Tag: sports news

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Javy Báez were left off Puerto Rico’s roster for the World Baseball Classic over insurance coverage, while defending champion Japan entered a top group Thursday led by World Series champions Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Seventy-eight All-Stars, including 36 from last year, are on the 30-man rosters of the 20 teams. The U.S. has the most All-Stars with 22, followed by 16 on a Dominican Republic roster headed by Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado.

Both reigning MVPs and Cy Young winners are in the tournament for the first time.

Nolan Arenado will play for Puerto Rico after appearing for the U.S. in 2017 and 2023.

Puerto Rico’s roster was impacted by insurance issues. The tournament is co-owned by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, and insurance is provided by National Financial Partners.

NFP’s policy for the tournament has a cutoff for a position player with a major or minor league contract whose second guaranteed year is in the season in which he turns 37 and for a pitcher whose fourth guaranteed year is in the season in which he turns 37, a person familiar with the policy said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the details had not been announced. The insurer also reviews players who had offseason surgery, the person said.

Insurance could become an issue if major league players wind up being eligible for the 2028 Olympics.

Báez, a 33-year-old Detroit Tigers infielder and outfielder, has a $140 million contract through 2027. He missed time in 2024 because of lumbar spine and hip inflammation.

“We fully trust in the talent and commitment of each player that will be representing Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rican Baseball Federation president José Quiles said in a statement.

Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera missed the 2023 tournament because of insurance issues. Kershaw, who turns 38 two days after this year’s final, is the oldest player on this year’s U.S. roster but has retired from the major leagues and doesn’t have a 2026 contract.

Cuban infielder Alexei Ramírez is the oldest player on any roster at age 44. Right-hander Adam Ottavino, who turned 40 in November is on Italy’s roster.

Brazil’s Joseph Contreras, a 17-year-old right-hander who is a son of former big leaguer José Contreras, is the youngest player on any roster.

Travis Bazzana, a 23-year-old Australian second baseman, joined Skenes and Harper as No. 1 overall draft picks in the tournament,

Cuban outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, the WBC career home run leader with seven, will be in his fifth tournament.

There are 306 players with major and minor league contracts, including 190 on 40-man rosters. In addition to Ohtani, Judge, Harper and Kershaw, MVPs include Venezuela’s Ronald Acuña Jr. and the U.S.’s Paul Goldschmidt.

Colombia has the oldest roster at 29.9 years, followed by the U.S. at 29.7. Taiwan has the youngest at 26.7, just below Brazil at 26.9.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors found their dependable big man by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis from Atlanta and granted forward Jonathan Kuminga his wish to be traded while also dealing guard Buddy Hield to the Hawks, according to a person with knowledge of the swap.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the trade had not yet been approved by the league.

Kuminga sat out Tuesday night’s 113-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers because of a bone bruise in his left knee, his fifth straight missed game.

The Hawks had listed Porzingis — who has recently missed time with an Achilles tendon injury — as questionable for Thursday’s game against Utah because of an illness. Atlanta also acquired center Jock Landale from the Jazz, a person with knowledge of the trade told the AP.

In mid-January, Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke with Kuminga about being out of the rotation for more than a month and the expectation that he would be traded. However, general manager Mike Dunleavy said on Jan. 20 after Jimmy Butler’s season-ending knee injury that there wasn’t an immediate indication other teams were interested in Kuminga.

“As far as the demand, I’m aware of that,” Dunleavy said, referencing Kuminga’s trade request. “I think when you, in terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market. So we’ll see where that unfolds.”

Kerr discounted any issues between him and Kuminga as the reason the high-flying forward requested a trade after not being used in 17 of 18 games — though he has been listed as injured for nine games this season.

A 23-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Golden State’s seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Kuminga appeared in 20 games this season with 13 starts, averaging 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

On Sept. 30, he agreed to a two-year contract that could be worth up to $46.5 million if the team were to exercise its option for 2026-27. Kuminga had a $7.9 million qualifying offer in hand since June 29 but was also weighing other options and he missed the team’s media day.

Kuminga missed much of last season with a right ankle injury. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes over 47 games with 10 starts. He also scored 15.3 points per game over eight playoff games while shooting 48.4% from the floor and making 40% of his 3-point attempts. That included a career-best 30-point performance in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves last May.

