The fear is a one-minute absence would make it far more likely a team could concede a goal when down to 10 players.
Thirty seconds already causes frustration among supporters – and unintended consequences of goals conceded could add further pressure on to officials.
There is an acceptance players use supposed injuries as a way of breaking up play, but it is felt extending the time limit could unduly penalise genuinely injured players.
There are a few exceptions.
If the opponent is shown a yellow or red card the injured player does not need to stay off. Goalkeepers are also exempt, while a penalty taker would be able to stay on.
However, Ifab is not expected to pass any resolution to tackle the tactical timeout. This is when a goalkeeper goes down off the ball in order for a coach to get new instructions to the team.
Ifab’s advisory panels have discussed the issue at some length but, so far, there has been no agreement on a solution.
Following the success of the eight-second rule for goalkeepers holding the ball, new countdown measures are set to be approved.
A similar process will be added to goal-kicks and throw-ins, with possession changing to the opposition if it takes too long.
A 10-second limit will also be applied to substituted players – if they do not get off the pitch the replacement will not be allowed to come on.
A team would have to play with 10 players until the next stoppage, and that must be after at least 60 seconds.
Ifab is expected to approve video assistant referee reviews for wrongly awarded second yellow cards and, as a competition opt-in, corners.
That was the toughest thing to watch. That was what seared into the mind. That’s what made you want to fire Mick Cronin on the spot.
It was a look of embarrassment. It was a look of confusion. It was the look of a young man who had just been cruelly pushed around by someone with more power.
Mick Cronin is a classic bully, and the fact that UCLA continues to empower him with new contracts and no questions is misguided malfeasance.
So, he wins games. He doesn’t win enough to compensate for incidents like Tuesday night in East Lansing, Mich., where Cronin became perhaps the first college coach in history to eject his own player from the game and order him to the locker room in the middle of the game.
Yes, Cronin holds players accountable. That’s fine, as long as he also holds himself accountable, but that didn’t happen when, after his team was beaten by 23 points by Michigan State in a second consecutive humiliating loss, he publicly criticized Jamerson for the hard foul that led to the ejection incident and then wrongly assailed a reporter for allegedly raising his voice during postgame questioning.
Cronin has become a walking viral video. He has become a nightly uncomfortable wince. He has become an embarrassment to a university athletic department that prides itself on winning with class.
Mick Cronin is light years from the aura of Coach, and if UCLA cared a whit about the legacy of its legend, it would care that his flame has been completely snuffed by this unworthy keeper.
Wooden’s home is now decorated with a pyramid of poop, and one wonders how many humiliations will be required to convince administrators to clean things up.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin extends his arms and complains while watching the Bruins lose to Michigan State Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich.
(Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)
Cronin quietly signed a new five-year contract last summer that includes a $22,5 million buyout if he is fired this spring. That figure drops to $18 million, then $13.5 million, then $9 million, then $4.5 million in coming years. No wonder the Bruins didn’t publicize the deal at the time. It was another Martin Jarmond mistake, and now the entire university is going to pay the price.
It’s hard to see UCLA canning Cronin in the next couple of years because of those buyouts, which means this mess of a program is going to be increasingly hard to watch.
What happened Tuesday should scare away any of the remaining top prospects who would want to play for this berating blowhard. His usual postgame rants don’t compare to what happened on that Michigan State court, where he picked on the wrong kid in the worst possible fashion.
By all accounts, Jamerson is a dream player, one filled with resilience and gratitude. The former Crespi High star initially wanted to play for Michigan State, but he couldn’t make the team, even as a walk-on, so he tried to become a student manager, and failed at that, too. After spending a year there as a student, he transferred to University of San Diego, where he spent three seasons strengthening his game before eventually transferring to UCLA. This season he has spent most of his time on the bench, playing about 11 minutes per game for the Bruins while supplying rebounding and defense and energy.
It was this fire that led him to give chase to Michigan State’s Carson Cooper in the final five minutes of a game that UCLA currently trailed by 27. Cooper went up for a fast break dunk and Jamerson knocked him to the floor. It was ruled a Flagrant 1 excessive foul, but not a dangerous Flagrant 2 foul, so Jamerson was not ejected from the game.
At least, that’s what he thought.
Moments later Cronin was grabbing the kid’s shirt and leading him to the baseline, where he ordered an assistant coach to remove him from the court area and banish him to the locker room.
Jamerson’s dreams of a solid return to a school that snubbed him were shattered. His night ended amid a storm of laughing students and obscene gestures.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin shouts toward the bench while sending Steven Jamerson II to the locker room after the player was called for a foul Tuesday at Michigan State.
(Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)
It was just awful, and so avoidable. Why couldn’t Cronin have just sent Jamerson to the end of the bench? Considering it wasn’t a Flagrant 2, why did he even have to take him out of the game? Why did he have to make an example of a player who was understandably overeager on what could have been one of the triumphant nights of his life?
“Steve’s a good kid. He made a bad decision. But if you want to be a tough guy, you need to do it during the game, for a blockout, for a rebound,” said Cronin afterward.
“So, I was thoroughly disappointed; the guy was defenseless in the air. I know Steve was trying to block the shot, but the game’s a 25-point game. You don’t do that.”
That point could have been made without humiliation. But Cronin wasn’t done, later admonishing a reporter for what he considered a dumb question, then scolding the reporter for allegedly raising his voice at him.
The question was about the student section’s harassment of former Spartan Xavier Booker, which seemed like a legitimate query considering Booker had a terrible game. But what was really baffling was Cronin’s claim that the questioner was raising his voice.
Listen to the video. No voices were raised. It was just Cronin once again being a bully. You want a raised voice? Here, I’ll raise my voice in words that Cronin will hopefully understand.
CHILL OUT! SHOW RESPECT! HONOR WOODEN!
If the coach doesn’t grow up and the program doesn’t rapidly improve — for a third straight year they’re barely a tournament team — there needs to be another ejection.
It would be the most expensive firing in UCLA history. It would be worth every penny.
On the cusp of what promises to be a bitter showdown with major league owners, the players’ union has no leader. Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., resigned under pressure Tuesday.
Why did Clark resign?
Clark and the union had engaged separate attorneys as federal authorities investigated alleged financial improprieties within the MLBPA, an affiliated licensing company and an affiliated youth sports venture.
The union also commissioned an investigation, initially focused on those allegations, that uncovered an “inappropriate relationship” between Clark and an employee, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to The Times, with the eight-man MLBPA player leadership team advising Clark that he should depart. The employee was his sister-in-law, the person confirmed.
The allegations remain under federal investigation, meaning that player leaders determined Clark could have been a liability on at least two fronts as players and owners head toward what is expected to be the most contentious collective bargaining in the sport in 31 years.
The Athletic first reported Clark had resigned; ESPN first reported on the relationship.
Who will replace Clark as the union leader?
