Sports
Column: Feel-good Clippers story won’t end in triumph without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George
Ahead Nicolas Batum can’t assist however marvel: If the Clippers are enjoying this properly with out Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, how good will they be when their two superstars return?
“It’s pure,” Batum mentioned.
The Clippers are the extra likable of town’s two NBA groups, a set of nameless overachievers who erase gargantuan deficits and are positioned to succeed in the postseason.
They’re a feel-good story — for now.
This actuality will change when Leonard, George and up to date commerce acquisition Norman Powell come again from their respective accidents, whether or not it’s this season or subsequent. The Clippers wouldn’t be seen as a plucky little staff anymore. They might be contenders. They might be anticipated to win.
Realizing Steve Ballmer’s championship aspirations would require the Clippers to keep away from the identical issues they encountered the final time they had been on this place.
They must do a greater job of integrating Leonard and George.
Leonard is recovering from knee surgical procedure, George is working his approach again from a broken elbow ligament and coach Tyronn Lue can’t, or received’t, provide timetables for both of their returns.
“I’m uninterested in listening to that s—,” Lue mentioned Wednesday after he was requested for an replace on Leonard and George. “When they’re enjoying, I’ll let y’all know. I’m drained about speaking about them on daily basis.”
Lue’s frustration over the inquiries is misguided however comprehensible. The day the Clippers have their complete staff again collectively feels as if it’s someplace within the distant future. George might rejoin the lineup within the subsequent month and this might nonetheless be a misplaced season, through which case the hunt for the elusive first championship will carry over to subsequent 12 months.
Urgency will probably be heightened then as a result of Leonard will probably be 31 subsequent season and George 32. After subsequent 12 months, the Clippers’ nucleus might begin wanting outdated, the anticipated declines of Leonard and George coinciding with Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks coming into his prime. The younger cores of the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns also needs to be additional developed.
There are putting similarities between the staff the Clippers have on the courtroom now and the staff they fielded the season earlier than they acquired Leonard and George.
Personified by the tenacious Patrick Beverly and Montrezl Harrell, the 2018-19 Clippers made the playoffs because the eighth-place staff within the Western Convention. Fashionable pondering was that the Clippers had assembled an ideal supporting forged for a participant comparable to Leonard, who was an impending free agent on the time.
They succeeded in signing Leonard and buying and selling for George the next offseason.
Clippers’ Marcus Morris Sr. is guarded by Washington Wizards’ Raul Neto on Wednesday at Crypto.com Area.
(Ashley Landis / Related Press)
The end in Leonard’s and George’s maiden season with the Clippers: a humiliating elimination within the Western Convention semifinals after blowing a 3-1 sequence result in the Denver Nuggets.
The method of including two franchise gamers to a longtime locker room proved tough, notably in a season interrupted for 4 months by the COVID-19 pandemic and completed in a bubble at Disney World.
Chemistry shouldn’t be an issue this time. Leonard and George have performed with most of those gamers and there’s no query whom this staff was constructed round. As many touches as Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr. are getting in Leonard’s and George’s absences, they know what their roles will probably be and why they’re right here.
“If they arrive again,” Batum mentioned of Leonard and George, “we’re going to be prepared for them.”
The 2 All-NBA performers have remained engaged by allotting recommendation to the staff’s youthful gamers.
“They’ve been nice, simply being round,” Lue mentioned.
From purely a basketball standpoint, these Clippers additionally look extra able to complementing Leonard and George.
They’ve a roster full of gamers who can defend a number of positions, together with Powell, a commerce deadline addition who’s at present sidelined with a damaged foot. They’ve plenty of shooters who can unfold the ground, comparable to Batum, Morris and Luke Kennard. They’ve depth.
What they don’t have is what they didn’t have once they collapsed in that sequence in opposition to the Nuggets two years in the past: a real level guard.
Leonard and George might be serviceable ballhandlers, however neither one is LeBron James.
Can a championship be received with a bunch of wing gamers and no pure distributor? The Clippers could possibly be a case research.
In fact, none of it will matter if Leonard and George aren’t wholesome. Reintegrating them again into the staff would require them to be on the courtroom first.
Ten years and one month after Buzunesh Deba finished as the rightful winner of the 2014 Boston Marathon, she was finally given the prize money she never received — but it didn’t come from the Boston Athletic Association.
