St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said there were plenty of lessons to point out to his players.

Negro said in a text, “As mentors, educators, and coaches we are constantly using moments like this to educate our players on how not to be. Football is a small fraternity and regardless of rivalries or spirited competitions we have to respect the health and safety of our opponents. Celebrating in a moment like that is disheartening and would never be tolerated here at Bosco.

“It wasn’t just the Dante Moore situation. It was also the situation from the Texas vs Tennessee game, too, with the unnecessary antics that draw penalties.

“We have to do better in making our kids realize there is a proper way to conduct yourself in an athletic contest. Personal character is revealed in these moments so choose wisely when you plan your actions after you make a good play.”

It was Disney Day at Sierra Canyon High, so standout sophomore linebacker Eli Zamorano showed up at football practice wearing Mickey Mouse ears atop his head on Monday.

Walking past, teammates either stared or smiled at the ears.

“He’s a kid who beats to his own drum,” coach Jon Ellinghouse said.

It makes perfect sense, for it was Zamorano as a freshman who was walking in rain and freezing temperatures last November on the field two hours before Sierra Canyon’s playoff game against Santa Margarita going through his pregame routine listening to music from Nirvana and not letting any elements disrupt him.

“I’m not gonna let the weather determine my pregame,” he said. “And I’m actually used to the cold experience. My dad taught me to swim in cold water. That’s who I am.”

At 6 feet 2, 205 pounds, Zamorano is showing signs of becoming one of the best linebackers in the state for a 5-0 Sierra Canyon team that opens Mission League play on Friday against Loyola. He can be the player who’s in on every tackle up the middle or the player covering running backs out of the backfield. He watched his brother, Roman, now at Air Force, play for the Trailblazers last season at middle linebacker and has been taught by his father, Antonio, a former Garfield football player, to focus on toughness and fundamentals.

“It’s the mental toughness our dad taught both of us,” he said. “He played old-school football.”

Linebacker Eli Zamorano wearing his Mickey Mouse ears on Disney Day at Sierra Canyon.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

His father became a doctor, his mother a lawyer. They’ve shown their boys a path to success but each must find their own way, though having a doctor in the family while playing football is pretty neat.

“When we were little, 7 or 8 years old, he would take us to see his patients at the hospital,” Zamorano said. “So we learned a lot there. It’s like we have free health care. He walks in our room and feels the [ankle]. He knows what the risks are.”

Zamorano can play the ukulele, listens to music created years ago and doesn’t pay attention to what others think.

“I would like to say I’m a very enthusiastic kid,” he said. “I still like to live life to its fullest. I’m not going to let any outside voices determine what makes me, me. I kind of don’t listen to the music that people do nowadays, and a lot of people call me out. It makes me Eli. And you know, it’s just who I am.”

When he was 15, he spent nearly three months living in Rapa Nui, one of the world’s most remote Polynesian islands. His grandmother was born there. It’s also known as Easter Island and is a special territory of Chile. There’s wilderness, beautiful beaches, amazing sunsets and time for a teenager to reflect on the future.

“I was down there training hard, learning more about my culture, where my family’s from,” he said. “I actually did dancing. It was a really fun experience.”

Whether walking in freezing rain without an umbrella or wearing Mickey Mouse ears around campus, Zamorano always knows what he’s doing.

“A couple girls said they were cute,” he said of his borrowed ears.

Who’s going to question Zamorano’s choices now?

James Trafford: Made a good save in the second half. Trafford was very calm with the ball at his feet and showed his passing range which pleased Tuchel throughout. 6

Trent Alexander-Arnold: Started his first England game for nearly two years. Not much to do defensively but put in a great ball for the England opener. 7

Trevoh Chalobah: A shaky start from the centre back who lost possession a couple of times and lost out in challenges which frustrated manager Thomas Tuchel. But Chalobah settled and ensured England kept a clean sheet against 10-man Czech Republic. 6

Marc Guehi: The usual reliable performance from Guehi. England didn’t have much defending to do but he put in a couple of important blocks. 6

Lewis Hall: The left-back combined well with Anthony Gordon and offered a good outlet for England. Hall was a threat going forward and should have scored in the second half. 7

Elliot Anderson: Dominated the midfield, kept the ball ticking for England and won possession back the few times that the Czech Republic ventured forward. A mature performance. 7

Myles Lewis-Skelly: Started the game well and was given a lot of responsibility in England’s build up play. However, Lewis-Skelly was booked for a mis-timed tackle and then taken off at half time. 6

Morgan Rogers: Played Bukayo Saka through with a nice pass early on and hit the post twice. Not given much room by a Czech side who defended very deep. 6

Bukayo Saka: Not much of note to mark for Saka in what was a cagey match as England laboured when breaking down the Czech defence before Gordon’s goal. 6

Anthony Gordon: A constant threat in behind and put in a dangerous cross in the first half that deserved to end up with a goal. Scored the opener and continues to show why he is becoming so important for the Three Lions. 8

Harry Kane: A quieter night for Kane who dropped deep and went looking for the ball but the England captain still got on the score sheet with a good finish inside the area in the second half. 7

Subs:

Eberechi Eze (on 46, Lewis-Skelly): Added a spark to midfield. 6

Jude Bellingham (on 70, Kane): Took the captains armband and led the line. 6

Alex Scott (on 70, Anderson): Made his England debut. 6

Rio Ngumoha (on 71, Saka): His first thought was to go forward. 6

Morgan Gibbs-White (on 81, Gordon):

Subs not used: Pickford, Steele, Konsa, Branthwaite, Garner, Calvert-Lewin, Quansah

A new age of Clippers basketball started on Monday.