The MLBPA issued a statement late Tuesday saying player leaders had met Tuesday. Players planned to canvass their peers scattered across spring training camps, then meet again Wednesday, with the possibility of voting on a new executive director then.
That could be either a permanent hire or an interim hire; the latter would reflect the urgency of the upcoming labor negotiation. Although the collective bargaining agreement does not expire until Dec. 1, Commissioner Rob Manfred said last week he expected talks on a new deal to start soon after opening day.
Bruce Meyer, the union’s deputy executive director and lead negotiator, would be the most logical successor. The MLBPA hired Meyer away from the NHLPA in 2018, one year into a bargaining agreement in which Clark and union negotiators were widely viewed as being badly beaten by Manfred and league negotiators.
No. It just acknowledged his resignation.
Is Meyer’s ascension a foregone conclusion?
Bruce Meyer in 2022
(Richard Drew / Associated Press)
Likely, yes, but not foregone. In 2021, with Meyer as lead negotiator and pushing for a better deal even as a 162-game season was threatened, players voted to accept the deal on the table. The union promoted Meyer into his current position in 2022.
In 2024, ESPN reported a majority of player representatives supported the replacement of Meyer with Harry Marino, who had unionized minor league players. Ultimately, Clark stuck with Meyer.
At this late date, however, internal bargaining preparations are underway, and Meyer is now a veteran of MLB negotiations. The goal is to “keep everything as stable as we can this year,” Angels pitcher Brent Suter told reporters. Suter is one of eight players on the union’s player leadership team.
Does this mean the players are divided and the owners are united?
No, and not that simple in any case.
On what looms as the core bargaining issue — the potential adoption of a salary cap — Clark and Meyer were aligned. Clark was the union voice calling a cap “institutionalized collusion,” with Meyer filling in the details of why the MLBPA believed a cap would not necessarily enhance parity and could leave players liable to receive a shrinking percentage of revenue over time.
Manfred has argued the current system helps elite players while squeezing the salaries and the jobs of the so-called middle class.
The owners currently appear united on pushing for a salary cap. If at some point they believe they have to do what the NHL did to get a cap — that is, lose an entire season — the interests of the large-market owners and the small-market owners could diverge.
What does this mean in terms of a potential lockout?
Nothing, really. Within the game, a lockout is considered all but inevitable.
Manfred has said he views a lockout as a negotiating tool. If MLB locks out players Dec. 1, no games are lost. If a lockout remains in place April 1, regular-season games could be lost.
In the last collective bargaining negotiation, owners locked out players in December, and a new deal was reached in March, preserving a 162-game season that started one week late.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A fight between the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets in the third quarter of Monday night’s game, resulted in four player ejections.
Charlotte’s Moussa Diabate and Miles Bridges were tossed, along with Detroit’s Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Hornets coach Charles Lee was ejected in the fourth quarter after he had to be restrained from going after an official while arguing a call.
The Pistons won the game 110-104.
Duren had the ball and was driving toward the basket with just over seven minutes left in the third period when he was fouled by Diabate. Duren turned around to get face-to-face with Diabate and the two appeared to butt heads. Duren then hit Diabate in the face with his open right hand, starting a confrontation that lasted more than 30 seconds and ultimately ended with a brief police presence on the floor.
While Pistons forward Tobias Harris was holding Diabate back, Diabate threw a punch at Duren. Duren walked away and Bridges charged at him, throwing a left-handed punch. Duren retaliated with a punch. Diabate attempted to charge again at Duren and had to be held back.
Stewart left the bench to confront Bridges, who responded with a punch, and the players tussled. At one point, Stewart got Bridges in a headlock and delivered mutiple left-handed blows to his head.
Duren called it an “overly competitive game.”
“Emotions were flaring,” Duren said. “At the end of the day, we would love to keep it basketball, but things happen. Everybody was just playing hard.”
Duren said that opposing NBA teams have been trying to “get in our head” all season.
“This isn’t the first time that people have tried to be like extra aggressive with us and talk to us, whatever the case may be,” Duren said. “But as a group we have done an OK job of handling that energy and intensity. At the end of the day, emotions got high with everybody being competitive. Things happen.”
Duren did not say how the fight started, referring reporters instead to the video replays.
The Hornets did not make Bridges and Diabate available for interviews after the game.
However, Bridges took to Instagram late Monday night to say: “Sorry Hornets nation! Sorry Hornets Organization! Always gonna protect my teammates forever.”
“It looked like two guys got into a heated conversation and it just kind of spiraled from there,” Lee said.
Crew chief John Goble said in a pool report after the game that the players were ejected because they “engaged in fighting activity during the dead ball. After review, we assessed fighting fouls and by rule they were ejected from the game.”
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff defended his players after the game.
“Our guys deal with a lot, but they’re not the ones that initiated, they’re not the ones who crossed the line tonight,” Bickerstaff said. “It was clear, through frustration, because of what J.D. (Duren) was doing, that they crossed the line. I hate that it got as ugly as it got.
“That’s not something that you ever want to see,” Bickerstaff added, “but if a guy throws a punch at you, you have a responsibility to protect yourself. That’s what happened tonight. If you go back and watch the film, they’re the ones who initiated crossing the line and our guy had to defend himself.”
Tensions continued to mount at the Spectrum Center after the fight.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Lee was ejected and had to be restrained by Hornets guard Brandon Miller while yelling at officials for a no-call after Charlotte’s Grant Williams collided with Detroit’s Paul Reed.
“Grant was walking down the paint and barely touched somebody and the guy fell over and that is what we are going to call a foul,” Lee said. “They have a hard job to make these calls, but I don’t think that was the consistency with which that had been called the rest of the game.”
As for being ejected, Lee said he has to have more control of emotions moving forward.
James Milner is one away from equalling the record for most Premier League appearances after remaining on the bench in Brighton’s defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday.
He will match the record on Wednesday if he features in the Seagulls’ match at Aston Villa, one of his former clubs.
To mark the pending achievement we’ve created this quiz. Can you name the top 13 players by Premier League appearances?
Tommy Freeman is rapidly approaching world-class status.
The package that he brings to Test rugby – the pace, size, aerial ability and appetite for the ball – is pretty special.
He was a starter for the British and Irish Lions in all three Tests against Australia in the summer and he is inked into this England team as one of those who will always have a place when fit.
However, there is a question over which number Borthwick will write next to Freeman’s name.
This was Freeman’s 23rd England appearance but only his third as a centre.
Considering that relatively paltry midfield experience, he was pretty damn good against Wales.
He hit superb lines, either hitting the ball up bravely into the heart of Wales defence or acting as a decoy, and worked instinctively with Northampton team-mate Fraser Dingwall inside him at 12.
They are turning into a dangerous and cohesive pairing – and England have been crying out for a midfield combination with those qualities for ages.
Where once the supply of centres was quite low, there are now a bunch of alternatives.
