Tag: International basketball

'We have scouts all over the world': Former NBA All-Star Danny Ainge takes a money shot for global talent

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The Utah Jazz is casting its net wide for international players.

“We have scouts all over the world — almost every basketball country throughout the world,” Danny Ainge, the team’s CEO and governor, told CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Friday.

The two-time champion of the National Basketball Association and former NBA All-Star highlighted having scouts in countries throughout South America, Europe and Asia, as well as every region in the U.S.

“It’s a worldwide sport, and we got to find them all,” he said.

His remarks come after the NBA announced in October that a record 125 international players — five of which were on the Utah Jazz — were on opening-night rosters for the 2023-24 season. Those players hailed from 40 countries and territories across six continents, with a record from Canada at 26 and France at 14.

All 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player this season.

International ticket sales also saw a 120% increase from last season, according to StubHub. Fans are traveling from a total of 92 countries to North American games, which is up from 68 countries last season.

Ainge joined the Utah Jazz as CEO in December 2021 after leading basketball operations for the Boston Celtics for 18 years.

Utah Jazz’s valuation currently sits at $3.09 billion, according to data from research firm Statista. This marks a 52.59% increase from last year and a 76.57% increase since the year Ainge joined the franchise.

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January 20, 2024
American Brittney Griner moved to a penal colony in Russia

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FILE – WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner speaks to her lawyers standing in a cage at a court room prior to a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. A Russian court has on Tuesday, Oct. 23 started hearing American basketball star Brittney Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

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November 9, 2022
NBA All-Star player Dwight Howard headed to Taiwan

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TAIPEI, Taiwan — Eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard is headed to Taiwan to play for the Taoyuan Leopards in the island’s top division.

“I can’t wait to see the fans, eat the food and have the best time ever … and bring a championship,” the 36-year-old center said in a social media post.

Alongside baseball, basketball is the most popular sport in Taiwan, with both girls and boys high school championships broadcast island-wide.

Howard has collected league records with a clutch of teams, notably the Orlando Magic, and signed a one-year contract with the Los Angles Lakers in 2021.

The Leopards are among six teams in the T-1 league, which features numerous players from the U.S. and Europe.

The club did not provide details of the deal with Howard.

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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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November 8, 2022
Jimmer’s new goal: The U.S. Olympic team, in 3×3 basketball

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MIAMI LAKES, Fla. — Jimmer Fredette has already had quite a basketball life. National college player of the year at BYU. An NBA lottery pick. Played for five different NBA teams. Played professionally in China, played as a pro in Greece as well.

His next target: France.

Specifically, France in the summer of 2024.

Fredette is trying to be part of USA Basketball’s 3×3 team for the Paris Olympics, and the sharpshooter’s first big step toward making that a reality comes this weekend when he’ll play for the Americans in the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup in Miami.

“Paris, that’s the hope and the goal with this whole thing,” Fredette said. “It’s a good way to stay competitive, keep playing but also be able to be with my family more. Having three little kids, a couple in school, it’s hard to leave them for a long time. So, it’s a great opportunity. I’m super excited about it.”

The native of Glens Falls, New York, now makes his home in Denver, with his wife and their three kids. Fredette, if he wanted to, could be playing in China right now; he’s played over there for many years and it’s been a lucrative experience. He also has played in Greece. But it’s also meant being away from home, and that doesn’t interest him much anymore.

Enter 3×3.

U.S. coach Fran Fraschilla, a longtime college and draft broadcaster and analyst for ESPN, gave Fredette a call to gauge his interest. Fraschilla was a pretty good recruiter when he coached in college, and he got Fredette to commit pretty easily.

“He’s unbelievable and he’s still got game,” Fraschilla said. “When he came to training camp in New York a couple weeks ago, we were hoping he’d be as good as we thought he was. And he was. He’s Jimmer. In the right circumstance, he can literally play anywhere in the world, including the NBA. I think Jimmer, unfortunately, was never in the right places in the NBA that valued what he can do. He can give us six to 10 weeks a year and he’ll have a great shot at being part of our Olympic team if we qualify.”

The U.S. didn’t get a men’s team qualified for 3×3 when it debuted on the Olympic program in Tokyo. The women not only qualified, but the team of Kelsey Plum, Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray and Jackie Young won gold at those games for the U.S.

The U.S. has a team in the women’s side of the AmeriCup this weekend as well, with Veronica Burton, Lexie Hull, NaLyssa Smith and Camille Zimmerman set to play for coach Jennifer Rizzotti. Fredette will be joined on the men’s side by Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis.

