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Tag: ankle

  • Spiraling Hornets, Clippers both seeking turnaround

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    (Photo credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images)

    The Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets have similarities — and that’s not a good thing.

    Both hold 4-11 records and will be trying to snap losing skids when they meet Saturday afternoon in Charlotte.

    ‘We got to be better,’ Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.

    The Hornets have been off since losing 127-118 on Wednesday at Indiana, a setback that gave them a season-worst four-game losing streak.

    The Clippers have dropped three straight, including Thursday night’s 129-101 pounding from the Orlando Magic.

    Los Angeles, which only has one win in November, will be on the fifth stop in a seven-game road trip when it faces the Hornets.

    Lue said the team had made progress defensively, but he called the lack of execution at that end of the court against the Magic a step backward. It marked the third time this season the Clippers have allowed 129 points or more.

    ‘It starts with our guards getting into the ball,’ Lue said. ‘If we are doing that, then our low man is late, It’s everything just tied together. Just having less breakdowns (would help).’

    Defense has been the Hornets’ biggest problem, giving up more than 120 points in eight of their 15 games.

    Aside from the losing, there has been a consistent element with the Clippers. Veteran guard James Harden has been the team’s leading scorer in each of the past six games. He also has topped the teams in assists in 11 games.

    Charlotte rookies have been in the starting lineup and have been key producers.

    Kon Knueppel became the first NBA player to reach 50 baskets from 3-point range in the first 15 games of a career — no other player had done so in fewer than 18 games. He drained five treys as part of a 28-point outing against the Pacers and is averaging 18.3 points per game on 40.3% 3-point shooting.

    ‘It’s great for a young player to have that type of success early on,’ Hornets coach Charles Lee said. ‘He’s humble enough to understand that a lot of it is him, and a lot of it is his teammates, too. That combination is putting him in a good spot, and he’s converting and showing us what kind of player he can be.’

    Knueppel has led the Hornets in scoring in the past two games.

    Lee said rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner has given Charlotte boosts as he continues to adapt to the NBA.

    ‘It has been a joy to watch him,’ Lee said. ‘A lot of that’s Ryan, a lot of that’s the coaching he had before he got here, and the foundation he came in with.’

    Tre Mann could be ready to return for the Hornets after the guard missed Wednesday’s game with an ankle injury.

    The Clippers are still waiting on Kawhi Leonard’s availability, but it doesn’t sound like it will be on this road trip. He last played Nov. 3, when he suffered an ankle injury.

    ‘I don’t know how long it’s going to be, but he has definitely gotten better,’ Lue said.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Report: Lynx star Napheesa Collier tore ligaments in collision

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    (Photo credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images)

    Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier’s injury in the WNBA semifinals has been determined to be a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in her left ankle as well as a muscle in her shin, ESPN reported Wednesday afternoon.

    Collier injured her left ankle in the final seconds of Game 3 on Friday when no foul was called on the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas, who stripped the ball from her and made a steal.

    The Mercury won the game 84-76 and then eliminated the short-handed Lynx — who were without Collier and head coach Cheryl Reeve (suspended by the league for her conduct and comments about officiating regarding the play Collier got injured on) — in Game 4 on Sunday in Phoenix to advance to the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces.

    Collier had said Tuesday that she would not have been able to play if the top-seeded Lynx, who had the league’s best record in the regular season, had gotten past the Mercury.

    The injury, which requires a minimum of six weeks of recovery, per ESPN’s report, might not impact her availability next WNBA season. However, her involvement as a player for the Lunar Owls of the Unrivaled League, which returns in January, could be affected.

    Collier co-founded the professional 33 basketball league for women that began play in January 2025 with New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.

    A face of the WNBA and runner-up for league Most Valuable Player for the second season in a row, Collier on Tuesday also criticized the league office for what she perceives as a ‘lack of accountability.’

    ‘I want to be clear this conversation is not about winning or losing,’ Collier began, referencing a written statement in front of her at her season-ending press conference. ‘It’s about something much bigger. The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings or even missed calls or even physical play. It’s the lack of accountability from the league office.’

    Collier said in reading from a prepared statement lasting more than four minutes that ‘We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now we have the worst leadership in the world.

    ‘Since I’ve been in the league, you’ve heard the constant concerns about officiating and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity of which it operates,’ Collier said, who turned 29 on Sept. 23.

    ‘Whether the league cares about the health of our players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage. Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders.’

    The league office released a response from commissioner Cathy Engelbert later Tuesday afternoon.

