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Column: Ball brothers, Josh Shipp, Jeremy Lin and JuJu Watkins highlight Sacramento basketball moments

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Column: Ball brothers, Josh Shipp, Jeremy Lin and JuJu Watkins highlight Sacramento basketball moments

A trip to Sacramento to play for a state championship in an NBA arena is one of the coolest things that can happen to a high school basketball player living in California.

Yeah, sportswriters coming to the event every year might occasionally get bored or even annoyed (8 p.m. starts for TV test our patience), but the reality is that it’s for the players and fans, and having the Golden 1 Center as the site with just a $16 general admission fee can’t be beat.

There will be 12 championship games on Friday and Saturday, and unless you find me at the Yard House restaurant, it’s watching nonstop basketball from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. each day. Spectrum has the TV rights, so look for games on the Lakers channel or Spectrum 1 News.

For those who like history, let me offer my favorite moments from championships of the past in Sacramento:

Chino Hills goes 35-0

The Chino Hills circus bus arrived in Sacramento in 2016 unbeaten and left unbeaten. The Ball brothers provided the greatest entertainment next to Taylor Swift. It was a team for the ages.

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Seared in my memory is the opening jump ball at Sleep Train Arena. Chino Hills is facing De La Salle, and 14-year-old freshman LaMelo Ball is yawning on the court. Chino Hills fell behind by 10 points, then won 70-50 with all kinds of vintage plays, dunks and fast breaks.

“For us it was unique,” former Chino Hills coach Steve Baik said this week. “The year before, we lost. We were in a different frame of mind. Every single game throughout that year, there was so much pressure to win. We knew one loss would have been considered a failing year. Our guys really weren’t celebrating after regional wins. We finally got to celebrate after beating De La Salle.”

Most of the players stayed in their hotel rooms the night before, but Baik remembers freshman Onyeka Okongwu hanging out in the pool, which might have explained him struggling in the first half when Chino Hills trailed for the first time at halftime 30-28. In the second half, he started blocking shots and helped ignite fast breaks. Then came the celebrating, and you all know how much the father of the Ball brothers, LaVar, likes to talk.

Jeremy Lin bank shot

Palo Alto played Santa Ana Mater Dei in the 2006 Division II champinship game at Arco Arena. Mater Dei had a front line at that stood 7 feet 1, 6-8 and 6-8. Taylor King was the star player. But Palo Alto had a Harvard-bound guard named Jeremy Lin.

Palo Alto won 51-47.

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Those were the days when Mater Dei never lost in state finals. Lin banked in a 25-foot shot with 2:07 left to send Palo Alto fans into a frenzy.

“The bank shot broke our back,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said in 2006.

Palo Alto finished 33-1. Lin went on to Harvard and the NBA.

Josh Shipp sets record

One issue for high school athletes playing in an NBA arena is that sometimes it’s a lot harder to shoot from long range. That wasn’t a problem for Josh Shipp of Fairfax in 2004. He scored 33 points in the Division I regional overtime final at the Sports Arena against Etiwanda.

Then, playing in the state final at Arco Arena, where shooting threes often turns out badly, he tied a Division I state record with five threes in a 51-35 victory over De La Salle. He finished with 22 points.

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All I remember is giving Harvey Kitani, the always superstitious Fairfax coach, a lemonade before the game because he demanded it after I gave him one before the regional final.

Shipp would go on to have a terrific career at UCLA. “Josh could always score. It didn’t matter where he was playing,” Kitani said.

JuJu Watkins power

JuJu Watkins of Sierra Canyon poses for a portrait.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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As a freshman in 2020, Juju Watkins was already the best player in Southern California. By 2022, she was leading Sierra Canyon to the Open Division state championship with an 85-61 dismantling of San Jose Archbishop Mitty.

Watkins had 23 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, six blocked shots and three steals in the final game of her junior season. There was no need to make predictions of her future greatness.

As a freshman at USC this season, Watkins is averaging 27.8 points.