The tournament starts Friday; the U.S. women will play two games then, while the men will play two games Saturday. The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal-round games are all Sunday for both men and women.

“Jimmer is as good a player outside the NBA right now, in America, as anybody would have,” Fraschilla said.

The 3×3 game is very fast; games are played to 21 points, field goals inside the arc are worth one point, beyond the arc are worth two points. Games last no more than 10 minutes, with a 12-second shot clock and no breaks after scores. It’s constant movement, a very different game than the one that Fredette has played most of his life.

“But there are things I feel comfortable with,” Fredette said. “When I get the ball, and I’m dribbling and I’m in space, I’ll be able to create a play and make shots. There’s a lot of space in this game if you use it correctly, which is very, very helpful.”

It’s also played outside. Wind can affect some shots. Weather can make conditions tough. It’s not always ideal for shooters, and ego might keep some — particularly those who have played at Fredette’s level — from trying the 3×3 game.

He’s embracing it.

“For me, it’s a new challenge,” Fredette said. “I was getting a little stagnant with 5-on-5 basketball, going overseas, leaving my family. All that stuff is really difficult on me. I wasn’t having fun doing it for a couple of those last years because I couldn’t always be with people that I really loved.”

His family couldn’t be with him in China when he was there.

If all goes right, they’ll be with him in Paris in a couple years.

“I think about the opening ceremony with Team USA, being able to watch all the events, being able to play and get to compete for a gold medal,” Fredette said. “I mean, how cool is that?”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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November 3, 2022
Kremlin: any talks about Griner swap must be confidential

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MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Wednesday kept the door open for talks on a possible swap involving jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner but reiterated that any such discussions must be kept strictly confidential.

A Russian court on Tuesday rejected Griner’s appeal against her nine-year prison sentence for drug possession. The eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

Asked if Griner could be freed as part of a prisoners swap with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters that “we always say that any contacts about possible exchanges can only be conducted in silence under a tight lid on any information.”

Griner’s arrest in February came at a time of heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington, just days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At the time, Griner was returning to play for a Russian team during the WNBA’s offseason.

President Joe Biden told reporters that his administration is in “constant contact” with Russian authorities on Griner and other Americans who are detained there. While there has not been progress on bringing her back to the U.S., Biden said, “We’re not stopping.”

At her trial, Griner admitted to having the canisters in her luggage but testified she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no criminal intent. Her defense team presented written statements saying she had been prescribed cannabis to treat chronic pain.

Before her conviction, the U.S. State Department declared Griner to be “wrongfully detained” — a charge that Russia has sharply rejected.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that Biden “is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home.”

In July, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an unusual step that Washington had made a “substantial proposal” to Moscow get Griner home, along with Paul Whelan, an American serving a 16-year sentence in Russia for espionage.

He didn’t elaborate, but The Associated Press and other news organizations have reported that Washington has offered to exchange Griner and Whelan for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year sentence in the U.S. and once earned the nickname the “merchant of death.”

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Follow AP’s coverage of the Griner case: https://apnews.com/hub/brittney-griner

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October 26, 2022
Women to get more rest between hoop games at next World Cup

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SYDNEY — Players at this year’s World Cup had a few concerns about the competition, including the compact schedule and the timing of the tournament, and the women took their complaints right to the top.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis talked with many of the players during the course of the recently competed tournament. He offered a quick solution for the rest concerns, but changing the date will take more work.

The next World Cup in 2026 will once again feature 16 teams instead of the 12 at this year’s tournament — and players will have more time to recuperate between the final rounds.

“We will not play three days in a row, that will not happen again,” Zagklis said. “This is not something we want to see repeated. It’s too heavy on the players.”

At this year’s tournament, the quarterfinals, semifinals and medal games were played over three straight days. Overall, teams that reached the gold-medal game would have played eight games in 10 days. The 2018 World Cup had a break between the quarters and the medal round.

While the scheduling change is a welcomed positive step for the players, there’s still the issue of timing. The WNBA tried to work with FIBA by shortening its season. Still, the league’s playoffs continued until the start of the World Cup, forcing about a dozen players to basically travel a few thousand miles, get off a plane and start playing for their national teams.

Many European leagues tip off soon after the World Cup ends, so it’s difficult to move it to a later start date.

Zagklis said FIBA will be working with the stakeholders to provide the best possible solution for the players — though indicating the change will likely have to come from the WNBA or the other pro leagues.