Ollie Lawrence, who is working his way back from a minor knee injury, may be available for Scotland. Max Ojomoh was very impressive against Argentina in the autumn. Seb Atkinson has credit in the bank from his performances on the summer tour of Argentina.
It means England can mix and match according to the opposition.
Do they want a punch in midfield or the ability to distribute quickly into wide channels? Gas around the outside or the ability to probe behind with kicks?
The ability to change tactics with different midfield selection is very, very exciting.
South Africa – the gold standard for everyone in world rugby at the moment – have the same.
The mix of Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse and even Andre Esterhuizen gives them different ways of playing.
That adaptability is a fantastic attribute for any team.
An array of political parties and alliances will be vying for seats in the Bangladesh Parliament on February 12 in the country’s first election since the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024. About 127 million registered voters are eligible to cast votes to elect 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad, the country’s parliament.
The South Asian country has been in the hands of a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August 2024, when a student-led uprising ended Hasina’s long rule. Hasina ordered troops to crack down on protesters, killing 1,400 people. She has since been sentenced to death by a special tribunal in Bangladesh for the brutal crackdown, but remains in exile in India, and her Awami League party has been banned from political activity.
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Besides the election on February 12, Bangladesh will also hold a referendum on the July National Charter 2025 – a document drafted following the student protests, setting the foundation for future governance of the country.
The two biggest groups competing for parliamentary seats across the country’s 300 constituencies are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is leading a coalition of 10 parties, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JIB), which heads an 11-party alliance, including the National Citizen Party, a group formed by students who led the anti-Hasina movement in 2024. The Awami League, which dominated Bangladeshi politics for decades, has been barred from fielding candidates.
Besides the two main blocs, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which broke away from the JIB-led alliance, and the Jatiya Party, a longtime ally of Hasina’s Awami League, are contesting independently.
Here is a look at the main political parties and their leaders vying for parliament seats this year, and the key players influencing the election.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Led by Tarique Rahman, the son of the late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the BNP is seen as one of the main contenders in the upcoming elections.
The party was founded in 1978 by Ziaur Rahman, Tarique’s father and one of the leading military figures of the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971, on the principles of Bangladeshi nationalism. According to the BNP website, this is an “ideology that recognises the right of Bangladeshis from all walks of life, irrespective of their ethnicity, gender or race”.
As a centre-right political party, the BNP has been a popular political force in the country for decades and has traditionally exchanged power with the Awami League.
For four decades after Ziaur Rahman’s assassination in 1981, his wife and Tarique’s father, Khaleda Zia, led the party. Khaleda served as the country’s first female prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. In that period, Jamaat was an ally of the BNP as they together fought against Hasina’s Awami League.
After Hasina came back to power in 2009 – she had also ruled between 1996 and 2001 – the BNP faced the wrath of her government over corruption charges, and Khaleda was put under house arrest in 2018 in two related cases. She was acquitted of all charges after Hasina’s departure in 2024.
Since Hasina’s ousting in 2024, the BNP has risen again as a political frontrunner. A December survey by the United States-based International Republican Institute indicated the BNP had the support of 33 percent of respondents. That was also the only month when the BNP — seeking to position itself as a liberal force ahead of the elections — broke its alliance with Jamaat. Polls show Jamaat just marginally behind the BNP in popular support.
Tarique, 60, had been living in London, United Kingdom, since he fled Bangladesh in 2008 over what he called politically motivated persecution. He arrived in Dhaka on December 25, 2025 to take over the BNP leadership ahead of his mother Khaleda’s death on December 30.
“We will build a Bangladesh that a mother dreams of,” he said in December after returning to the country and calling on citizens from the hills and plains – Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians – to join him in creating a secure and inclusive nation.
In election rallies, he has pledged to improve the country’s infrastructure, among other promises.
“If elected, the healthcare system will be improved, a flyover will be constructed in Sherpur, permanent embankments will be built in the river erosion areas of Dhunat, and the youth will be made self-reliant through the establishment of IT education institutions,” he said.
According to Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan, lecturer in global studies and governance at the Independent University, Bangladesh, since Rahman’s return, the BNP has become more organised.
“The party has basically revived with a newfound spirit in both its central and grassroots-level leadership,” he said.
“Typical objections against BNP and affiliated party activists, like [allegations of] extortion … have also significantly declined. Top leaders of the central committee have also been comparatively cautious to avoid any statement that might create popular outrage. Significantly, the people are flocking in thousands to hear from Rahman at his electoral rally, even late at midnight,” he said.
Rejwan added that it is widely believed that Rahman is the only man who can currently unite Bangladesh with an “inclusive vision”, unlike his Jamaat rivals, who have failed to address any clear stance or acknowledge what are seen by many as their restrictive policies towards women and religious minorities.
Jamaat-e-Islami
The party was founded in 1941 by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi during British rule in India.
In 1971, during Bangladesh’s war of independence, Jamaat supported staying with Pakistan, and was banned after the country won its freedom.
But in 1979, four years after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had fought for Bangladesh’s independence and is seen by many as the country’s founding father, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, who was the country’s president at the time, lifted the ban. Ziaur Rahman was also assassinated in 1981.
Over the next two decades, Jamaat developed into a significant political force. It supported the BNP-led coalition in 1991 and 2001.
But while Hasina was in power from 2009 until she was toppled in student-led protests in 2024 and fled to India, five top Jamaat leaders were executed, while others were jailed for crimes committed during the independence war of 1971. The party was barred in 2013 from running in elections.
In June 2025, the country’s Supreme Court restored the party’s registration, paving the way for its participation in elections.
While Jamaat no longer has an alliance with the BNP, its current leader, 67-year-old Shafiqur Rahman, has also focused on reorganising the party into a strong contender in the election.
Speaking at an election rally in Jamalpur city on Sunday, Shafiqur Rahman said the upcoming election “will be a turning point”.
“It is an election to end the cries of the families of martyrs. It is an election to bury the rotten politics of the past,” he said, according to The Daily Star newspaper.
But his party’s resurgence has also prompted debate over whether Bangladesh is prepared to be led by an Islamist force, which some fear could seek to enforce Islamic law or try to restrict women’s rights and freedoms.
However, Jamaat has rejected such fears and has told reporters it is focusing on expanding its electoral power. Last December, the party announced an alliance with the National Citizen Party, founded by 2024 leaders of the student-led uprising, and with the Liberal Democratic Party, led by 1971 war hero Oli Ahmad.
For the first time in its history, Jamaat is also fielding a Hindu candidate, Krishna Nandi, from Khulna, in a bid to attract non-Muslim voters.
The International Republican Institute survey suggested the Jamaat-led alliance at number two, with 29 percent, closely behind the BNP.
According to Independent University’s Rejwan, Jamaat has an appeal across Bangladesh’s social classes.