It’s about moving on, or attempting to, after the franchise endured a nightmare offseason.

“My entire summer’s been basketball,” guard Darius Garland nonchalantly said during media day at Intuit Dome. “My main thing is to come in here and win games. So, that’s my main focus.”

The Clippers’ offseason was engulfed by the NBA’s salary-cap circumvention investigation into the team’s endorsement deals with Kawhi Leonard. The NBA fined the Clippers $30 million, stripped them of five first-round picks, dealt suspensions to owner Steve Ballmer and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank — and the Clippers ultimately traded Leonard, who was fined merely $700,000, back to Toronto.

Garland represented his teammates in prioritizing hoops.

But for Trent Redden, the Clippers’ interim president of basketball operations, things weren’t that simple. The admittedly nervous executive started Monday’s news conferences by apologizing to the Clippers’ faithful for the aftermath of the Leonard situation.

“Our fans deserve to hear from us before this, and for that we’re sorry,” Redden said. “We’ve been listening to the thoughts, the concerns, and feeling the emotions of our fan base. They mean everything to us. … We hope to fulfill our promises to them, to build their trust and move forward through this time.

“This franchise often has done its best work with its back against the wall … We hope to represent our fans the same way we always have in dark times, by coming out fighting.”

Fighting is all the new-look Clippers can do as they enter the 2026-27 season.

Leonard is back north of the border. Other stars, such as Paul George, James Harden and the recently retired Russell Westbrook, are distant memories in L.A. For the first time in years, the Clippers aren’t entering a season with championship aspirations.

“It’s been difficult,” said Ty Lue, who enters his seventh season as the Clippers’ coach. “But I give our players a lot of credit … the leadership is great [and] the morale is great, even in these tough situations. That’s good to see, when you have your players coming in every day, giving everything they have; a lot of teams don’t have that.”

The Clippers’ league-record streak of 15 consecutive winning seasons is in jeopardy. Nonetheless, the team will still feature plenty of intrigue roster-wise, with a mix of youngsters “doing TikToks” and “old heads” trying to keep up, as Garland described it.

“I think we can surprise a lot of people,” he said.

Garland himself, 26, enters his first full season in L.A. as the team’s go-to scorer. A two-time All-Star, he’s primed to lead a promising backcourt alongside 19-year-old rookie Keaton Wagler, the Clippers’ No. 5 pick in the 2026 draft.

Wagler is one of the team’s promising young players, alongside fellow rookie Baba Miller, Kobe Sanders and the rehabbing Jordan Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhauser.

“I’m just going to do my best to stay mentally focused,” Wagler said when asked about the pressure of being the team’s first top-five pick since Blake Griffin in 2009. “Not worry about all the outside noise.”

The Clippers return key role players like Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez, and sport new ones like Max Strus and Gradey Dick via trades.

However, the team’s ceiling will rest on the influence of new forwards Brandon Ingram and Rui Hachimura. Hachimura is coming off a strong playoff run and four-year stint with the Lakers.

“One thing about here … everybody talks about how they take really good care of their players,” Hachimura said of signing a two-year, $28-million contract with the Clippers this offseason.

Ingram, the centerpiece of the Leonard trade, is a solid three-level scorer and will shoulder much of the offensive load alongside Garland — when healthy.

Redden shockingly shared that Ingram is recovering from a partially torn Achilles tendon in addition to heel surgery.

“I had been dealing with some pain throughout the year with the Raptors, especially coming down crunch time with the Raptors,” Ingram said. “I didn’t quite know what it was. Near the end of the season, we figured out what it was, and surgery was the best thing to do.”

The 29-year-old Ingram, though, should make a full recovery and claims his best days are still ahead of him.

He feels the same way about his new Clippers team.

“I know [there are] little to no expectations for us this year,” Ingram said. “We have enough in the building to compete. This is what we love to do. So, we’ll go out and compete every single night, learn, go on to the next game and get better and better.”

Let’s get the rose-colored story line out of the way, right away.

The postseason starts Tuesday, and it could be the last we see of Major League Baseball for a long, long time. The owners expect to lock out the players when the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and the owners have made their pitch loud and clear: No new agreement without a salary cap, for they believe there can be no true competitive balance without one.

You’ll hear a lot about how the way this postseason sets up, or how it plays out, could impact the bargaining.

Don’t believe a word of it. Nothing that happens this October will be relevant to the new labor agreement.

Come on. The team with the lowest payroll — the Cleveland Guardians — won their division. So competitive balance can’t be completely out of whack, can it?

Cleveland hasn’t won the World Series since 1948. The opponent was the Boston Braves, who subsequently moved to Milwaukee and then Atlanta.

What about the team with the best record in the American League: the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat up on big-market bullies in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox?

The Rays never have won the World Series.

Well, what about the Milwaukee Brewers? For the second consecutive season, the team in baseball’s smallest market posted baseball’s best record.

The Brewers got swept in last year’s National League Championship Series. They never have won the World Series.

But aren’t the Brewers the best example of a team playing beyond its payroll instead of using it as an excuse?