“The World Cup is turning next year 70 years old, the women’s world has been there much before virtually every women’s league in the world and it is the top female competition,” Zagklis. “So the calendar starts again with the World Cup.”

USA Basketball chairman Martin Dempsey said there is a sense of urgency for FIBA to address the scheduling problem, especially with the WNBA set to expand over the next few years.

“The time to have that conversation is before it happens, not after,” Dempsey said. “So we really do need to figure out with the ‘W,’ the NBA and FIBA how to keep all of these enterprises viable because we don’t want to run the risk of creating a very diluted World Cup.

“We’ve got to have a really serious ongoing conversation about how to keep things in sync so that they don’t clash.”

Five of the U.S. players competed in the WNBA Finals that ended three days before the World Cup started. Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and tournament MVP A’ja Wilson missed the first two games for the U.S.

Before the scheduling change was announced, players made their positions clear.

“I don’t know if FIBA gave a damn about anyone,” Plum said.

“Rest would be a good thing,” Wilson said. “Having some time between would definitely help.”

The site for the 2026 World Cup hasn’t been announced yet and getting to Australia might have been the most difficult place for everyone because of its location.

Serbia coach Marina Maljković noticed how tired many players were. She coaches in Turkey in the winter and said players across the leagues need a break.

“You see a lot of players that lacked freshness. You can see it, any single team going from club season to WNBA, WNBA to national team,” Maljković said. “This year it’s very, very complicated. … Talking to players, they really suffered this season because of the tight schedule everywhere. I guess there will be smart people who will sit around the table and see what we can do about that.”

Aside from the logistical issues, the World Cup was a huge success in Australia. The total attendance of 145,519 was the highest in the history of the competition. There were nearly 16,000 fans at the gold-medal game between the U.S. and China, which was the largest since the 1953 championship game played in Chile in a stadium that had 35,000 fans.

“By all metrics, we have seen a tremendous effort by the hosts,” Zagklis said. “Record sales in merchandise, record attendances, fantastic atmosphere in the games, so it’s hard to challenge the conclusion that we’ve been able to experience the best World Cup ever.”

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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October 4, 2022
New this week: Lena Dunham, Mila Kunis and Charlie Puth

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Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.

MOVIES

— Lena Dunham adapts Karen Cushman’s young-adult novel in “Catherine Called Birdy,” a spirited medieval coming-of-age tale about a 14-year-old girl named Birdy (Bella Ramsey) in medieval England. Her father (Andrew Scott) wants to marry her off for some much-needed money, but Birdy’s plans repeatedly foil him. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called the film “part ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary,’ part Mel Brooks and all joy.” Though still playing in select theaters, “Catherine Called Birdy” begins streaming Friday on Prime Video.

— From some of the same producing team behind the hit Michael Jordan documentary series “The Last Dance” comes another look back on a basketball high point. “The Redeem Team,” debuting Friday on Netflix, follows the 2008 U.S. men’s basketball team as it seeks a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics after the team’s disappointing bronze finish in 2004. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, both team members, are producers of the documentary, which digs into coach Mike Krzyzewski’s leadership and Kobe Bryant’s considerable impact on the team.

— Mila Kunis stars in the Netflix thriller “Luckiest Girl Alive,” based on Jessica Knoll’s 2015 best-selling debut novel. The film, streaming Friday, takes some of the mystery stylings of “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train.” Kunis stars as a New York woman with a seemingly perfect life that unravels when a true-crime documentary starts looking into her dark high-school past.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

MUSIC

— For his third album, pop singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is going with a very simple title — “Charlie,” due out Friday. It’s his first full-length project since his 2018 Grammy-nominated LP “Voicenotes.” You’ve likely already heard at least one of the 12 tracks — the earworm “Left and Right” featuring Jung Kook of BTS. Some other singles are the brooding ballad “That’s Hilarious” and the slinky “Light Switch.” Still not sure? listen to the lovesick up-tempo “Smells Like Me.”

— Guitarist Billy Duffy and singer Ian Astbury rejoin for a new album from The Cult, with their signature mix of heavy metal, goth and rock. The eight-track “Under the Midnight Sun” has triggered two singles, “Give Me Mercy” and “A Cut Inside,” with Astbury singing: “No heathens in heaven/ No sweet surrender/ Outsiders forever/ Ghosts of our lives.” Astbury says he pulled in influences from Brian Jones, Brion Gysin, William Burroughs, Buddhism, the Beats and the Age of Aquarius.