Rather, it came from a stranger.
When Deba crossed the finish line on Boylston Street in 2014, she didn’t receive international praise, the ceremonial gold wreath or the purse of $100,000 ($75,000 for winning plus $25,000 for breaking the course record). Rather, those honors and winnings went to Rita Jeptoo, who crossed the finish line first that year, but whose victory was stripped by the BAA in 2016 after a failed drug test.
Deba finished just over one minute behind Jeptoo for second place that day, but her time of 2:19:59 still shattered the previous course record set by Margaret Okayo in 2002.
But while Deba’s name replaced Jeptoo’s in the history books after the failed test, the money never appeared in Deba’s bank account.
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Despite Jeptoo’s record being scrubbed and her name being tarnished, her winnings have never been reclaimed. Similar cases have unfolded with the Chicago Marathon, where Liliya Shobukhova won the race three times for a total of $265,000 before she was caught doping. Like with Jeptoo, no money has ever been recovered from Shobukhova.
That is until Doug Guyer gave her the money out of his own pocket. Guyer, a businessman from Philadelphia, personally paid Deba her $75,000 after reading an article in The Wall Street Journal in April about her never receiving her winnings.
“We cried. I called my mother to tell her and she was so happy,” Deba told The Athletic in an email.
Deba, who has competed internationally for Ethiopia, is based in the Bronx, N.Y., with her husband and two children.
She found success at the 2014 New York City Marathon, where she finished ninth, and returned to Boston in 2015, where she finished third.
But for Deba, that 2014 win remains the pinnacle of her career. And for her family, those winnings were sorely needed.
“It means so much. It allows me to train again. We don’t have a sponsor. We have to pay for everything,” she said. “And I have two children. The money will go to my training and my family. We are so grateful. We have waited so long for this and almost gave up. God bless Mr. Doug.”
Guyer, who played football at Boston College and was beaten out for the starting quarterback spot by Doug Flutie in 1981, told the Boston Globe, “It was just about righting a wrong that’s been wrong for 10 years.”
Guyer said he’ll consider sending the $25,000 course record bonus if the BAA doesn’t.
The BAA said in a statement it is in “pursuit of reclaiming prize money awards from Rita Jeptoo” and plans to pay Deba her winnings when the association receives them. The organization said it is backed by policies held by World Athletics and supported by World Marathon Majors.
“The BAA is still pursuing Ms. Jeptoo to recover the prize money for Ms. Deba, which the BAA believes would be a just and fair result for her and all runners who follow the rules,” a BAA spokesperson said.
Deba said she was skeptical of Jeptoo’s performance from the day of the 2014 race, saying she wondered why Jeptoo wasn’t tired when she crossed the finish line.
Deba looks over her shoulder on the home stretch of Boylston Street during the 2014 Boston Marathon. (Photo: Dina Rudick / Getty Images)
But when Deba was told in 2016 that she was the winner, she couldn’t believe it.
“I was in my apartment and I jumped up and down. It was my biggest win,” she said. “Not only was I the champion but I was also the course record holder.”
Despite her decade of waiting for her proper winnings, Deba said she’s never held bitterness against the BAA. Instead, she considers the organization “like family.”
While she took her story public in April, in the weeks before the 10-year anniversary of her win, she held back from sharing it so for many years because she trusted the BAA would do right by her. She also feared that if she said something she would not be invited back to the prestigious race.
“This started when my friend came to my apartment and looked at my second-place trophy and asked, ‘What’s this? Where’s your real trophy?’ I told her that they never sent one to me,” Deba said. “She was so upset for me. We wrote to them and I eventually got my medals. Then they asked me to come to a celebration for the 10 year winners. She told me that I should see what they planned to do about the money.”
In response to The Wall Street Journal story, fans from around the world came to Deba’s defense, with many even willing to crowdfund her winnings.
“I am so grateful to know that so many people are behind me,” Deba said. “It is important that people know how hard I worked to win. This is my job. I was not begging for something that wasn’t mine. A lot went into winning and I am glad to see that the community agrees with me.”
It wasn’t until after the April article was published that the BAA responded about trying to move her case forward, Deba said.
And yet, that doesn’t diminish her adoration for the race or even deter her from wanting to return to the world’s most famous marathon.
“It is still my dream to come back and not only run but win Boston,” she said.