They got smoked last October by the Dodgers, who won the World Series and then signed Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker and traded for Tarik Skubal.

Isn’t that what got everyone agitated? Doesn’t everyone outside L.A. know the Dodgers have destroyed competitive balance, and the owners are trying to fix it?

The owners were ready to fight for more than a year before the Dodgers helped themselves to Díaz, Tucker and Skubal. For years, the commissioner’s office touted baseball’s competitive balance, citing in part how the league championship series and World Series matchups changed almost every year.

After the Dodgers won in 2024, the commissioner’s office redefined competitive balance as how often a small-market team won the World Series, last accomplished by the 2015 Kansas City Royals. The seeds for this winter’s labor war had been planted.

If the Dodgers flop this October, the owners are not going to suddenly back off a salary cap. If, say, the Brewers or Rays win, the owners will say that’s the exception that proves the rule.

There are ways for owners to direct more revenue to small-market teams without the salary cap the players insist they will not accept, and without limiting the definition of success to winning the World Series, which risks devaluing the product among 29 fan bases every year. Whether the owners wish to consider them without the cost certainty that comes with a salary cap will be the story line of the cold winter ahead.

The Dodgers are scheduled to open next season on March 25. Neither owners nor players would have lost any significant revenue by then — ticket sales and broadcasting rights for owners, salaries for players — so a new agreement by then is uncertain at best.

So enjoy the postseason.

So, at least for now, isn’t the postseason tilted toward the Dodgers and Yankees?

Those screams you hear are coming from New York, where Yankees fans are annoyed that their team finished with the second-best record in the AL and still could be eliminated in two or three days. The Yankees finished behind the Rays and received a wild card.

The Yankees lost 13 fewer games than the AL West champion Houston Astros and 10 fewer games than the AL Central champion Guardians, both seeded ahead of them. The Astros are a .500 team, the worst record a division champion has taken into the postseason. The Guardians get a bye, just like the Dodgers.

The Yankees drew the Red Sox, which means painful amounts of national commentary will focus on (1) how the system victimized the Yankees and the Red Sox; and (2) baseball’s most hyped rivalry.

Until baseball realigns its divisions or seeds its playoffs by wins, regardless of division, the Yankees should simply do what Aaron Judge said about how they should respond to criticism of their fundamentally frightening 2024 World Series: “Play better.” And baseball’s best rivalry will be on October display only if the Dodgers and San Diego Padres meet in the NL Championship Series.

Still laughing, though, at sanctimonious Yankees fans believing baseball is somehow unfair to the poor, gutty Yankees.

Can anyone save baseball in 2027?

We should try Pope Leo. He’s a long-suffering Chicago White Sox fan. In his first full year as pope — and after three consecutive 100-loss seasons — the White Sox made the playoffs.

Some fans call it a miracle, a reporter told the pope. Did the pope have anything to do with the turnaround?

He smiled.

“No comment,” he said, then paused.

“Great things happen in Chicago,” he said.

The Cubs made the postseason too. The Cubs and White Sox have shared Chicago since 1901. This is the fourth time both have qualified for postseason play. Deep dish pizza for all, but a World Series in Chicago this fall might truly require divine intervention.

Joel Quenneville had one mission when he took over as coach of the Ducks last year: get them back to the playoffs.

He did much better than that. The Ducks scored a franchise-record 273 goals, spent much of the season atop the Pacific Division and knocked off the powerful Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights, the eventual conference champions, in the second round.

All of which raises a question for Quenneville and the Ducks coming off a summer of upheaval and turnover: What can they do for an encore?

“Expectations are going to be higher across the board,” said Quenneville, whose team opens the season Friday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights. “That’s healthy. But at the same time, it’s an everyday thing that that challenge is going to be out there.”

Before Quenneville arrived, the Ducks stumbled through a franchise-record seven straight losing seasons. Now many of the players in his locker room are thinking beyond just making the postseason.

“The culture change, we can really feel it,” goaltender Lukas Dostal said. “What we did last year, obviously we want to improve and move even further.

“You don’t play hockey to just think like ‘OK, we want to make the playoffs.’ You want to go as far as possible. So the sky’s the limit. I really trust this team.”

“At the end of the day, you want to win a Stanley Cup,” added new captain Mikael Granlund. “You have to have that one goal. We’re going to do everything we can to be better than last year.”

Many Ducks are certainly going to be better paid than last year. General manager Pat Verbeek had no choice but to overspend on center Leo Carlsson, signing him to a five-year, $90-million contract after the Flyers offered Carlsson the same deal. The 21-year-old, who had a career-high 29 goals and 38 assists last season, is the NHL’s highest-paid player this season.

Verbeek also re-signed restricted free agents Cutter Gauthier, (six years, $81 million) and Pavel Mintyukov (five years, $36 million) and gave center Tim Washe a $9-million contract extension. Gauthier led the team with 41 goals and 69 points last season.

“It’s a sign you’re doing something correctly,” Quenneville said of his players being rewarded. “But at the same time, I don’t think we change too much our demands. They know we work on a meritocracy and the better you do, the more you’re going to play.”

Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov passes against the Utah Mammoth on March 20.

(Melissa Majchrzak / Associated Press)

All that spending left the team with nothing to offer veteran winger Chris Kreider, who was released this summer, joining an exodus that included key defensemen John Carlson, Radko Gudas, Olen Zellweger and Jacob Trouba.