The 7-foot-2 Porzingis is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists. The Warriors will be the sixth team in 10 seasons for the 30-year-old Latvian nicknamed “The Unicorn” for his combination of length and outside shooting touch.

AP Sports Writer Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Bobby Hauck, coach of perennial FCS power Montana and the Big Sky Conference’s all-time wins leader, announced his sudden retirement Wednesday, saying he didn’t enjoy his job anymore because of the changes in college football in recent years.

Bobby Kennedy, who finished his first season as receivers coach, will succeed Hauck. Kennedy and Hauck had worked together as assistants at Washington in 2002, and Kennedy also has been on staffs at Texas and three other power conference schools.

Hauck, 61, had two stints totaling 14 years with the Grizzlies and led the team to eight Big Sky championships, 13 playoff appearances and four national championship games. The 2025 team was 13-2 and reached the national semifinals.

The Missoula native and Montana graduate was 166-92 in 19 seasons as head coach at Montana and UNLV. He was the winningest active FCS coach with a 151-43 record with the Grizzlies.

“I want to enjoy my career and my job, and a lot of the head coach stuff in current-day Division I college football is not enjoyable,” Hauck said at a news conference. “I just think it’s the appropriate time.”

Hauck said he didn’t know what he would do next. He said he doesn’t want to be a head coach again, though.

Hauck returned to Montana in 2018, and in 2021 new NCAA rules took effect allowing players to transfer without sitting out a season at their new school and to be compensated for their name, image and likeness. Revenue sharing with athletes began last year.

“Dealing with agents and the transient nature of this and the lack of forward thinking by young people, which has never been a strong suit for centuries for young people. … But now when they’ve got adults pushing them and pulling them in different directions, I kind of got tired of that.”

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DETROIT (AP) — Mickey Lolich, who had three complete-game victories for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, the last Major League Baseball pitcher to post the incredible feat, died Wednesday. He was 85.

The Tigers said Lolich’s wife told them that he died after a short stay in hospice care. An exact cause of death was not provided.

Denny McLain was the star of Detroit’s pitching staff in 1968, winning 31 regular-season games. But Lolich was the Most Valuable Player of the Series, with a ERA of 1.67 and a Game 7 road victory over Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bill Freehan threw off his catcher’s mask and caught a foul pop-up by Tim McCarver for the final out. Lolich jumped into Freehan’s arms — an iconic image of Detroit’s championship season.

He is No. 23 in career strikeouts with 2,832, ahead of many others who, unlike Lolich, are in the Hall of Fame, and fifth among all lefties, according to baseball-reference.com.

Lolich was an unlikely hero in 1968. During a reunion of the World Series team, he recalled how manager Mayo Smith had sent him to the bullpen for much of August. He returned to the Tigers’ starting rotation and was 6-1 in the final weeks.

“I was having a few problems, but I had been a starting pitcher ever since 1964,” said Lolich, who was upset about the bullpen move. “I remember telling him, ‘If we win this thing this year it’s going to be because of me.’ But I was only talking about the season. I wasn’t talking about the World Series.

“I got my revenge back in the World Series,” he said.

Lolich pitched Game 7 after only two days of rest. He figured he would get a Corvette from General Motors for being the Series MVP but had to settle for a Dodge Charger GT because Chrysler was the sponsor in 1968.

“Nothing against Chargers, nothing at all,” Lolich said in his book, “Joy in Tigertown.” “It’s just that I already had two of them in my driveway.”

Since Lolich, only Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2001 has won three games in a World Series, though Johnson pitched about 10 fewer innings and was a relief pitcher, not a starter, in Game 7.

Lolich had a record of 220-192, including the postseason, over a 16-year career, all but three with Detroit. He left baseball after playing for the New York Mets in 1976 but returned with San Diego in 1978-79.

The left-hander was 25-14 in 1971, striking out 308 batters over 376 innings and finishing second in AL Cy Young award voting. He followed that up with a 22-14 record and 250 strikeouts in 1972.

After his baseball career, Lolich, a native of Portland, Oregon, was in the doughnut business in suburban Detroit, making and selling them for 18 years.

“I doubt any other ballplayer has ever made that transition — from the diamond to doughnuts. But I did,” he wrote in his book.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MIAMI (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal played for four NBA championship teams. And now, 20 years after his last title, he has one that he can call his favorite.

It was the one he got with the Miami Heat.