Trevor Ariza show

There was no stopping Trevor Ariza of Westchester in the 2003 Division I state championship game against Oakland Tech. He led the Comets to their second straight title with a 30-point performance against a team that featured McDonald’s All-American Leon Powe.

Coach Ed Azzam said, “He’s one of the best players we’ve ever had because he’s so versatile.”

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Nothing could be truer. Ariza went on to UCLA and the NBA while becoming a dependable three-point shooter and defender.

“It was a fun group,” Azzam said this week.

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Chargers’ Justin Herbert gushes over Madison Beer in heartfelt birthday tribute: ‘Changed my life forever’

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Chargers’ Justin Herbert gushes over Madison Beer in heartfelt birthday tribute: ‘Changed my life forever’

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Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert gushed over 27-year-old singer Madison Beer in a heartfelt birthday tribute on social media, offering fans a rare glimpse into the couple’s relationship. 

The two-time Pro Bowl quarterback, who normally shies away from the public eye, posted a series of photos to his Instagram Stories on Thursday. 

Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers warms up prior to a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium on Dec. 8, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)

“Happy birthday to my favorite person of all time,” Herbert wrote in a post that showed the couple on the sidelines of one of his NFL games. “I love you so much. You’ve changed my life forever.”

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In another photo appearing to show the couple out to dinner, Herbert wrote, “I am the luckiest guy alive…”

Herbert, who turns 28 later this month, shared another photo of the “Make You Mine” artist petting goats and captioned the photo, “My goats.”

The couple was first linked together in August when they were spotted together on the set of one of Beer’s music videos in Los Angeles. Herbert and Beer were photographed in October on the sidelines of a Chargers game at SoFi Stadium, seemingly confirming the dating rumors. 

Quarterback Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and singer Madison Beer attend an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 24, 2025. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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The same month, Herbert went viral after blocking a rogue basketball from hitting Beer when the two sat courtside at a Los Angeles Lakers game.  

Herbert signed a five-year, $262.5 million extension with the Chargers in July 2023. Despite proving himself to be one of the elite young quarterbacks in the NFL, Los Angeles’ offensive struggles have seen the team fall short in back-to-back playoff appearances.

Quarterback Justin Herbert (10) of the Los Angeles Chargers blocks a basketball from hitting Madison Beer as they attend a basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 24, 2025. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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 The team’s offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, was fired in January and replaced with former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in football. 

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Shohei Ohtani’s second-inning grand slam propels Japan to a rout in World Baseball Classic opener

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Shohei Ohtani’s second-inning grand slam propels Japan to a rout in World Baseball Classic opener

The last time Shohei Ohtani was seen wearing a World Baseball Classic uniform with “Japan” across his chest, he was striking out Mike Trout of the United States on a ninth-inning, full-count slider to give his country a victory in the championship game three years ago.

So much has happened in Ohtani’s life between then and now. He has a wife and a daughter, a new interpreter, a new Major League team, two World Series championships and three more Most Valuable Player awards.

Yet unforgettable WBC memories continue. This time, he delivered from the batter’s box instead of the pitcher’s mound.

In the second inning of Japan’s WBC opener against Chinese Taipei on Friday at the Tokyo Dome, Ohtani smacked a hanging curve a few feet over the right-field wall for a grand slam, triggering an offensive onslaught that resulted in a 13-0 victory.

“I thought it might land as an out, so above all, I really wanted to get the first run on the board,” Ohtani told reporters afterward.

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Ohtani led off the game with a double and singled in his second at-bat of the second inning, when Japan put up a WBC-record 10 runs. He added a run-scoring single in the third inning, giving him five runs batted in.

In 2023, Ohtani hit and pitched Japan to the WBC title, batting .435 with eight RBIs and allowing only two earned runs in 9 2/3 innings on the mound. This year, he will only bat, saving his pitching for the Dodgers, who begin their quest for a third consecutive World Series title in three weeks.