“Its student wing has literally outperformed any other political rivals in the university union elections. We are also seeing the Jamaat-affiliated women’s wing reaching out door-to-door in both rural and urban areas to expand their women’s base of voters. Moreover, since the fall of Hasina, we are seeing pro-Jamaat active and retired elites from security forces, university academics, and civil services constantly pushing the pro-Jamaat narratives within their respective capacities,” he said.
“Jamaat’s upper hand and pragmatic postures are now being extended to its allies, like NCP, which is explicitly reaping all the benefits of its senior partner in the alliance,” he added.
National Citizens Party (NCP)
The NCP, one of Jamaat’s allies, was formed in February 2025 by students who led the mass protests in July 2024 over government job quotas, which ultimately toppled Hasina’s government.
Seeking to stand for the 2026 elections, the leaders told a rally in February 2025 that they had formed the party “to uphold the spirit of the July movement among students”.
Led by Nahid Islam, 27, the stated ideals of the NCP are to ensure “governance without corruption” and to unite the country. The party says it aims to uphold freedom of the press, increase women’s representation in parliament and improve Bangladesh’s relations with neighbouring countries, such as India.
But lacking adequate funds to run by itself in an election, the party has allied with Jamaat. However, the move has been received poorly by some in Bangladesh. It also triggered some resignations by some NCP members over ideological differences.
According to local media reports, those members submitted a memorandum stating that Jamaat’s controversial political history and historical views against Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 were contrary to the NCP’s values.
In an interview with ABC News last month, Nahid Islam defended the decision to unite with Jamaat and said, “When we are forming an electoral alliance, we are not abandoning our own political beliefs. It’s just a strategic alliance.”
“It’s unfortunate to see the leader of the political party that arguably claims to own and lead the 2024 mass uprising and depose Hasina, now become a junior partner to a major political party,” Rejwan said.
“As a result, we see defections of many top leaders of NCP, and astonishingly, by allying, it was only able to bargain for 30 seats for its own candidate. To sum up, Nahid has sold his political autonomy and image of an exclusive figure by de facto becoming subservient to Jamaat,” he added.
Who are the other key players in the election?
Besides the main political parties, Muhammad Yunus, who currently leads the interim government, and General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the army chief, are also influential figures in this election.
Yunus, who was selected to run the government after Hasina’s ousting, is facilitating the election in his capacity as the country’s chief adviser.
But while political parties are campaigning for the election, Yunus is focusing on the referendum on the July Charter, which will take place on the same day.
After Hasina’s ousting, Yunus formed the Constitution Reform Commission (CRC) in 2025, seeking to amend the governance of the country. The commission proposed an anticorruption mechanism, electoral reforms and new rules the police must follow, among other issues. The July Charter is the culmination of the CRC’s work and takes its name from the protests which dismantled Hasina’s government in July 2024. Bangladeshis will vote to approve or reject it in the referendum.
Last month, Yunus expressed confidence in the results of the referendum and told the media he expected people and political parties to agree to the charter. But some critics have said holding the referendum and establishing the charter is not constitutional.
Muhammad Yunus addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York, US [File: AFP]
General Zaman is also a key player in the election.
Following the 1975 assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader and then-president, the country entered a period marked by coups, countercoups and military rule, which reshaped the state.
Currently, the army is not vying for electoral power, but its focus will be on ensuring public order and security during the election, in light of political violence that has spread in the country since the upheaval of 2024.
The military also plays a role with respect to backing the political party in power or deciding how to govern the country during a political crisis.
In September 2024, after the protests against Hasina, Zaman told the Reuters news agency that he would back Yunus’s interim government “come what may”, while also floating a timeline for elections within 18 months, placing him central to the political debate.
A successful election will require goodwill from both Yunus and the army chief, according to Rejwan.
“Executives under the leadership of Yunus are critical to ensure the nationwide voting, while the Chief of Army Staff Waker’s forces, which would be deployed throughout the country, are indispensable to maintain public order and prevent the proliferation of political instability, violence and chaos,” he said.
General Waker-uz-Zaman gestures during an interview with Reuters at his office in the Bangladesh army headquarters in Dhaka [File: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]
Does Hasina have any power at all?
Hasina, who is currently in exile in India, has denounced the upcoming elections since her party, the Awami League, has not been allowed to take part. However, those who voted for her in the past must now choose how to vote this time.
In a message sent to the media last month, Hasina stated that “a government born of exclusion cannot unite a divided nation”.
“Each time political participation is denied to a significant portion of the population, it deepens resentment, delegitimises institutions and creates the conditions for future instability,” the former leader warned in an email to The Associated Press news agency.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “surprised and shocked” that Hasina had been allowed to make a public address in India. Her speeches and statements are banned from the media in Bangladesh.
“Allowing the event to take place in the Indian capital and letting mass murderer Hasina openly deliver her hate speech … constitute a clear affront to the people and the Government of Bangladesh,” the ministry said in a statement.
Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal in Bangladesh last November, and Dhaka has called on New Delhi to extradite her.
But she remains in India, and Rejwan says she will be a key political instigator of unrest as the elections approach.
“If Hasina were a negligible figure, then the interim government wouldn’t have banned all of her speeches and statements from being aired on television or printed in newspapers … the interim government would also not have reacted so firmly against India for allowing her to speak,” he noted.
“This means Hasina is a factor that the interim government implicitly believes has an influence over the Awami League populace, who are yet undecided on whom to cast their vote for, given that AL is banned from the polls,” he said.
“The reality is that AL has its own clear political ideology and a base of loyal cadres, many of whom have declined to change their allegiance despite living a harsh clandestine life in Bangladesh or abroad,” he added.
Everywhere you looked, there was a veteran Dodger willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team.
That needs to happen again.
That needs to happen now.
A player needs to spearhead a decision that will not be made by the big business that runs this team, a decision that will bypass the biased blather and directly connect to their many besieged fans, a decision that only a player can make.
In the wake of Thursday’s White House confirmation that the Dodgers will be making the traditional champions visit there this spring, somebody needs to send a clear message to President Donald Trump.
“No.”
Federal immigration agents stage outside Gate E of Dodger Stadium on June 19. Sporadic immigration raids continue to roil Southern California.
No, they will not openly support an administration that has declared war on its fan base.
No, after basking in the adulation of four million diverse neighbors every summer, the players will not turn their backs on these people while the government continues to round them up despite no criminal history.
This isn’t about asking pro athletes to be politicians. This is about asking them to be people.
Some will say players should not be involved, that it’s a management decision high above the pay grade of the average southpaw or slugger. But when their backyard becomes a battlefield, those players need to fight back, and that time is now.
Dodger management will always leave any tough choice like this one up to the players. By virtue of hundreds of millions of dollars of salaries, the players are essentially partners who need to embrace that responsibility.
No matter what owner Mark Walter says, if the players don’t want to visit the White House, they won’t go.
No matter who shouts the loudest, whether it be conservatives or liberals, the players’ collective voice is the only one that counts.
So, when spring training begins next week, here’s hoping for a hero.
