Go to Phoenix on Monday, play Tuesday. Fly to San Antonio late Tuesday and play the next day. Back to Los Angeles late on Thanksgiving eve, off for the holiday and then play the Thunder on Friday. Fly to Utah the next day, play the Jazz on Sunday. Then off to Minnesota on Sunday night, land late and play the Timberwolves on Monday. Then go to Miami for a game Wednesday. Then go to Atlanta for a game Friday. Off for a day, then host Portland on Sunday.

And then, for the first time in weeks, exhale for 48 hours.

The Lakers practiced Wednesday after two full days off, a rare oasis in an early schedule that featured them playing six preseason games outside of Los Angeles only to begin the season with the second-most road games in the Western Conference through their first 24 contests.

The time off is a benefit of elimination from the NBA Cup, the Lakers idle during the knockout games this week. While the more than $500,000 in prize money eluded them, they got something that could be more valuable.

JJ Redick said the team used the time to first relax and then regroup. The Lakers coach met individually with players Tuesday as the team begins an advantageous stretch of schedule. Wednesday the Lakers tried to maximize it with the kind of practice, Redick said, they haven’t had in two months.

“We have a great opportunity the rest of the month. Today was one of six potential practice days that we have and we got a lot done today,” Redick said. “And I think the group came with a good, workmanlike approach and yeah, we’re going to try to get better. We’re going to try to get better. I thought coming off of Friday, coming off of Sunday — where we played the right way where we were competitive, we were together, connected, all of those things — we have something to build on.”

The building, though, didn’t begin with a whole team. LeBron James didn’t meet with Redick on Tuesday and didn’t practice Wednesday, an excused absence for personal reasons keeping him away from the court. Redick said he was unsure whether James would travel with the team to Minneapolis.

Austin Reaves, who has missed the Lakers’ last five games after a scary fall during the loss to Oklahoma City, returned to practice and is trending toward a return.

“Both of them, it seems like, are sort of day to day and just kind of wait and see how it looks tomorrow and see how it looks Friday,” Redick said when asked about James and Reaves.

After games with Minnesota on Friday and Memphis at home Sunday, the Lakers again have another three-day stretch between games, giving them more chances for physical practices like Wednesday’s workout.

“It’s good, honestly, just to get to bump against each other, I think, because that’s how it is in a game, right?” guard Max Christie said. “You’re going to be bumping against guys and bruising against guys. So it’s good to kind of feel that competitive level and competitive energy — even against each other as teammates — because it makes it that much easier to compete with each other when we’re out playing in a real game. So I think it’s advantageous, for sure.”

Plans to expand Wimbledon are set to go before the U.K. High Court.

The All England Club (AELTC), host of the third Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, wants to add a third stadium court and 38 further courts to its footprint, tripling its size in works expected to cost over £200million ($254.8million).

The Greater London Authority (GLA) granted planning permission in September, but campaign group Save Wimbledon Park (SWP) has now instructed lawyers to challenge the decision, which could ultimately lead to a judicial review in the High Court.

It has “sent a lengthy formal letter setting out our case to the GLA, copied to both Merton and Wandsworth Councils and to the AELTC,” according to a spokesperson’s statement seen by The Athletic Wednesday December 11.

The letter is required as part of the “pre-action protocol” for a judicial review. In it, SWP’s law firm, Russell Cooke, invites the GLA to confirm it will reconsider the planning permission. This would involve quashing the grant. The firm requests a “substantive reply” by December 16; the letter is dated December 6.

A spokesperson for Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said: “The Mayor believes this scheme will bring a significant range of benefits including economic, social and cultural benefits to the local area, the wider capital and the UK economy, creating new jobs and cementing Wimbledon’s reputation as the greatest tennis competition in the world.

“City Hall will respond to Save Wimbledon Park’s letter in due course.”

Separately, the AELTC confirmed December 1 that it will challenge a key tenet of SWP and other residents’ groups objections to the plans in the High Court. SWP argues that when AELTC bought the freehold to the Wimbledon site and the adjacent park in 1993, it fell under a statutory trust which requires that land to be kept free for public recreation.

The AELTC argues that “there is not, nor has there ever been, a statutory trust affecting the former Wimbledon Park Golf Course land”. It will now take this argument to the High Court in a bid to prove itself right.

The AELTC bought the golf course — whose lease was set to expire in 2041 — for £65million (now $87.1m) in 2018. This led to each member receiving £85,000, and the AELTC argues that it being a private club voids the concept of a statutory trust.

“We have been pointing out for a considerable time that the statutory public recreation trust on which the AELTC hold the heritage golf course land is a fundamental block on the proposed AELTC development,” an SWP spokesperson said.

“We are glad to hear that the AELTC now recognise our point of view and note that they wish to take this to litigation rather than engage in any discussion.”

The AELTC believes its plans will ensure that Wimbledon does not fall behind the Australian, French, and U.S. Opens in terms of prestige.

One of the 39 new courts will be an 8,000-seater stadium, and the other 38 will allow the AELTC to bring the qualifying event on-site. That event is held the week before the main tournament starts, and Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam of the four not to already have its qualifying event on-site. Wimbledon’s third show court, No. 2 Court, is the smallest of the third courts across the majors.

Planning permission for the expansion went to the GLA after Merton and Wandsworth councils failed to agree on them. Merton granted permission in October 2023, before Wandsworth refused it a month later. There is no expected timeline for the AELTC’s case, nor for the judicial review proposed by SWP. AELTC chair Deborah Jevans has said that it wants the new courts in play by the early 2030s.

(Julian Finney / Getty Images)

Four-time WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes has been one of Caitlin Clark’s most outspoken critics.

But Swoopes was left speechless during a recent podcast appearance after being asked about the Indiana Fever star’s remarks about her privilege as a White athlete in an interview with Time magazine after being named Athlete of the Year. 

Swoopes, who was the first player ever signed to the WNBA, admitted on the “Gil’s Arena” podcast Wednesday that Clark receiving the honor was “great” for the league, but she questioned the criteria for what went into Time’s selection. 

“I don’t think I’m surprised. I’m curious to know who the other candidates were. But the fact that that’s the very first WNBA player to ever win Time magazine Athlete of the Year is pretty special.

“My question is — like the criteria — is it based off her performance on the court, which, yeah, she had a great year. Or is it more about the impact that she had on the game this season.

“I think it’s great, not just for her. I think it’s great for the league, right? Like everybody talked about the recognition she brought to the W this season, and, so, for her to be Time magazine Athlete of the Year I think it’s really great for the league.” 

Texas Tech alumna Sheryl Swoopes attends Alumni Weekend at a Texas Tech game against Baylor Jan. 28, 2023, at United Supermarkets Arena. (Imagn)

CAITLIN CLARK ADMITS FEELING ‘PRIVILEGE’ AS A WHITE PERSON, SAYS WNBA WAS ‘BUILT ON’ BLACK PLAYERS

But Swoopes had less to say when she was asked what she thought of Clark’s admission to the magazine that she benefited from her privilege. 

“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a White person, there is privilege,” Clark said in the interview. 

“A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.” 

Caitlin Clark (22) of the Indiana Fever drives to the basket against the Connecticut Sun during Game 2 of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs Sept. 25, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images)

When asked during Wednesday’s podcast about those remarks, Swoopes said nothing. 

She appeared to raise an eyebrow and nod before the topic was changed. 

Swoopes has faced criticism in the past over her hot takes on Clark. In September, Swoopes said she didn’t think Clark was “dominating” the league. Clark was later named WNBA Rookie of the Year. 

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