Japan’s starting pitcher Friday was a decorated Dodger nevertheless. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MVP of the 2025 World Series, threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings, walking three and striking out two while giving up no hits.

His command wasn’t pinpoint — he threw 53 pitches, 33 for strikes — but it is still spring training, even though the atmosphere was electric for Japanese players competing in front of a crowd of 42,314 that included actor Timothy Chalamet and superstar Bad Bunny.

“I know there will be some tough battles ahead, but if the fans and the team can unite and everyone can help build the excitement together, it will really encourage us,” Ohtani said.

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Russell Wilson escalates feud with Sean Payton, labels Broncos coach ‘classless’

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Russell Wilson escalates feud with Sean Payton, labels Broncos coach ‘classless’

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Russell Wilson and Sean Payton spent just one NFL season together, but tension lingered after a rocky year.

And it appears the tension that built up from that tumultuous stretch continues to linger.

Wilson’s interview on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast, recorded before last month’s Super Bowl between Seattle and New England, recently resurfaced. 

In the interview, Wilson doubled down on his October comment labeling Payton “classless,” saying he felt slighted by his former coach’s remarks.

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Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos talks to quarterback Russell Wilson on the sideline during an NFL preseason football game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium Aug. 11, 2023, in Glendale, Ariz. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)

“[When] you’ve been on the same side or this and that, and I got the same amount of rings as you got, meaning Sean, right?” said Wilson, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks as Payton did coaching for the New Orleans Saints. 

“I got a lot of respect for him as a play-caller, this and that, but to take a shot, I don’t like. I don’t think it’s necessary, you know, I mean, especially when I’m not even on your own team anymore. So, for me, there’s a point in time where you have to, I’ve realized, I’ve stayed quiet for so long. There’s a there’s a time and place where I’m not.

“I know who I am as a competitor, as a warrior, as a champion, too, and, you know, I’ve beaten Sean, too. You know, like we’ve been on the same place and the same thing. And so, it’s not a matter of disrespect. Just don’t disrespect me.”

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Sean Payton and Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos during an a game against the Minnesota Vikings at Empower Field at Mile High Nov. 19, 2023, in Denver, Colo. (Ryan Kang/Getty Images)

After a rocky one-year stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024, Wilson joined the New York Giants last offseason. However, he was relegated to a backup role after just three games.

Rookie Jaxson Dart quickly showed promise once he had the chance to start, but his season was briefly derailed by injury. Jameis Winston — not Wilson — stepped in for Dart in a handful of games. Dart threw three touchdowns in a Week 7 matchup with the Broncos, nearly pulling off an upset in what was eventually a close loss.

After the game, Payton said Dart provided a “spark” to the Giants’ offense.

“I was talking to [Giants owner] John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game,’” Payton said.

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The New York Giants’ Russell Wilson attempts to escape a sack by Dallas Cowboys defensive end James Houston (53) in the first half of a game Sept. 14, 2025, in Arlington, Texas.  (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Payton also said the Broncos would have faced less of a challenge had Wilson been under center.

“Classless … but not surprised,” Wilson responded in a social media post. “Didn’t realize you’re still bounty hunting 15+ years later though the media.”

Despite last season’s struggles and chatter about his football future, Wilson does not appear ready to call it quits in 2026.

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“I wanna play a few more years for sure,” he said. “I think, for me, I’ve always had the vision of getting to 40, at least. I think the game is different. Quarterbacks, we get hit. It’s not, you know, we get hit hard, but … there’s certain rules. I mean, back in the day when I started, bro, it was you just get [clobbered]. 

“I mean, so I feel like the game allows you to, you know, live a little longer, I guess. I feel healthy. I feel great. But I think, more than anything else is, do you love the game? Do you love studying? Do you love the passion for it all? Do you love the process? Do you love the practice? Do you love — everybody loves the winning part of it, but it’s process. There’s a journey that you got to be obsessed with. And that part I’m obsessed with.”

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