Required reading
(Photo: John Blanding / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler received a ton of support at Valhalla Golf Course on Friday when he returned from jail to shoot a 66 in the second round of the PGA Championship.
At home and on social media, Scheffler received even more support. Golf influencer Grace Charis was among those who showed their love for Scheffler. She posted a photo of herself in a crop top shirt with Scheffler’s mugshot across her chest.
Golf influencer Grace Charis poses for picture on the tenth hole during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Network)
“#FREESCOTTIE,” her shirt read.
Charis has 3 million followers on Instagram, 2.9 million on TikTok and another 880,000 on X.
Scheffler was in the mix for the lead after the second round, finishing only three shots off the leader. Xander Schauffele went into the clubhouse 12-under par.
Golfer and social media influencer Grace Charis looks on during the first round of the Masters Tournament. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
“As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good,” Scheffler said after the round. “I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I definitely never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times.”
Scheffler faces second-degree assault of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic charges stemming from the early Friday morning incident.
Scottie Scheffler watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
He chalked it up to a “big misunderstanding.”
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City Section
BASEBALL
Friday’s Results
Open Division
Quarterfinals
Granada Hills 3, El Camino Real 2
Bell 3, Sylmar 0
Carson 4, Cleveland 3
Birmingham 8, San Pedro 0
Saturday’s Schedule
(All games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals
Division I
No. 8 North Hollywood at No. 1 Garfield
Roosevelt at No. 4 Chatsworth
No. 14 L.A. Marshall at No. 11 South East
No. 7 Wilmington Banning at No. 2 Verdugo Hills
Division II
No. 16 Van Nuys at No. 8 Monroe
No. 13 Fremont at No. 5 Harbor Teacher
No. 11 King/Drew at No. 3 Eagle Rock
No. 7 Port of L.A. at No. 2 Sotomayor
Division III
No. 9 Middle College/No. 8 Lakeview Charter vs. No. 1 L.A. University at Dorsey High
No. 12 Valor Academy at No. 4 East Valley
No. 11 Diego Rivera at No. 3 Jefferson
No. 7 Fulton vs. No. 2 Lincoln at Torres High
Tuesday’s Schedule
At Pepperdine
Open Division
Semifinals
No. 3 Carson vs. No. 2 Birmingham, 11:30 a.m.
No. 4 Bell vs. No. 1 Granada Hills, 2:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Saturday’s Schedule
At Long Beach State
Finals
Open Division
No. 3 Carson vs. No. 1 Granada Hills, 7 p.m.
Division I
No. 3 Granada Hills Kennedy vs. No. 1 Garfield, 4 p.m.
Division II
No. 2 Marquez vs. No. 1 Chatsworth, 1 p.m.
Thursday’s Schedule
At Venice
Division IV
Finals
No. 10 LACES at No. 5 University
Southern Section
BASEBALL
Friday’s Results
Finals
At Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore
Division 7
Oxford Academy 5, South El Monte 4
Division 6
Colony 8, Village Christian 3
Division 5
Chino Hills 4, Santa Monica 1
Division 2
Hart 7, Moorpark 6
Saturday’s Schedule
Finals
At Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore
Division 8
Orange County Pacifica Christian (22-6) vs. Azusa (17-5), 10 a.m.
Division 4
Camarillo (23-5) vs. St. Francis (19-13), 1 p.m.
Division 3
St. John Bosco (20-10) vs. Beckman (24-6-1), 4 p.m.
Division 1
Corona (29-3) vs. Harvard-Westlake (27-4-1), 7:30 p.m.
SOFTBALL
Friday’s Results
Finals
At Barber Park in Irvine
Division 8
Hesperia Christian 8, Jurupa Valley 7
Division 6
Ganesha 21, Viewpoint 1
Division 4
Paraclete 8, JW North 0
Division 1
Garden Grove Pacifica 3, Orange Lutheran 0
Saturday’s Schedule
Finals
At Barber Park in Irvine
Division 7
Oxford Academy (25-5) vs. Eastside (22-10), 10 a.m.
Division 5
Liberty (22-6) vs. Cerritos Valley Christian (17-6), 1 p.m.
Division 3
Etiwanda (27-5) vs. King (19-9), 4 p.m.
Division 2
California (28-3) vs. Gahr (18-10), 7 p.m.
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