— What do you get when two of the three rappers from Migos release an LP? We’ll find out Friday when Quavo and Takeoff give the world “Only Built for Infinity Links” without third member Offset. The lead single “Hotel Lobby” has a video inspired by ”Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and another club-ready single is “Us vs. Them,” with Gucci Mane. Then there’s the Birdman-featuring “Big Stunna” and the memorable lyrics: “I was sick before carona/ice cold like pneumonia.” The title of their joint record is a reference to Raekwon’s 1995 solo work “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.”

— Wasn’t super-producer Danger Mouse just celebrating an album release last month? Well, here’s another. Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) reconnects with The Shins’ James Mercer as Broken Bells for the album “Into the Blue.” Three singles with wildly different styles have preceded the album drop, including the spacy “We’re Not In Orbit Yet…” and the gorgeous “Love On the Run,” that has a sunny, ‘70s vibe leading to a Pink Floyd-ish guitar solo. Last month, Danger Mouse teamed up with The Roots’ Black Thought for the album “Cheat Codes.”

— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy

TELEVISION

— Lesley Manville, Joanne Froggatt and David Morrissey lead an ensemble cast in “ Sherwood,” a drama series inspired by a 1984 miners’ strike in Nottingham, England, that pitted the town against police and divided friends and relatives. Decades later, officers return in force to solve a pair of killings, with their presence rekindling past bitterness. James Graham (“Brexit — The Uncivil War”), who grew up in the real-life town of Nottinghamshire and witnessed the turmoil, wrote the series debuting Tuesday on the BritBox streaming service.

— “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show” returns Friday for its second season and none too soon. Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”) is the beaming center of the show that aims to help preschoolers appreciate the value of small acts of kindness. Shouldn’t the adults in this fractious world be watching, too? The Apple TV+ series, co-created by McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero (“Blue’s Clues,” “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”), will welcome guest stars including Tony Hale, Stephanie Beatriz, Kristen Schaal and Kumail Nanjiani.

— The iHeartRadio Music Festival, held in Las Vegas at the end of September, is getting a four-hour, two-night special on the CW network. Among the dozens of artists at the festival: Sam Smith and Kim Petras, who performed their new song “Unholy”; a set by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo that included “Love Is a Battlefield” and “Heartbreaker,” and Megan Thee Stallion closing out the festival with songs from her new album, “Traumazine,” and past hits. The special airs on Friday and Saturday.

— AP Television Writer Lynn Elber

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Dwayne Wade’s name.

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Catch up on AP’s entertainment coverage here: https://apnews.com/apf-entertainment.

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October 3, 2022
US women win fourth straight gold at World Cup, top China

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SYDNEY — The names on the U.S. team have changed, the Americans’ dominance has not.

A’ja Wilson scored 19 points, Kelsey Plum added 17 and the United States beat China 83-61 on Saturday to win its fourth consecutive gold medal at the women’s basketball World Cup.

“It feels great,” said Wilson, who was selected as the tournament’s MVP. “We came here on a mission, we got it. We got gold. Now we’re going home with some hardware. It feels great to us. Australia was great to us. I didn’t see any kangaroos, but it’s OK because we are leaving with a gold.”

This was one of the most dominant teams in the Americans’ storied history in the World Cup that now has won 11 gold medals. They now have won four straight gold medals for the first-time ever. This was also the biggest win in a gold-medal game, surpassing the 20-point wins that the Americans had done twice.

“Everybody wants to beat us. Everybody wants what we have and that’s gold medals and victories,” Breanna Stewart said.

What started with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi has now been passed down to Wilson and Stewart. With Alyssa Thomas the oldest player at 30, the domination could continue for years to come.

“It’s been an incredible journey just to continue to lay that foundation down like so many of the greats in front of us have,” Wilson said. “Now it’s our turn to step up and be in that situation.”

As they’ve done all tournament, the Americans did it on both ends of the court, playing stellar defense as well as using a high-powered offense.

The U.S. (8-0) finished the World Cup averaging 98.8 points — just short of the mark held by the 1994 team that averaged 99.1. They won by an average of 40.8 points, topping the mark held by the 2010 team.

The game was a sellout with nearly 16,000 fans — the biggest crowd to attend a women’s World Cup game since the inaugural tournament in 1953 in Chile.

Led by Li Yueru and Wu Tongtong, China hung around. The Chinese team trailed 33-28 late in the second quarter before the U.S. went on a 10-2 run highlighted by fast-break layups by Stewart and Wilson to extend the advantage to double-digits.

Jin Weina hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to get China back to within 10.