How about a standing ovation for the brave law-abiding immigrant family of four that cheers you from in the left-field pavilion even though they know they could be arrested and hauled away at any time?
How about a, “Let’s Go Dodgers” chant for the longtime residents with no criminal record who spent last October huddled around their TV sets clinging to your victories as reason for hope?
How about being there for so many who have been there for you?
A protestor wearing a Mookie Betts jersey and waving a Mexican and American flag stitched together protests ICE outside the Dodger Stadium game on June 21.
“This was something we discussed with all the players, all of whom wanted to go,” team president Stan Kasten told Hernández. “Remember, everyone in here grew up wanting to be a world champion and all the things that come with it, and it comes with a champagne toast, silliness in the locker room, a parade, rings, an invitation to the White House. It’s what they all come to associate with being world champions. Everyone wanted to go, and so we did.”
So they went, all of them except an injured Freddie Freeman. The event was even attended by Mookie Betts, who had previously declined a visit when he was with the Boston Red Sox.
Since then, the landscape has dramatically changed in light of the ICE raids that ramped up during the middle of the season.
This is no longer simply about the rebuke of a president. This is about a fight against a system that has consistently terrorized southern California streets and recently, in Minneapolis, resulted in the deaths of two American citizens at the hands of agents of the American government.
Surely the Dodgers clubhouse leaders see this. Surely they feel this.
They can’t be so insulated that they don’t notice the protests in city streets that resemble those near Chavez Ravine. They can’t be so sheltered that they don’t hear the outrage from people who look just like their biggest fans.
The players can’t hide from this. The players need to handle this.
“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country,” Roberts said. “For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House.”
Again, this is no longer about just Trump. This is about Tom Homan and Greg Bovino and Kristi Noem and all the other immigration officials that have wrought so much unfounded havoc.
Baseball clubhouses have traditionally leaned heavily to the right.
Nobody is asking anybody to disavow their beliefs. This is no longer about ideology, this is about standing up for those who are being wrongly arrested, being unfairly harassed or being made to feel constantly frightened in their own homes.
Dodger Stadium is one of those homes, and those who permanently live there need to do their best to provide comfort and safety for those who don’t.
Dodgers veteran leaders, this is your time.
Their White House visit would probably occur during the team’s trip to play the Washington Nationals in the first week of April. Here’s hoping that before the road trip, the secure and well-paid Dodgers veterans let the team’s kids understand what it means to be a Dodger and how declining a White House visit would be the Jackie Robinson thing to do.
Sending a title team to the White House is baseball tradition. Sending a message about equality and fairness and freedom is a Dodgers tradition.
Somebody in a Dodgers uniform needs to stand up for that tradition.
Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we are freezing out butts off on this East Coast trip.
As the team continues to work its way through the Grammy trip, your usual scribe who writes this newsletter, Thuc Nhi Nguyen, is off to Milan to cover the Winter Olympics. That means you are stuck with me, Broderck Turner, for the next month to discuss the Lakers here.
All things Lakers, all the time.
Austin Reaves’ return?
At some point on this eight-game trip, the prevailing thought was that Austin Reaves would return to play after being out with a left calf strain. But we are still waiting for that to happen.
The Lakers’ last game on this trip is Tuesday at Brooklyn, meaning Reaves will have been out a little over 5 ½-weeks since the injury first occurred during the Christmas Day game against the Houston Rockets.
Reaves had been upgraded from out to questionable for the games at Washington on Friday night and the New York Knicks on Sunday, but didn’t play.
And for the Nets game Tuesday, the Lakers have listed Reaves as questionable.
Lakers coach JJ Redick said Reaves worked out on Saturday but it was not “like a stay-ready game.”
Before the Lakers played the Knicks, Redick said Reaves would be a game-time decision.
Reaves did not play, missing his 19th straight game.
“Yeah, I just would say he’s day to day, game to game, however you want to phrase it,” Redick said after the Lakers lost to the Knicks. “ We’re hopeful to have him for Tuesday, but he’s gotta feel 100% confident.”
In many ways, Reaves and the Lakers face a conundrum regarding his health.
Reaves always wants to play and the Lakers need him to play, but calf injuries can be tricky and can lead to more serious injuries if they aren’t completely healed.
Reaves had missed three games in December with a mild left calf strain, returned to play against the Suns and then went down one game later against the Rockets on Christmas.
Reaves was then diagnosed with a Grade 2 left gastrocnemius (calf) strain and was given a timeline of four to six weeks before a return to play.
Luka Doncic had been out with a calf strain for more than a month when the Lakers traded for him from the Dallas Mavericks last February.
“It’s definitely hard with a calf. I’ve been through that. It’s not an easy injury,” Doncic said Sunday night. “So, we just want him to be healthy. If he’s not ready to come back, don’t come back. But obviously, we’d love to have him out there. We can’t wait for his return.”
Reaves is averaging career-high in points (26.6), assists (6.3) and rebounds (5.2) per game. He is shooting 50.7% from the field.
His outstanding play means Reaves is in line for a big payday. The Lakers can pay him a maximum deal of five years worth about $241 million.
So, yes, Reaves is understandably being cautious.
Trade winds
Dalton Knecht is apparently being used as trade bait by the Lakers.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Two of the players people around the NBA said the Lakers had shown some interest in were traded for each other last week, leaving L.A. still searching for the right move to make … or not to make.
Cleveland traded De’Andre Hunter to the Sacramento Kings for Keon Ellis, two wing players that had been attached to the Lakers as possible candidates to be acquired.
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at noon PST.
So, the Lakers still have time to do a deal, but people not authorized to speak publicly on the matter say teams have little interest in guards Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht, the two most prominent players the Lakers seem to be pushing.
The Lakers do have a first-round draft pick they can attach to one of them, but so far appear hesitant to make it part of a deal.
MSG nostalgia
Was this LeBron James’ final game in Madison Square Garden?
(John Munson / Associated Press)
So, after LeBron James had 22 points, six assists and five rebounds against the Knicks, he was asked if it was weird to think that game the Lakers played the Knicks could be his last time playing in Madison Square Garden.
James, in his 23rd season, has given no indication on when he will retire.
“At the end of the day, everything has to come to an end at some point,” James said. “So, no matter what it is, it’s going to be like, ‘I’ll never play again in Madison Square Garden. I’ll never play again in certain arenas. I’ll never play again, period.’ So, at that point it doesn’t matter. You’re going to always miss it. You’re going to miss the game in general. So this one will always have a special place in the journey because it is Madison Square Garden. But yeah, when that time comes, yeah, for sure.”
On tap
Tuesday at Brooklyn (13-35), 4:30 p.m. PST
The Lakers end their eight-game trip against a Nets team that has the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. The Nets have lost eight of their last 10 games. Michael Porter Jr. leads the Nets in scoring, averaging 25.6 points per game.
Thursday vs. Philadelphia (27-21), 7 p.m.