The Ducks will also be without forward Troy Terry, who averaged 24 goals over the past five seasons, until well into the winter as he recovers from hip surgery.

As a result, the Ducks start with several new pieces up front and thin experience on the blue line, which isn’t a good look for a team that gave up 288 goals last season, fourth-most in the NHL.

Despite the additions of veterans A.J. Greer, a Stanley Cup winner in Florida who was acquired to add a physical presence in the attack, and Nick Jensen, 36, who was signed to stabilize the defense, the Ducks will once again have one of the youngest rosters in the NHL. But Quenneville has a history of turning young teams into champions. Nineteen years ago he took over a Chicago Blackhawks team that was the youngest in the league and led it to the conference final. A year later that team captured the Stanley Cup, the first of three Quenneville won in Chicago.

For the Ducks to match that, their summer additions will have to add up to more than the subtractions. And the investment Verbeek made in Carlsson, Gauthier and Mintyukov will have to pay off. What’s certain, however, is after last season’s breakthrough, the Ducks won’t be sneaking up on anyone.

“We made it a little harder for ourselves,” Washe said. “We’ve got a little target on our back.”

FANCY tucking into a tasty full Irish breakfast cooked for you by a former Premier League football star?

Well, that’s firmly on the menu if you check into Causeway Guest Accommodation, on the picturesque County Antrim coast, which is owned and managed by ex-Manchester City and West Ham midfielder Steve Lomas.

Lomas was appointed first team captain at The Hammers and played more than 300 games in the Premier League, in addition to 45 international caps for his beloved Northern Ireland.

After 22 years as a player and manager, he has taken on a new role as maitre d’ and head chef at his family-run B&B in Bushmills.

The 13-bed property is less than three miles from the world famous Giant’s Causeway and roughly five from the renowned Royal Portrush golf course, which hosted the 2019 and 2025 Open Championships.

It is also staggering distance away from the popular Bushmills Whiskey Distillery – the first in the world to triple distill whiskey.

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Lomas, 52, said: “The County Antrim coast is a hidden gem.

“The drive from Belfast up the coast to Bushmills is one of the top five or six drives in the whole of the UK for its outstanding beauty.

“Beautiful beaches, beautiful scenery, and the Giant’s Causeway is touted as the eighth natural wonder of the world.

“Game Of Thrones was shot predominantly around Northern Ireland and that has added to the prestige, but you think of Northern Ireland and the first thing that still comes to mind is the Troubles.

“People are still overlooking all the natural beauty we have.

“Fermanagh is regarded as the Lake District of Northern Ireland.

“Across the border in Donegal you have the 1,600-mile Wild Atlantic Way.

“Northern Ireland has moved on.

“More and more tourists are coming but it’s still understated.

“We get a lot of visitors from Spain, Germany, America and China.

“They all come over to see the Causeway.

“I love football and it’s no hardship to talk about it.

“But I’m usually slaving over the stove.

“Occasionally, when I am not cooking I will pop out and have a chat, and when guests check in.”

The B&B features spotless double and twin rooms, all of which have ensuite bathrooms, TVs and tea and coffee facilities.

And then there’s that full Irish breakfast – served in the light, bright kitchen dining room.

Tucking into one of his delicious fry-ups, it’s clear to see that Steve’s talents extend beyond the pitch.

Love is the name. Fraud allegedly was his game. And the list of his victims — several of whom said they became romantically involved with him — continues to grow.

Daejon Labrayae Love, 35, and his accomplice Taylor Jamie Chan, 18, remain in federal custody after their arrest Aug. 24 in Boise, Idaho, on wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges. The FBI charged the two men with scamming at least 26 women in four states out of at least $1.3 million.

Since then many more women have come forward to say they were victims of Love’s schemes, which often involved him impersonating a San Francisco 49ers player. The FBI said it has identified 35 additional women who say they were defrauded, ratcheting up the number of alleged victims to more than 60.

The latest development is especially troubling. A woman told ESPN on Tuesday that she submitted a complaint about Love on the 49ers website eight months ago on Dec. 20, 2025, yet the team apparently did little with the information.

Gwen Herndon submitted a complaint/concern form, writing “there is a federal investigation surrounding a man pretending to be a 49ers player.” She named Love, saying he stole money from women.

“I wanted you to be aware of the situation and are hopefully proactive in denouncing his involvement on your team,” she wrote in the message, which was reviewed by ESPN.

Herndon said the only response she received from the 49ers came from a Levi’s Stadium guest services account a week after her report, encouraging her to contact law enforcement agencies with the information.

“We take reports of individuals misrepresenting themselves as members of the San Francisco 49ers very seriously,” the 49ers response said. “For safety and legal reasons, the team cannot comment on ongoing investigations or specific individuals…. Our internal team will also monitor any instances of impersonation and take action as appropriate to protect fans and the team’s reputation.”

A 49ers spokesperson declined to confirm that Herndon’s email was viewed by team officials, citing the ongoing FBI investigation.

Federal investigators, meanwhile, are working to verify that the 35 women who have come forward in recent days are in fact victims of Love and Chan, Portland FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson said in a news conference.

