The last time the Winter Olympians convened, the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging, forcing the Games inside sterilized bubbles. Athletes were forced to test each day and every test brought with it the possibility of an Olympics-wrecking posititive result. Now, the Winter athletes are back in Italy, and they'll never take the simple things for granted again. Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris put it best when he said he was hoping to land all his biggest runs at the right time — same as always — but what he's really looking forward to is being able to celebrate with his friends.
James Harden is headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to send the 11-time All-Star back to the Eastern Conference during his highest-scoring season in six years. That's according to a person with knowledge of the agreement who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the NBA had not approved the trade. Harden is averaging 25.4 points this season, his most since averaging 34.3 points in 2019-20. He’s been a huge part of the Clippers' resurgence after a 6-21 start. Garland is a two-time All-Star who's averaging 18 points this season.
Stephen Curry is teaming up with LeBron James and Kevin Durant at the NBA All-Star Game. The NBA has announced the rosters for this season's event, which has a new U.S. vs. The World format. The game is set for February 15 at the Los Angeles Clippers' home in Inglewood, California. The U.S. teams are split by age into USA Stripes and USA Stars. Kawhi Leonard was added Tuesday to the USA Stripes squad. That move likely sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the World team. Towns has played for the Dominican Republic in international events. Giannis Antetokounmpo is not expected to play for the World team due to injury.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Many Minnesota-based athletes at the Winter Olympics this week have more on their minds than sports. Turmoil in the state from the immigration crackdown has created angst and added motivation. The U.S. Olympic contingent in Italy counts 26 athletes who are native to Minnesota. That trails only Colorado for the most by state. About a dozen others either call Minnesota home now or compete and train there in sports like curling or hockey. Biathlon team member Luci Anderson is from the Twin Cities area. She followed from afar when her family members joined a recent protest march in Minneapolis.
MILAN (AP) — Staging future Winter Games as early as January and the Paralympic Winter Games in February is a possibility because of warmer temperatures, the International Olympic Committee says. Every Winter Games medal was won in February since the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics opened January 29, and moving to January would likely disrupt scheduling of storied World Cup races and events. It also would more directly clash with NFL and NBA schedules. The IOC is now reviewing Olympic Games issues in the first year of Kirsty Coventry’s presidency and changing the winter edition dates is an option. IOC member Karl Stoss says they're "discussing to bring the Winter Olympics a little bit earlier” because March can be too warm for the Paralympics.
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry has touted the Milan Cortina Winter Games as the most gender-balanced in history. That’s reflected in changes to events on the schedule over the coming weeks. The opening ceremony is Friday. A women’s doubles event was added to luge. A women’s large hill individual event appears in ski jumping for the first time at an Olympics. Ski mountaineering is the lone sport making its Games debut and has a mixed-gender event. Skeleton now does, too. Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin could team up in a new two-person Alpine event, if Vonn is able to race after recently rupturing a ligament in her knee.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Don’t add to the regular season as well as provide well-maintained natural grass surfaces for NFL players. That was a main message from the NFL Players Association to the league. NFLPA interim executive director David White pointed out that several teams had significant injuries in mid-December: Patrick Mahomes and Micah Parsons tore ACLs in Week 15. Last week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it seem inevitable that the league would eventually expand the regular season from 17 to 18 games. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pulled that back on Monday, saying it’s “not a given.” The current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players’ union expires in 2030.
Spanish figure skater Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate faces a major challenge just days before the Milano Cortina Olympics. He revealed on social media that he can't use his short program music, a medley from the Minions film, due to copyright issues. Sabate said Monday that he will now have to revert to an older program. This situation highlights ongoing struggles with music rights in figure skating. The International Skating Union relaxed rules in 2014 to allow lyrics, but modern music often isn't public domain. Skaters must navigate a complex process to clear music, leading to confusion and frustration.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Darnold’s NFL career had hit rock bottom when he arrived in San Francisco in 2023 after failing at two spots to live up to his high draft billing. Less than three years later, he's ready to step on football’s biggest stage as the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Darnold’s journey from draft bust to Super Bowl quarterback is a remarkable one and it began during his one year with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, when he started only one game and threw only 46 passes.
LIV Golf is finally getting world ranking points. The Official World Golf Ranking board approved the Saudi-backed league to start getting points for the first time since it launched in 2022. The decision means LIV players will get points starting this week with the season opener in Saudi Arabia. But the decision comes with some conditions that did not sit well with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil. Only the top-10 finishes and ties at each event will get points. That's different from other tours where everyone gets points in full fields and only the bottom finishers get left out in short fields. LIV has 57 players.