Just as the 76ers started to play better and get healthy, Paul George was suspended 25 games without play for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. But the 76ers still have All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey, who is averaging 29.2 points per game, and center Joel Embiid.
Saturday vs. Golden State (27-23), 5:30 p.m.
It has become one of the more enjoyable moments to see LeBron James and Warriors All-Star guard Stephen Curry, two of the NBA’s elder statesmen still flourishing, perform against each other. But Curry is dealing with a right knee injury, leaving his status unclear.
Status report
Bronny James (left lower leg soreness) is questionable and rookie forward Adou Thiero (right MCL sprain) is out.
Cold, cold, cold
It was pretty cold in New York.
(Adam Gray / Associated Press)
Man, this trip has been a cold one.
Snow in Washington, D.C.
Snow in New York.
Snow when I was in Dallas, which meant it took 12 hours to get home to L.A. because of flight cancellations and delays.
How about this weather report in New York over the weekend — 20 degrees, but feels like 3. So, hearing from friends back home saying they were on the beach in shorts while I was freezing was just mean.
Survey time
It’s a hot topic in our letters basket….. Do you want LeBron James to return to the Lakers next season?
Hey, it’s Thuc Nhi here! Ciao from Milan! I made it here after one aborted landing attempt at the Charles de Gaulle airport, which forced me to sprint through the terminal after customs to catch a 70-minute connection that was more like 30 minutes. My bags didn’t catch up, but a maritozzo and a latte from illy made the wait a little sweeter. The Italian cafe chain has a location in the CityLife shopping mall across a park from the Main Press Center and after the traditional first-day Olympic activities of getting my credential validated and getting lost learning the press center layout, I definitely deserved a treat. For more Olympic adventures, you can follow me on Instagram.
Not the sinister kind, who give away state secrets for money or revenge; Buckley is privy to much lower-level intelligence. But that doesn’t mean it’s not just as valuable to the people involved.
Buckley is the Kings’ goaltender coach and his chief pupil is Darcy Kuemper, who will be playing for Team Canada in the Milan Cortina Olympic hockey tournament. Buckley will be in Milan coaching for Team USA. And if the competition goes to form, Canada and the U.S. will meet in the final.
You can see where this is going.
So would Buckley give up the goods on his NHL goalie if it meant helping his national team win a gold medal?
“I probably have a little bit more insight being with him on a day-to-day basis. But at the end of the day, the players still have to execute,” said Buckley, like Kuemper, a first-time Olympian. “So if I tell someone to shoot somewhere at a certain time or a certain spot, they’re going to have to be able to execute that.”
The answer then is maybe.
Still, that’s a dilemma Buckley will probably never face since Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, who was spectacular in goal in last year’s Four Nations Face-off, will probably start for Canada in Milan. But with the Kings sending four other players (defenseman Drew Doughty, Canada; and forwards Adrian Kempe, Sweden; Kevin Fiala, Switzerland; and Joel Armia, Finland) plus Canadian equipment manager Darren Granger to the Olympics, there’s a good chance guys who have shared a dressing room since September will be competing against one another.
Kings forward Kevin Fiala controls the puck while playing for Team Switzerland at the 2025 world championships.
(Michael Campanella / Getty Images)
The same goes for the Ducks, who are sending four players — goalie Lukas Dostal and defenseman Radko Gudas, Czechia; forward Mikael Granlund, Finland; and defenseman Jackson LaCombe, U.S. — to Milan. Ducks star Leo Carlsson, who was expected to start for Sweden, will miss the Games after undergoing surgery to repair a rare injury in his left thigh last month.
So while the Olympics may bring countries together, it also has the potential to turn teammates against one another — at least temporarily.
In the group stage of the tournament, for example, Armia and Finland will play against Kempe’s Sweden. And Canada, with Kuemper and Doughty, will face Switzerland, which is led by Fiala.
“It’s obviously going to be a little strange,” Gudas said. “It’s only for a few games. For that amount of time, you can put things aside a little bit.”
Those kinds of match-ups were rare in the last two Olympic tournaments since NHL players didn’t take part, sidelined by a dispute over insurance, travel costs and scheduling issues. This year 147 NHL players are on the 12 Olympic rosters, with all 32 NHL clubs represented.
Not all the top NHL players will be in Milan, however. Russia has been banned from the tournament because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, meaning Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, won’t play.
Granlund, who won a bronze medal with Finland in 2014, the last time NHL players participated in the Olympics, is glad to be back.
“It was such a cool experience,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest honors I can have as a hockey player, playing for a country in the Olympics. There’s no player in the NHL who wouldn’t go.”
That’s due in large part to the rush that comes with wearing your country’s colors on your chest.
“It’s tough to explain how much it means,” he said. “You grow up in a country like Finland, watching the national team play. As a kid you’re dreaming to play for that team.
“Every single time you put that jersey on, it’s such a pride you feel.”
Doughty, who already has two gold medals, agreed, saying the only time he sings along with the Canadian anthem is at the Olympics.
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty controls the puck while playing for Canada in the Four Nations Face-Off last year.
(Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
“When we hear it in the NHL, I’m not singing,” he said. “But when you’re wearing a Canadian jersey, that’s one of the biggest moments you can have.”
Not just for the guys on the ice. Granger, the equipment manager, will be making his third trip to the Olympics with Canada. And the journey never gets old.
“It’s not something that you apply for. It’s something that you’re asked to do,” he said. “So I don’t take that lightly. It’s an honor.”
The equipment managers may have the most difficult job in the Olympic hockey tournament since they must prepare and maintain the sticks, skates, gloves and uniforms for 25 players, some of whom they’ve never met. That means checking in with the equipment managers of rival NHL teams to get prepared.
“We have quite a few players that are particular about certain things,” he said. “After a while, you just kind of get used to what those things are. If it’s a player that likes to use three sticks a game, then making sure he has that. If it’s a guy that likes to change gloves every other game, making sure you have enough.”
Yet if Canada wins the tournament, Granger’s reward won’t be a gold medal. Olympic rules say medals only go to the players, leaving the equipment managers, trainers and coaches — even coaches with inside information like Buckley — out in the cold.
“That’s OK,” Buckley said. “I just want the players to get one.”
A father driving his daughter and two other families from the Santa Clarita Flyers hockey club to a tournament in Colorado was killed last week in a horrific crash in treacherous weather.
Three days later the Flyers won the Western Girls Hockey League 12U title with a 1-0 victory in overtime Sunday, their fifth win of the tournament.
The players met for two hours the night of the accident and decided they would participate rather than pull out and head home.
“We knew that the families in the crash would want us to play and decided not just to do it for ourselves, but do it for them mostly,” Flyers captain Sophia Boyle told Denver 9News. “We are more than a team. It’s like we are a giant family.
“We knew what we wanted, we tried our hardest and we got it.”