The Heat brought back their 2006 title team for a two-day, 20th anniversary celebration this week, with a gala on Monday followed by an on-court event for fans to see at their home game against Atlanta on Tuesday. Most of the team was in attendance, including O’Neal — who offered what may be a mildly surprising assessment of that championship run.

“I’m going to throw a word out there that’s probably going to shock the basketball world,” O’Neal said. “It’s my favorite one because we were not supposed to win and it was one that I was pressured to win. I needed to get it done before the other guy got his fourth.”

“The other guy” that O’Neal was referring to was Kobe Bryant. He and Bryant won three titles together with the Los Angeles Lakers, then the relationship went south and the Lakers traded O’Neal to Miami in the summer of 2004.

Bryant eventually got his fourth and fifth titles to pass O’Neal, and the two teammates-turned-rivals mended fences to a certain extent before Bryant — along with his daughter Gianna and seven others — died in a helicopter crash six years ago.

But at that time, O’Neal felt a ton of pressure to get one without Bryant. And the Heat, in those days, were a bit of a powderkeg that found a way to buck the odds.

“We were a bunch of misfits that used to argue and fight and do things very untraditionally,” said O’Neal, who estimated the Heat had about 40 internal fights that season and all of them blew over almost immediately. “But we never not got along and that’s what made it special.”

That’s the way the 2006 Heat were wired, which is why O’Neal didn’t take it personally when Miami lost the first two games of that season’s finals to the Dallas Mavericks. O’Neal told the story Tuesday of how Gary Payton — a guard on that Miami team — cursed him out after Game 2, saying Dwyane Wade needed the ball more if the Heat were going to win the series.

“I decided to ruffle some feathers,” Payton said, confirming that he went to coach Pat Riley and asked for changes, then told O’Neal it was time for Wade to carry the torch for the Heat.

Wade dominated the next four games. Payton made a huge shot to help Miami win Game 3. The Heat won the title in six games. The fights led to a parade. It was all worthwhile.

“We had a perfect eight-man rotation,” Riley said. “I apologize to numbers 9 through 15, but they used to whip (butt) every day in practice on these guys, I can tell you that. Made them better.”

So, O’Neal’s last of his four titles was his favorite.

And for Wade, the first of his three titles was his favorite.

“I never won in high school, I didn’t win in college — I got to the Final Four. I was that guy that got close,” Wade said. “AAU, I got to the final four, I went to the championship, but I never won one. So, that was the first time in my life that I showed myself that I can actually lead a team to help win the championship because I didn’t know. And so, it would be my favorite because of that.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, an assistant under Riley on that 2006 team, said having most of the team back together for two days was a thrill. He, Riley, the ownership group led by managing general partner Micky Arison and CEO Nick Arison, executive vice president and general manager Andy Elisburg and a slew of other executives (including 2006 players Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem) and team officials are still in Miami — which Spoelstra thinks sets the Heat apart.

“Other teams that have won championships, they try to bring back a group (and) it’s probably a different ownership group, different management, different coaching staff, a lot of different things,” Spoelstra said. “But this, it just brings you back. It’s like an instant time machine. It was an amazing run and it kind of put our franchise on a different kind of map in this league.”

Coaches, executives and all but three of the players from that 2006 team were introduced at halftime for an on-court ceremony Tuesday, all wearing custom jackets to celebrate that championship.

“This will forever be everyone’s favorite because it was the first one and this is the one that really set whatever standard that we’re still living by here,” Wade said. “This set the standard of that because without this championship, (there) ain’t no culture. And so, that’s how we can even stand on ‘Heat Culture’ and the words that we say because of the championship that was brought here in ’06.”

And O’Neal, ever the jokester, paid off a 20-year bet with Wade and Haslem. He said he would get them Bentleys if the Heat won that title. He presented them with the Bentleys at halftime Tuesday — toy versions, but Bentleys nonetheless.

“Are you not entertained?” O’Neal asked, as the crowd roared.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca have been chosen as the U.S. flagbearers for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.

Jackson, 33, is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Games. Del Duca, a 34-year-old Army sergeant, is the first bobsledder in 70 years to carry the flag into an opening ceremony.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the names on Tuesday. It’s the third Olympics for Jackson, the second for Del Duca.