“We were surprised how many people were victimized in such a short period of time and then to have that many more come forward,” Olson said. “It’s a large volume for just a couple of subjects. Our concern is that this fraud could be replicated by other individuals that are out there victimizing other people in similar schemes.”

The FBI alleges that from February 2022 until they were arrested, Love and Chan fraudulently solicited money from women in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Love portrayed himself on Instagram as a 49ers wide receiver who went undrafted but worked his way onto the roster. He met many of the women through dating apps and developed romantic relationships with several, according to the FBI. Chan falsely posed as Love’s financial adviser.

In an Instagram Story titled “NFL Journey,” Love held a 49ers helmet while driving and said, “I’m on my way to get my mom. I know I get a lot of fans who want to know how football works or how I got involved in the league…. If you know me and see me in person I’ll explain.”

Experts on interpersonal relationships say that a person can instantly assume someone is trustworthy who exudes warmth and confidence as a first impression — especially if they find the person attractive.

“When we meet someone for the first time, our brains are quietly trying to answer two big questions: Can I trust this person, and do they seem capable and confident?,” said Tammi Pickle, an executive at the personalized matchmaking agency Elite Connections. “Someone who comes across as confident might suddenly seem smarter, kinder, more successful and even more trustworthy simply because of the way they carry themselves.

“When we are attracted to someone, our brains have a tendency to fill in the blanks with positive assumptions. The catch? Those assumptions aren’t always accurate.”

Love quickly gained the trust of dozens of women, allegedly convincing them to give him large sums of money. The FBI said Love instructed several women who did not have cash to invest to take out personal loans, assuring them they would quickly be repaid.

“The scheme relied on Love’s creation of fictitious personas and display of a lavish lifestyle which Love presented to victims both in person and on social media websites,” federal authorities said in a press release.

“Chan and Love also hosted three-way FaceTime calls in which they showed victims falsified investment gains and encouraged victims to part with their money. Victims sent Love and Chan money due to their belief that their money would be invested in legitimate investment vehicles on the victims’ behalf.”

One women who didn’t fall for Love’s scheme told KPTV in Oregon that she went on a 2024 date with him in 2024 after meeting on a dating app. He told her his name was John Prince and claimed he was a Swiss real estate developer.

Anderson said his behavior during their first date raised suspicion.

“He said, ‘I’m very intentional and efficient when it comes to dating, and if I pursue you, you will be the only one I pursue. I need someone who has been around money, who understands that, you know, these things aren’t luxuries to me. This is just my normal life.’

“Within five minutes, I decided I wasn’t gonna see him again.”

Love also manipulated AI. Search engines and AI rely on web scraping and frequency of mentions, and the sheer volume of his fake posts caused AI to mistakenly identify him as an NFL wide receiver. He showed screenshots of erroneous AI search summaries to alleged victims, convincing them he was worthy of their trust.

On an Instagram story, he posted a one screenshot of a webpage AI Overview that says “Daejon Love is a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and information about his position, contract and teammate texting habits is available online. He is also associated with the team in various social media content and articles.”

Love then turns the camera on himself and says, “That’s Google. That’s not me, that’s Google.”

He goes on to explain why he isn’t currently playing, lifting a crooked finger to the camera and saying he is injured. He concludes the story by again saying he wants “full transparency” because “people ask, what do I do? How can I afford a $500,000 car? How can I afford a $300,000 [Lamborghini] Urus? “

He says that he is driving to pick up his mother, then concludes by inviting those watching to reach out to him in person.

In the month before his arrest, Love traveled to New Mexico, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah and Idaho to meet with women, according to investigators. He allegedly used several fictitious names, including Jon Love, Avril Lyto Love and Jordan Love.

The romp abruptly ended at the Boise airport when Love and Chan were removed from a white sports car by federal agents, according to a video obtained by TMZ. Love appears to be wearing red Niners gear as he is handcuffed.

“Victims were encouraged to take out personal loans and make life-altering financial decisions based on the belief they were building a future with someone they cared about,” said Olson, the FBI special agent. “Once the money was taken, the victims were cut off, left without answers, without funds, and often without closure. Many lost not only their savings, but their sense of security and confidence.”

Tributes accumulated rapidly for Chris Spatola, a popular ESPN college basketball analyst who died Monday. He was 47.

Spatola is the son-in-law of legendary former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and was an assistant coach with the Blue Devils from 2007 to 2012. He married Krzyzewski’s daughter, Jamie, and the couple had three children together.

The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.

“There are no words to adequately express our heartbreak over the loss of our beloved Chris Spatola,” the Krzyzewski family said in a statement through Duke. “Chris served our country, was a devoted husband and father, and was such an important part of our family. We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, thoughts, and prayers we have received during this incredibly difficult time. We respectfully ask for privacy as our entire family, particularly Jamie and her three beautiful children, grieve and process this unimaginable loss.”

Spatola served in the U.S. Army after playing basketball at Army and studying at the U.S. Military Academy from 1998-2002. He deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for exceptional combat performance and the Army Commendation Medal for outstanding leadership.

As a player, Spatola was a four-year starter at guard and twice was named All-Patriot League. He commented on his military service for ESPN Press Room in 2018:

“Serving in the Army has made me better in every facet of my life — a better husband, father, professional,” Spatola said. “It exposed me to adversity, how to react to and deal with tough times and situations, and showed me that teams are better when you’re more concerned about serving others, serving the teammate to your right and left, and serving the mission. It forced me to realize there is no substitute for being prepared … and showed me that character matters.”