The driver of a Colorado Department of Transportation plow truck traveling on snow-covered and wet roads Thursday morning lost control on Interstate 70, drove through the median and hit the Flyers’ Ford Transit van head-on, according to the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office.
The van was knocked down an icy embankment before coming to rest, and the driver, Manuel Lorenzana of Chatsworth, was pronounced dead at the scene. Four children were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital; a fifth was flown to a trauma center with critical injuries. Three adults were admitted to the hospital, one in serious condition.
Lorenzana, 38, a noted tattoo artist and lifelong San Fernando Valley resident, was remembered as “a hero and the epitome of what an amazing man, father, partner and friend should be,” his family wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“He was the most thoughtful, loving and supportive man to his soulmate April, and the most caring, involved, fun, kind and loving parent, and best friend, to his daughter Brody.”
Brody was released from the hospital and joined her teammates Saturday. After opening the double-elimination tournament with two victories Friday and a loss in their first game Saturday, the Flyers advanced with a 14-0 win.
Santa Clarita Valley residents gathered at the Flyers’ home rink, the Cube Ice and Entertainment Center, to watch a stream of the game that unfortunately malfunctioned. Still, the crowd stayed, with several people refreshing the league’s website to keep up with the game and shouting when the Flyers scored.
Two victories Sunday — both shutouts — gave the Flyers the title. Moments before the championship game, the Flyers raised their sticks in a silent nod to Manny Lorenzana. Khaleesi Bewer scored the winning goal in overtime, and afterward the Flyers sang Katy Perry’s “California Gurls. ”
“It’s unbelievable how much people have rallied behind these girls,” said Prescott Littlefield, president of the Flyers organization. “If there is a silver lining to this, the amount of support they’ve gotten is beyond my ability to comprehend. The families are so grateful.”
If there were any doubt about this being the year of the freshman in high school basketball, all you needed to do was look at who was on the court Saturday in a sold-out rivalry game between Village Christian and visiting Heritage Christian.
“There were five freshmen out there,” Heritage Christian freshman guard Ty Lazenby said.
Make no mistake about how much young talent Heritage Christian has after a 74-71 victory that ended the Crusaders’ 11-game winning streak.
The Warriors (20-6, 6-2) start two freshmen and three sophomores. In high school sports, you never know who’s staying and going each year, but Heritage Christian is feeling good about its group.
“They had to reenroll by yesterday,” coach Paul Tait said.
Said Lazenby: “We’re figuring it out. In two years we’re going to be very good.”
On Saturday, Eli Simmons had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and fellow sophomore Houston Rolle scored 16 points. Lazenby had 15 points. Another freshman, Nalu Clark, the brother of Virginia NCAA champion guard Kihei Clark, had seven points and seven assists.
It was left to sophomore Tyler Jackson to put the finishing touch on the win, banking in a free throw with 11.9 seconds left for a three-point cushion that forced Village Christian’s outstanding freshman, Will Conroy Jr., to shoot a three to tie. It didn’t go.
Conroy finished with 28 points. The Crusaders got into trouble when they failed to get the ball to Conroy earlier, resulting in a turnover and forcing them to foul Jackson.
Village Christian still can win the Olympic League title outright with a win over Maranatha next week. Heritage Christian is rooting for Maranatha to produce a three-way tie for first.
Crespi 57, Harvard-Westlake 52: The Celts advanced to a Tuesday night Mission League tournament semifinal at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame by eliminating Harvard-Westlake, which lost for the third time in its last four games. Isaiah Barnes scored 19 points.
Loyola 60, St. Francis 57: Quincy Watson and Deuce Newt each scored 13 points to help the Cubs keep their playoff hopes alive. They advance to play top-seeded Sierra Canyon on Tuesday in a Mission League tournament semifinal.
Girls’ basketball
Ventura 46, Mater Dei 42: Kai Staniland and Emma Anter each scored 13 points in Ventura’s upset of the Monarchs.
Sierra Canyon 73, Oak Park 46: Jerzy Robinson scored 29 points in a matchup of Open Division teams.
The WNBA and the players union will meet Monday in New York for the first time in weeks to try to move the stalled collective bargaining negotiations forward.
Kelsey Plum, who is vice president of the players union, mentioned the meeting to reporters Friday while preparing for a game in Philadelphia with the Unrivaled three-on-three league.
“We’ll learn a lot from this meeting. I’m not trying to put it on the meeting, but this is a meeting that I think everyone understands what’s at stake,” Plum said. “The league has their timelines; we as players understand what’s at stake. I always come into anything that I do with a great attitude, and I’m going to see the best in this.”
Plum, the former Sparks guard who is an unrestricted free agent, will be joined by other members of the executive council, including Nneka Ogwumike and Napheesa Collier, as well as union leadership.
The league will have its regular negotiating team, including commissioner Cathy Engelbert, the labor relations committee and a few other owners, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The person said the league had been asking for the meeting for weeks and it was agreed upon by the union Thursday.
Players said union leadership had been chatting with them frequently.
“Both sides want to get something done, we just got to make moves to get there,” Chicago guard Rachel Banham said. ”It’s got to be an actual negotiation with compromise.”
New York guard Natasha Cloud took a more hardened stance.
“It would be the worst business decision of any business to not literally pay the players that make your business go. Without us, there is no W season,” she said.
Talks to reach a new CBA haven’t had much traction over the last few weeks, as the union says it is waiting for a response to a proposal it sent around Christmas that included a 30% gross revenue share for the players. According to another person familiar with the negotiations, the league didn’t feel that proposal was much different than the previous one the union sent.
That person spoke on condition of anonymity also because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The league’s most recent offer last month would guarantee a maximum base salary of $1 million that could reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing. That’s up from the current $249,000 and could grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the agreement, the person told the Associated Press.
The two sides have been in a “status quo” period after the latest extension of the CBA ran out Jan. 9. They agreed to a moratorium a few days later that halted the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.
If a new CBA isn’t agreed upon soon, it could delay the start of the season. It’s already delayed the expansion draft for Toronto and Portland. The league did release its schedule last week with the regular season set to begin May 8.
The last CBA was announced in the middle of January 2020, a month after it was agreed to. It easily could take two months from when a new CBA is reached to get to the start of free agency, which was supposed to begin Sunday.
Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where we are all packing our bags.
The team is in the midst of the eight-game Grammy trip. I am getting ready to jet off to Milan to cover my second Winter Olympics. While we call Brad Turner off the bench to pilot the newsletter for the next month, the Lakers are facing their own lineup decisions:
All things Lakers, all the time.
Bench boost
Rarely would JJ Redick tolerate a player taking a midrange shot out of a particular out-of-bounds play. But when Rui Hachimura is playing this way, the Lakers coach will make an exception.
Hachimura is coming off his two best games since returning from a calf injury that sidelined him for two weeks. Against Dallas, he had a block, a season-high eight rebounds and 17 points while drilling two clutch three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Two days later in Chicago, he was one point shy of his season high with 23 points, hitting nine of 11 shots from the field and four of five from three.