“Being chosen to represent the United States on the world stage is a tremendous honor,” Jackson said. “It’s a moment that reflects far more than one individual — it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport. The Olympics remind us of the power of sport to connect and inspire, and I’m proud to carry that forward on the Olympic stage.”

Del Duca, with deep Italian roots, finds the opportunity especially meaningful as the games are in Italy. The opening ceremony will be unique, with events spread across several Italian cities.

U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was picked to carry the American flag into the opening ceremony at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but tested positive for COVID-19 — forcing the postponement of her flag-carrying chance until the closing ceremony of those Winter Games. She was replaced at the Beijing opening by speedskater Brittany Bowe, and this time, it’s Jackson’s turn to have that moment.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The 34-year-old Minnesota native is retiring at the end of the season, and looking forward to finally getting some rest.

“I’m really excited to have a whole weekend off,” Diggins told The Associated Press from the U.S. team’s training base in Livigno, Italy.

“I realize that sounds kind of crazy, but … I haven’t had two days in a row that are actually mine in a very long time. So that’s going to feel really special.”

Before that, she enters her fourth Olympics as the top challenger to the traditionally dominant Nordic skiers. With gold, silver, and bronze medals already to her name, Diggins is a strong favorite to add to her collection in Milan Cortina. Along the World Cup circuit this year, growing clusters of U.S. teammates have gathered to cheer her on, a presence that’s coincided with her retaining the lead in the overall women’s standings.

“It was so cool — just feeling so much love across different sports,” Diggins said after winning her third overall Tour de Ski title in northern Italy this month. “It’s been really awesome.”

She returned to the podium last weekend in Goms, Switzerland, at the final World Cup meet before the Olympics, where she finished second in the 20-kilometer classic, just 0.9 seconds behind Finland’s Johanna Matintalo.

Zip lines, swim races, summers in Canada

Growing up in Afton, outside Minneapolis, Diggins tried any sport that could absorb her uncontainable energy: skating, soccer, dance, gymnastics, rock climbing and athletics. Ski racing followed while she was still in elementary school.

Her father, an outdoorsy Canadian, installed a zip line behind their house, and speed quickly became a fascination. That competitive edge sharpened during summers north of the border, racing other kids in swim meets along the shores of Lake Superior.

Ski competitions began at 11 and never stopped. After outperforming the boys, Diggins jumped age categories, surging through her teens from state to national championships and onto an express path to the Olympics.

By 2018, she was at the center of a historic breakthrough, teaming with Kikkan Randall in the sprint to claim the first — and still only — U.S. Olympic gold in cross-country skiing.

After adding silver and bronze in 2022, Diggins will compete at Milan Cortina as part of a powerhouse group of American women that includes Alpine skiiers Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and snowboarder Chloe Kim. A dual citizen, Diggins also openly roots for Canada.

“I absolutely do,” she told the AP. “I kind of see it as team North America. And I am really, really proud of my Canadian citizenship. So many of my family lives up there, and both my parents were born there. I feel so proud to have half of my heart there.”

Stressed by events in Minneapolis

Her career took off in Europe and eventually led her to settle outside Boston, but Minnesota is never far away. Diggins said it has been stressful to follow the headlines about the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis where two people were fatally shot by federal immigration agents.

“It’s been devastating following the news of what has been happening in Minnesota right now, and it’s really hard feeling like I can do nothing about it,” she wrote in an online post.

As her career has flourished, she has also devoted herself to causes that mirror personal struggles — advocating for climate action as snowfall declines because of climate change and pushing for better access to treatment for people with severe eating disorders.

“It makes every race so much more meaningful knowing that I’m trying to advocate for a better future,” she said.

After advocacy, it’s back to the slopes.

Glitter, gratitude and podium dancing

Fans know Jessie Diggins’ winning formula: relentless endurance, downhill aggression and a finishing kick capable of breaking elite rivals.

There’s also playfulness. She races with glitter face paint — a ritual now copied by younger American skiers — and after frequent finish-line collapses often celebrates moments later with a half-dance on the podium.

Along the way, Diggins makes a point of publicly thanking those who helped her get there: wax technicians, sports psychologists, teammates and others.

“I have to say a huge thank you to the team. I felt like I had awesome skis that were super competitive every single day,” she said after her latest Tour de Ski victory.

“It takes a village, and I’m really proud of my village — really grateful for them. It was so fun to feel good on this last tour. And yeah, it was just really cool.”

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.