Spatola was on the Duke coaching staff in 2010 when the Blue Devils won one of their five national championships under Coach K. Soon after leaving Duke, Spatola was hired by ESPN and SiriusXM. He called games and appeared in studio for ESPN for the last 13 years.

“Chris Spatola brought a unique perspective to ESPN’s college basketball coverage, shaped by his experiences as a student-athlete, Army veteran, coach and broadcaster,” ESPN wrote in a statement. “He was thoughtful, prepared and passionate about the sport, earning the respect of colleagues, coaches, players and fans alike. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his loved ones during this difficult time.”

Fellow analysts flooded social media with an outpouring of praise.

“I am devastated over the passing of my friend and colleague Chris Spatola,” Jay Bilas wrote on Instagram. “Chris was a wonderful human being. A point guard at West Point, Chris was … a man of great humility and unusually high character. A great family man that was devoted to his wife Jamie and their wonderful family. Chris was selfless .… a fabulous colleague and knowledgeable basketball man. With Chris, it was never about him, it was only about the game, the players, the coaches, and the fans. Heartbroken beyond words to lose such a great friend, yet grateful beyond words to have known him.”

Longtime basketball analyst and Duke graduate Seth Davis also commented on Spatola’s friendship.

“I could not possibly come up with the words to describe how shocked and devastated I am to learn of Chris Spatola’s untimely passing. It will never make sense or seem real. Chris was one of the all time great dudes. A terrific broadcaster but most of all a treasured friend who absolutely adored and doted on his family…. May his memory be a blessing.”

In April 2022, Moore tested positive for nandrolone and boldenone at a WTA 250 event in Bogota, with an independent tribunal ruling in December 2023 that contaminated meat was the source.

Moore, who was Britain’s leading women’s doubles player at the time of the failed test, was found to bear “no fault or negligence”, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) appealed against the decision.

Last year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled in favour of the ITIA and Moore was banned until 2028.

Moore then initiated proceedings with the American Arbitration Association, in which she claimed the WTA’s “failure to warn against eating meat in Colombia was a direct cause of her positive test result and the harm that followed”.

The arbitrator supported the ruling made by Cas and dismissed the case against the WTA.

In response, Moore filed a motion against the decision at the United States District Court in New York.

Moore, who was ranked a career-high 77th in the world in 2022, claimed she was denied a fair hearing by the arbitrator.

The motion detailed how Moore was seeking “no less than $20m in compensatory damages” after claiming the WTA “stayed silent in the face of a known and specific danger and then shifted the blame for its own negligence” to the player.

On Friday, United States district judge Andrew Carter found Moore’s challenge was “not justified” on a legal basis.

The WTA and ITIA have been approached for comment.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart appears to have avoided a “devastating outcome” after leaving Monday night’s game against the Rams with a left knee injury, coach John Harbaugh told reporters following his team’s 28-6 loss at SoFi Stadium.

Harbaugh stopped short of confirming the multiple media reports that Dart suffered a sprained MCL when his leg bent in an unnatural manner after he was hit hard by Rams linebackers Byron Young and Josaiah Stewart early in the first quarter.

“That’s in the neighborhood of it, I would say,” Harbaugh said of those reports after the his team’s 28-6 loss. “We’ll get an MRI tomorrow and have a real good feel for it, and give you more information from there.”

SNY Giants reports that Dart could miss two to four weeks with the injury. Still, it could have been much worse. A torn ACL could have ended the season for the second-year quarterback who missed two games last year after sustaining a concussion.

“Never play to hurt anybody,” Young, a fourth-year player and 2025 Pro Bowl selection for the Rams, posted in an Instagram Story after the game. “I pray for a healthy recovery.”

Former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning seemed to fear the worst while watching the situation unfold live on their alternative broadcast of the game on ESPN2.

“Oh no. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no,” Peyton Manning said as he watched Dart writhe on the ground while holding his knee. “That is not what we want to see. Gosh!”

“Tough to watch,” Eli Manning said as a replay aired. “Hate to see that. Hope he’s OK.”

Dart was able walk off the field and into the locker room gingerly but under his own power. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported that the former USC and Mississippi quarterback actually wanted to return to the game but was not allowed to do so by his team.

Instead, Dart watched the second half from the sideline in street clothes, with video appearing to show him telling someone, “They wouldn’t let me come back out.”

Veteran quarterback Jameis Winston filled in for Dart and completed 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards with one interception.

Dart was one of several key Giants (1-1) players to suffer injuries during the loss. Top pass rusher Brian Burns sprained his left ankle and left tackle Andrew Thomas sustained an apparent lower-body injury, with neither player returning to the game.

Wide receiver Malik Nabers had to pop his right shoulder into place after dislocating it during the first quarter. He stayed in the game but indicated afterward he would undergo X-rays the next day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sparks legend Lisa Leslie has officially been immortalized in Los Angeles.

Leslie, a two-time WNBA champion and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, became the first female professional athlete to receive a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. After the ceremony, the Sparks earned a 105-84 win over the Portland Fire.

Leslie’s friends and family gathered outside the arena for the unveiling of the statue Leslie dubbed “The First Lady,” celebrating her 12-year pro basketball career in Los Angeles. Many speakers, including former Sparks coach Michael Cooper and Lakers legend Magic Johnson, noted Leslie’s accomplishments while also saluting her as a kind person.