    ‘I have the utmost respect for Napheesa Collier and for all the players in the WNBA,’ Engelbert said. ‘Together we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game. I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.’

    Collier has averaged 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 blocks in 193 regular-season games (all starts) in her career. She is a five-time All-Star in seven seasons, all with Minnesota. She was the WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2019 and first-team All-WNBA in 2023 and 2024.

    –Field Level Media

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  • Pregnant model was found dead inside her refrigerator with her wrists and ankles tied

    Pregnant model was found dead inside her refrigerator with her wrists and ankles tied

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    A pregnant model was found dead inside her refrigerator at her downtown L.A. apartment last month, her arms and legs bound, according to an autopsy report from the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Department.

    Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found dead Sept. 12 in her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street, authorities said. The medical examiner’s department ruled that she had died by “homicidal violence” inflicted by others. Her family confirmed that she was two months pregnant at the time of her death.

    According to the autopsy report, Mooney was last seen on video surveillance at her apartment complex on Sept. 6. Six days later, her mother requested a welfare check and police entered the apartment using a property management’s key. Police have yet to announce suspects or motive in the crime.

    Police discovered Mooney wedged inside the refrigerator with blood beneath her body; her wrists and ankles were bound and the bindings were tied behind her back with electrical cords and clothing. More clothing was found around her neck and face and her mouth had been gagged, according to the report.

    Mooney had blunt-force trauma injuries to her head, neck and torso, as well as her arms, wrists and ankles, according to the report. Trace amounts of alcohol and cocaine were found in Mooney’s system, although the medical examiner wrote in the report that it’s “uncertain” if the substances played a part in her death due to her extensive injuries.

    “Based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest she was likely involved in violent physical altercation prior to her death,” the examiner wrote.

    In an interview with The Times, Jordan Pauline, 24, Mooney’s sister, said she last spoke with her sister on Aug. 23, her birthday. Mooney had recently come back from a trip to Miami and had just moved into a new apartment. She was planning to get the rest of her belongings from her mother’s house, and when her family didn’t hear from her, they got concerned and asked police to do a wellness check.

    According to Pauline, police knocked on Mooney’s door and left a card when they didn’t get a response. Mooney’s family went to her apartment a few days later but were told by the building managers that they weren’t allowed in. They called the police, who discovered Mooney’s apartment flooded and the air conditioning blasting. Pauline said her family had to wait downstairs for hours until police told them they had found a body but couldn’t identify who it was.

    “From her head to her toes, they did something monstrous to my sister,” said Pauline, a Los Angeles resident. “We had to have a closed casket — the mortuary had to bring in special people to put her together and do her makeup. We’re going to continue to have a closed casket because she has a big open gash in her head and half of her face, you can’t even make her out.

    “We waited four days until they identified her from fingerprints,” Pauline said. “There’s a lot of negligence with the police as well. The whole point is to go in and check on the person and they didn’t.”

    The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Mooney had FaceTimed their cousin on Sept. 6 and most likely died that same day or the next, according to Pauline, who has been in contact with family members. Mooney had gone out with friends to a bar in Santa Monica on Sept. 6 and hung out with them at her apartment until 3 or 4 a.m. They never heard from her again.

    Mooney’s phone and laptop had also been stolen, as well as a designer purse from her apartment, according to Pauline, who said that whoever killed her sister most likely knew her phone passcode and was sending her family “vague” texts. She didn’t elaborate on the text messages. They also found out that someone had put Mooney’s cellphone up for sale for $100.

    Pauline described her sister as a “bubbly, very soft-like, very girly girl.” Mooney worked as a Realtor for Nest Seekers, a Beverly Hills agency, for nearly two years. Mooney also modeled part time and was starting to take it more seriously before her death.

    “Overall she was an amazing cook, a loving, nurturing, kind person,” Pauline said. “Really the life of the party and an all-around good person. It sucks that she was robbed of all of her potential in this life and she can’t even have her kids and husband that she’s always wanted. She always wanted to have a family and be a mother and this is heartbreaking, that this is the end result, especially in this manner.”

    Mooney’s family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal fees and to start a foundation in Mooney’s honor. Pauline said she’s hoping there will be justice for her sister and for 32-year-old Nichole Coats, another model who two days before was also found dead in her apartment a few blocks away from Mooney.

    “Let’s find these people — whoever did it — so it doesn’t happen to another young girl,” Pauline said. “We’re all humans living our human experiences. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, for them to have to go through this pain.”

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    Summer Lin

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