Hachimura is rediscovering his early season form that had Redick comparing parts of the Japanese forward’s game to “prime Michael Jordan.” But Hachimura may not be in line to immediately reprise his starting role.
Despite the end of his minutes restriction, Hachimura has remained on the bench to begin games. With the Lakers winning four of their last five games, Hachimura is learning to thrive in any situation.
“Coming off the bench, the game is already going,” Hachimura said. “… So I kind of know how important [it is] to kind of be extra aggressive [more] than usual.”
Because of injuries to their stars, the Lakers’ first-choice starting lineup of Hachimura, LeBron James, Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has only played 85 minutes together in seven games. It’s minus-29 in that small sample size. The lineup with Reaves sidelined and Hachimura limited — James, Ayton and Doncic with Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia — was, before Monday’s game, already the team’s most-used group with 165 minutes together. It’s minus-1.
The starting group will change again no matter Hachimura’s role as Reaves is inching closer to his return. The team expects him to be back during this trip. It could be as soon as Thursday’s game in Cleveland. Keeping defense-minded players such as Smart and LaRavia with the starters has helped balance the lineups. The Lakers bench was never going to be particularly explosive, giving Hachimura potentially more offensive value with the second group.
Coaches were lauding Hachimura for his ability to stay engaged and hit big shots earlier this season even if he went long stretches without touching the ball. Now Hachimura has had 10 or more shot attempts in five consecutive games for the first time since March 2024. Redick said the team is making sure to get Hachimura involved with specific plays coming out of timeouts. Hachimura said that hasn’t happened for him during his tenure with the Lakers before.
“I think it’s working,” Hachimura said.
Onlookers tend to fixate on starting lineups. Players and coaches like to stress who closes games more. Hachimura is delivering in the clutch moments: He played 42 minutes and six seconds in the fourth quarters against the Nuggets, Clippers, Mavericks and Bulls, the third-most fourth-quarter minutes on the team during that stretch behind Smart (42 minutes, 37 seconds) and James (42 minutes, 15 seconds).
“Nobody’s going to care if you were a starter or came off the bench at the end of the season or at the end of your career,” Redick said. “Just be a good basketball player. He’s a good basketball player.”
Every metric of Hachimura’s production will be scrutinized this offseason as he becomes a free agent. Despite what moving to the bench could mean for Hachimura’s next contract, he doesn’t appear fazed as long as the Lakers can keep counting wins: four in their last five.
“Winning is gonna help,” Hachimura said after the loss to the Clippers. “I think we focus on ourselves sometimes. But I think at the end of the day, it is just winning. That’s gonna help us, everybody. So we gotta focus on that and everything’s gonna come.”
Charged up
Luka Doncic points after taking a charge from Dallas’ Cooper Flagg earlier this season.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Luka Doncic’s balletic step-through to beat a double team and layup a soft finger roll was the offensive dagger that slayed his former team. But the NBA’s leading scorer got the biggest reaction from his defense nine seconds later when he stepped in front of Naji Marshall and ended up flat on his back in the key.
“I enjoyed the charge more,” Doncic told reporters in Dallas with a satisfied smirk.
Still laying flat on his back under the basket, Doncic’s eyes widened as he screamed toward the Lakers’ bench. His teammates pumped their fists and signaled for an offensive foul.
Consistently attacked by opponents on defense, Doncic delivered six consecutive stops in the fourth quarter against the Mavericks when he was the primary defender, coach JJ Redick said, including the energy-boosting charge. Doncic’s 10 charges drawn are already the most of his career, eclipsing the eight he recorded during his rookie season with the Mavericks.
Doncic’s selfless defense has helped put the Lakers on top of the league in charges drawn with 41 (0.93 per game). The next closest team, the Golden State Warriors, has 29.
The Lakers were also among the league’s best last year in drawing charges, ranking second with 0.62 charges per game, but the addition of Marcus Smart has brought a significant boost. The former defensive player of the year has an NBA-high 14 charges drawn.
“Anticipation,” Smart said of how he puts himself in position to get the timely calls. “Timing is everything. … And just making sure [you have] the confidence being there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don’t. You’d rather be there and get a foul call and not be there and not get anything. It definitely takes some timing, but my teammates do a good job of funneling their guys to the right spot that I’m gonna be in and they know where I’m gonna be. Just make sure I’m in my spot.”
Austin Reaves and Doncic each have 10, tied for the second-most on the Lakers. Even Dalton Knecht stepped in front of Zion Williamson this season to draw the first charge of his career. He followed it with another charge the very next night against San Antonio.
On tap
Wednesday at Cavaliers (28-20), 4 p.m. PST
Cleveland has won five of its last six games after an underwhelming start to the season amid injury concerns for star guard Darius Garland. Garland, averaging 18 points in just 26 game appearances, could miss Wednesday’s game with a right big toe sprain.
Friday at Wizards (10-34), 4 p.m. PST
The Wizards have lost nine in a row. Trae Young (quad) hasn’t played since he was traded to Washington last month. Second-year center Alex Sarr is oen of the bright spots for the team as he leads the league in blocks with 2.1 per game.
Sunday at Knicks (27-18), 4 p.m. PST
The NBA Cup champions were spiraling with nine losses in 11 games between Dec. 31 and Jan. 19, but stabilized themselves with a 54-point win over Brooklyn and a gritty road win against Philadelphia. Jalen Brunson leads with 28 points and 6.1 assists per game while Karl-Anthony Towns leads the league in rebounding with 11.4 per game.
Status report
Austin Reaves: left calf strain
Reaves is progressing back to on-court work now that he’s passed the four-week mark. After beginning with three-on-three games and stay-ready games against coaches and staff members, Reaves is expected to return fully on this trip that ends Feb. 3 in Brooklyn.
Adou Thiero: right knee sprain
The rookie forward is in the final week of his initial four-week timeline since his injury was announced on New Year’s Eve.
Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Olympics
This 5-foot-2 reporter will be sidelined from Lakers coverage for four weeks while on assignment at the Milan Cortina Olympics. My colleague Brad Turner will take over the starting newsletter writer spot.
Favorite thing I ate this week
Plov: Seasoned rice with lamb.
(Thuc Nhi Nguyen / Los Angeles Times)
This meal goes out to Saprarmurat, the Uber driver who picked me up at O’Hare in the midnight hours of Monday morning and the first person I’ve ever met from Kyrgyzstan. The cuisine is a combination of Eastern European and Central Asian and wholly delicious. The first two dishes he suggested were plov and manty, so I followed his lead when I found Euro Asia Restaurant near downtown Chicago. Plov is a seasoned rice dish with lamb and manty are steamed dumplings stuffed with diced lamb and onions. I walked a mile in single-degree weather for this meal and would do it many times over.
Manty: Steamed dumplings stuffed with diced lamb and onions