Leslie became the second WNBA player to be honored with a bronze statue outside of a U.S. pro basketball arena, joining the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird.

Lisa Leslie celebrates on stage after her statue is unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“We know there is a low percentage of women who have statues in our country,” Leslie said. “I just feel like we are just starting to get our flowers and reap some of the benefits of hard work, blood, sweat and tears that we put into it.”

Leslie sat courtside with her family watching her former team beat the expansion Fire. Rae Burrell led the Sparks with 20 points and added two assists. Nneka Ogwumike finished with a double-double and Ariel Atkins had 14.

Burrell led the team with 13 first-half points. The Sparks led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, during which several Sparks reached double-figure scoring.

The Sparks kept their foot on the gas in the fourth quarter despite playing without Cameron Brink, Dearica Hamby and Aaliyah Nye.

Many Sparks said they felt blessed to have formed relationships with Leslie. Burrell said Leslie has been a big help during her career. The retired star has responded when players around the WNBA have sought advice.

Ogwumike said the team was happy to attend the pregame statue reveal.

Sparks legend Lisa Leslie takes photos with family and friends at her statue unveiling outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“That’s history, you know? I am very adamant about players coming in and knowing their history,” Ogwumike said. “That’s something you can’t let go of. I think we can see, especially in the NBA, where they are honoring these legends and they are coming back. I think we’re entering an era where there is so much history.”

Leslie grew up in Compton. During the ceremony, she spoke about watching her siblings whenever her mother went to work as a truck driver. She said she pushed to make good things happen for her siblings and didn’t quit or make excuses when life was difficult. She embraced challenges and often challenged herself.

Cooper said Leslie would go head-to-head with some of the Lakers players during practice to give herself a bigger challenge and it was impressive to watch her hold her own. Leslie was determined to be the first player in the WNBA to dunk, which helped redefine what was possible in women’s basketball.

The statue outside of Crypto.com Arena depicts her dunking a basketball.

Lisa Leslie and her family celebrate as her statue is unveiled outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

“I hope they see themselves out there. I hope you can find a girl that looks like you, whether she has long hair or short hair,” Leslie said. “That’s the key for kids in general. You have to see yourself. If you see it, then you also start to dream and believe that you can be it.”

Leslie recalled walking around Los Angeles as a child. Her affection for the city receiving a statue here more meaningful.

“I also feel a certain level of pride,” she said. “I feel like we are such good people in L.A.”

Leslie’s statue stands next Lakers Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi Bryant. Leslie called Kobe her younger brother during the ceremony and is happy to be close to him again.

Leslie’s career will be hard to repeat, but she sees it as a blueprint WNBA players can follow.

She said she is pleased with the direction the WNBA is heading, leaps and bounds ahead of her experience joining the league in 1997. She said it’s been great to see sponsors pouring in and helping the game grow.

“I am so proud of where the women’s game is,” Leslie said. “But the dream was always that we hoped that our USA, everybody across the board, could see the beauty in us, could see the strength in us and our resilience. I am so proud of the product that’s on the floor.”

For months, current and former high school coaches have been asked to respond to my simple question:

“What’s the best lesson a player taught you?”

It’s so hard to come up with an answer that many can’t do it immediately. They’re forced to think, which means the question is very good.

Stories are always written about lessons learned by students in the classroom and on the field, but what do coaches, most of them teachers, learn from their students?

Here are some answers.

Weeks before he died last March, Venice football coach Angelo Gasca told me the story of a player who wanted to quit and what he learned. That player later became one of his assistant coaches.

“I’m not accepting your resignation today,” Gasca told him. “You need to go home and think about it.”

Venice coach Angelo Gasca showing off the City Division I title trophy in 2021.

(Cliff Kensinger)

“He said he went home and thought about it and stayed on the team and was our starting center. He taught me the best thing we can teach is come to school and you never know what connections you’ll make at the school you grew up at. He taught me there’s more to coaching than winning games and scoring touchdowns. In our lives as teachers and coaches, we do learn from players. When we stop learning from our players, it’s time to stop coaching.”

Former Edison football coach Dave White remembers suspending his team’s best player before a trip to Hawaii for a team rule violation. He had to stay home even though his parents had paid money for the trip.

Dave White speaks to a crowd, including the football team, during the official naming of the Belcher White Strength Training Facility at Edison High School in 2022.

(Scott Smeltzer / Los Angeles Times)

“He taught me that I made the right decision and it was best for the team and in the long run best for him,” White said. “I was proud how he handled things. There are consequences for bad decisions. I really enjoyed and respected him more after that.”

Granada Hills girls volleyball coach Tom Harp said he had a player with a disability. She lost sight in an eye during an accident.

“She taught me how to overcome a difficult situation with a positive attitude,” he said. “She was a shining example of how to overcome adversity. It showed me my little problems aren’t as bad as they seem if she can overcome that.”

Lorenzo Hernandez, the football coach and athletic director at Whittier and former head football coach at Garfield, said a comment from a player made him realize to change tactics.

Former Garfield coach Lorenzo Hernandez runs onto the field with his players and assistant coaches.