The U.S. was just too good to let the upset happen, outscoring China 25-14 in the third. The Americans did have one scary moment when Thomas went down after a collision with Li in the lane. She was helped off the court, but returned a few minutes later.

“It was a tough game as we expected,” Thomas said. “By no means is this game easy. We stuck to it and pulled out a win.”

China won its first medal since the 1994 World Cup when the team also took the silver and are a rising power in women’s basketball. After the game, the team posed for a photo with their flag and men’s great Yao Ming, who is the president of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Li finished with 19 points and Wu added 13 before leaving the game in the fourth quarter after her knee gave out driving to the basket. She had to be carried off the court.

The victory was the 30th in a row in World Cup play for the Americans, who haven’t lost since the 2006 semifinals against Russia. The Soviet Union holds the World Cup record with 56 straight wins from 1959-86. This is only the second time in the Americans’ storied history they’ve reached four consecutive gold medal contests. They also did it from 1979-90, winning three times.

This U.S. team, which has so many new faces on it, also continued to dominate the paint even without 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, outscoring its opponents by an average of 55-24.

These two teams met in pool play and China gave the U.S. its toughest game, losing by 14 points.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Plum are part of an incredible group that won a World Cup and WNBA title in the same year. There have been 14 total now.

WOMEN’S WORLD

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis was pleased that half of the officials in the tournament were female and five of the 12 head coaches were women. Both China and the U.S. had women in charge of their teams, marking the second straight time that two female coaches made it to the gold medal game.

MISSING IN ACTION

The U.S. was without Kahleah Copper for the second straight game after injuring her left hip in the win over Serbia in the quarterfinals. Copper landed hard on her hip driving to the basket and had to be helped off the court. China was missing its star guard Li Meng, who sat out a second consecutive game with what Chinese media reported as having a fever due to body fatigue.

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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October 1, 2022
Australia wins bronze, Lauren Jackson scores 30 in finale

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SYDNEY — Lauren Jackson admitted she couldn’t have imagined a better ending to her Hall of Fame career.

Jackson willed Australia to a win in the bronze medal game at basketball‘s World Cup, scoring 30 points to lead the Opals to a 95-65 win over Canada on Saturday.

“I could have never dreamed of this,” Jackson said. “I can’t imagine it. I can’t actually articulate how I feel right now. It’s a dream come true. The fact that it’s over, there’s nothing bittersweet. It’s so, so special and I’ve the pleasure doing it here. It’s been perfect.”

It was a throwback performance for the 41-year-old mom, who came back to the Opals after retiring in 2016 because of injuries. Jackson said on social media Saturday that this would be her final game for Australia and that she was “lucky to have this opportunity to represent Australia and also say goodbye. I didn’t get that chance all those years ago.”

“To say goodbye this way is just magnificent,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t imagine that.”

She played in 43 World Cup games in her career, matching Brazil’s Janeth Arcain for most all-time. Jackson won three bronze medals and led the Opals to their lone gold in 2006.

The U.S. won its fourth straight World Cup gold medal, defeating China 83-61.

Australia (6-2) was coming off a disappointing last-minute loss to China in the medal round. After a sluggish start, Jackson got the team going scoring nine points in the opening 20 minutes as Australia led 51-43 at the break. Kia Nurse kept Canada in the game with 19 points in the first half. She didn’t score in the second half.

Jackson then took over scoring 12 of her points in the third quarter when Australia extended the lead to 71-54. Jackson, who had been used sparingly throughout most of the tournament, broke out an array of post moves that were reminiscent of her dominant MVP seasons in the WNBA playing for Seattle.

Her three-point play with 1:07 left in the third gave Australia a 17-point advantage — its biggest lead of the game to that point.

Australia coach Sandy Brondello, who played with Jackson on the national team, put Jackson back in with just under 6 minutes left and took her out to a rousing ovation with 2:22 remaining as she hit two free throws to end her night. Jackson received hugs from her teammates, who then lifted her up after the final buzzer.

“It was a fairytale ending and I couldn’t be more happy for her,” Brondello said.

Canada (4-3) was looking for its first medal since 1986 when the North American country won the bronze. Even with the loss, the Canadians advanced further than they had in any World Cup in 36 years.

The teams met in pool play with Australia coming away with a 75-72 win that helped them earn the top seed in the group.

TIP-INS:

Jackson became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup medal-round games, surpassing her friend Diana Taurasi’s mark of 63. Jackson finished with 81. … Jackson has now scored over 30 points in a medal game twice — the only player to do it. She had 31 against South Korea in 2002.

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More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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October 1, 2022