(Hernandez family)

“You grow up in a certain era and have to adapt,” he said. “These kids want to enjoy themselves. They taught me to keep it as fun as possible. We worked on discipline. A kid said, ‘That’s great coach, but I don’t think we’re having fun.’ It made me take a step back. We have to understand it’s a different era of athletes and they require different ways to handle things. That’s helped me build better relationships. I’ll meet you halfway.”

Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he learned to talk to students about their personal lives to understand why they are behaving in certain ways. He discovered one of his players had nowhere to wash his clothes.

Longtime Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett talks to De’Anthony Thomas, one of his best former players, in 2011.

(Robert S. Helfman)

“Some don’t have a stable household,” he said. “You don’t learn that until you talk to them. I knew he was intelligent and studious but until I found out his hygiene wasn’t good, I realized the environment he was up against. It wasn’t until he shared with me what he was going through I offered assistance to wash his clothes.

“He didn’t need tough love. He needed kid gloves. Every day I try to find at least one child I didn’t know and have a personal conversation, ‘What middle school he went to, where does he live, are his studies OK.’ I try to learn the child before I learn the body. Adults never talk to kids. We just assume a kid is a certain way until you have a conversation and know their background and what they are going through.”

Former Hart baseball coach Jim Ozella, retired and watching his grandson play sports, told the story of his former player, Jack Ralston, reaching the major leagues this year taught him about perseverance.

“Everyone wants instant gratification,” Ozella said. “Here’s a kid who didn’t make the major leagues until he was 29. For us, he was an outstanding pitcher. We made it to the CIF final. Then he walked into UCLA, didn’t pitch as a freshman or sophomore, pitched a little as junior, then boom as a senior. He got drafted. His lesson has been off the charts for me.

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow with Hart coach Jim Ozella, who coached him in high school.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

“You can’t expect results immediately. You’re talented, put in all the work and effort. In this case, it didn’t work. He kept plugging along. His lesson is everyone is different. His was keep plugging away and it will happen. I called him after he gave up a home run. He said, ‘Today I woke up and it’s a new day.’ What a role model. Don’t expect everything overnight. It takes time. Be patient.”

Then Ozella quoted a famous line, “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.”

Hall of Fame football coach Paul Knox had a situation early in his coaching days at Dorsey dealing with two brothers and figuring out what you’re supposed to do when they’re different.

“They were very close in age,” he said. “I learned by trying to coach them you can’t coach everyone the same. Whatever I tried, one was very coachable and his younger brother all the things I tried never worked with him. We went back and forth.

Dorsey coach Paul Knox celebrates a miracle win in the 2001 City championship game at the Coliseum.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I found out I had to find a whole other way to reach him. I learned you can say how you treat everyone the same, but you approach some kids differently. You never really know precisely who’s listening to you and sometimes the satisfaction of being a teacher or mentor is delayed and you don’t know until years later.”

LONDON — Todd Boehly and fellow co-owner Mark Walter have sold their stakes in Chelsea, handing full control to Clearlake Capital, the English Premier League club said on Wednesday.

“Chelsea Football Club today announced affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group will acquire the ownership interest of Todd Boehly,” it said in a statement.

“As part of the transition, Clearlake will also acquire Mark Walter’s ownership interest and therefore acquire full control of the club.”

Boehly, Walter and Swiss investor Hansjorg Wyss all purchased a 12.8% share alongside the private equity company Clearlake, which had owned 61.5% ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. The Financial Times reported that Walter and Boehly will receive £950 million ($1.3 billion) for their combined stake in a deal that values the club at £5 billion ($6.7 billion) including debt.

Walter’s companies are the subject of multiple investigations that center on how much life insurance companies he owns were invested in the Dodgers and Lakers and why the investments weren’t accurately disclosed. Walter sold his majority share of the Lakers last month for a record $12.5 billion valuation, but Walter’s TWG Global said the decision to sell was not forced by the investigation. People with knowledge of company operations but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times Walter was open to selling his Chelsea share for the right price, but he has no intention of selling the Dodgers and other sports investments.

Boehly has worked with Walter at Guggenheim Partners since 2001 and played a significant role in the purchase of the Dodgers and Lakers, among other Walter owned properties.

In 2022, Clearlake and Boehly combined to take over the club from Roman Abramovich when the Russian billionaire was forced to sell the club after being sanctioned by the U.K. for his connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Boehly now stands down in his role as Chelsea chairman. Fans protested Boehly’s tenure as the club struggled to keep pace in the Premier League title chase amid erratic leadership, unusual player acquisitions and chaotic relationships with managers.

“It has been an honor to serve as chairman of Chelsea Football Club,” Boehly said. “I would like to thank the many who helped secure a bright future for the club, including the English Premier League, the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans.

“I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club. I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”

Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-founders of Clearlake Capital, lauded Boehly in the Chelsea statement. Feliciano also recently acquired Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres.

“Todd has been an important partner throughout our ownership of Chelsea, and we thank him for his time and contribution as chairman,” Eghbali and Feliciano said. “He will always be a part of the Chelsea story and family.

“Clearlake has served as Chelsea’s majority owner since 2022, and as we move to full control our focus is to continue investing in the club’s infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the club’s supporters.”

The statement also said Wyss would “remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group”, and that there would be “no changes to the day-to-day operations, leadership or strategy at the club.”

Chelsea, which is sixth in the Premier League standings, next faces London rival Brentford on Friday.

Jimenez writes for the Associated Press.