Sports
Lakers suffer another key injury during loss to Pelicans
This was the time to move forward, the final game of 2023, the final game of a stretch where the Lakers played 14 of 19 games away from Los Angeles.
As this chapter on the Lakers’ season was set to close, coach Darvin Ham made a bit of a proclamation pregame in New Orleans. The Lakers were going to push forward with a new starting lineup — this time with Rui Hachimura as the team’s fifth starter.
“I think this lineup that you see tonight, we’re going to stick with for the foreseeable future,” Ham said.
It lasted eight minutes.
Another blow to the team’s quest for consistency combined with a short turnaround after an emotional loss to Minnesota on Saturday meant the Lakers’ calendar year ended with a 129-109 loss to the Pelicans.
Hachimura, who moved into the starting lineup for Cam Reddish (out because of a groin injury), had to leave Sunday’s game in New Orleans because of a calf injury, another hiccup for a team that’s back to .500 (17-17).
“It is what it is,” LeBron James said. “It is what our record is and we have to figure it out and get better, for sure.”
The record has to be particularly discouraging considering how James and Anthony Davis have played to this point, the two stars being plenty good enough while the supporting cast has varied and scuffled.
James, playing for the second straight game with an illness, scored 34 points — the 11th most by a 39-year-old in league history. Davis and Austin Reaves had 20 each, but the Pelicans shot better than 50% from the field on three-pointers.
Injuries, again, forced the reshuffling in the first place, the Lakers playing without Reddish and D’Angelo Russell (tailbone bruise). But the new plan had to be re-worked after Hachimura quickly left Sunday’s game.
He’ll undergo further evaluation in Los Angeles.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr., center, tries to block a pass between Lakers forward Taurean Prince, left, and forward Anthony Davis in the first half Sunday.
(Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)
Reaves, who the team has been reluctant to put back in the starting lineup, had to play with the group to start the second half. Reaves had 13 of his 20 points in the third.
But the Lakers, ultimately, looked too heavy-legged to respond to the Pelicans, who hung 42 points on L.A. in the first quarter without ever really slowing down.
The Lakers have are just 3-8 since winning the NBA’s first in-season tournament.
“Since the in-season tournament, we’ve been struggling,” Reaves said. “Health, injuries, sickness, we’ve kinda had some bad fortune there. But at the end of the day, that happens to everybody. But we have to look in the mirror and see what we can do to be better, what I can to do be better. And just get better.”
The team arrived in New Orleans after 3 a.m. Sunday following their loss in Minnesota. And while the league affirmed its ruling on James’ shot with his toe on the three-point line late, it reported missed calls on a goaltend and a charge that weren’t called against the Timberwolves.
Then the defense never physically bothered the motivated Pelicans, who last faced the Lakers in a 44-point rout in Las Vegas.
Zion Williamson scored 26 points, Brandon Ingram had 26 and CJ McCollum 22 for New Orleans, which trailed only for a single possession in the first quarter.
The Lakers now play 11 of their next 12 games in Los Angeles to start 2024.
“We’ve been a pretty good home team thus far and now we got to take advantage of it,” Davis said. “We get to sleep in our own beds, don’t have to worry about traveling. Our own resources. Get some practice time in and let guys get healthy. So it’s gonna be big for us to make this homestand a great one. We got to take advantage of it.”
Sports
Anthony Richardson free to seek trade after injury setbacks amid Colts’ shift to Daniel Jones
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Anthony Richardson Sr.’s future in Indianapolis faces more uncertainty than ever.
The Indianapolis Colts granted Anthony Richardson, the team that used the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on the quarterback, permission to explore a trade. His agent, Deiric Jackson, confirmed the latest development in the 23-year-old’s tumultuous career to ESPN on Thursday.
Veteran quarterback Daniel Jones beat out Richardson in a preseason competition for the starting job. Jones made the most of another opportunity as an NFL starter, helping the Colts win eight of their first 10 games of the 2025 regular season.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson heads off the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
However, his season was ultimately derailed by an Achilles injury. The setback came two years after he tore an ACL with the New York Giants. The Colts appear ready to move forward with Jones, clouding Richardson’s future in Indianapolis.
Jones is set to become a free agent in March, meaning the Colts must either use the franchise tag or sign him to a new deal. Richardson has started just 15 games in three seasons with the Colts, his tenure largely shaped by injuries.
A shoulder surgery limited Richardson to four games during his rookie campaign, while a series of setbacks cost him four games in 2024.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) looks for an open receiver during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
Richardson suffered what was described as a “freak pregame incident” during warmups last season, landing him on injured reserve after attempting just two passes in two games in 2025. He has thrown 11 touchdowns against 13 interceptions in his NFL career.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday that the vision problems stemming from Richardson’s orbital fracture last October are “trending in the right direction.” He added that Richardson has been “cleared to play.”
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) celebrates his touchdown against the New York Jets during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Riley Leonard, a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, is expected to return to the Colts next season.
When asked about Richardson’s standing with the Colts moving ahead, Ballard replied, “I still believe in Anthony.”
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Sports
Prep talk: Freshman golfer William Hudson of St. John Bosco wins Servite Invitational
William Hudson, a 14-year-old freshman golfer, shot 71 on Monday at Western Hills Country Club in Chino Hills to win the Servite Invitational.
“It was very important to me and my school,” Hudson said.
Some think it’s the first time a St. John Bosco student won an invitational title.
Hudson is a straight-A student who picked up his first golf club when he was 3. He has a daily routine involving practicing at 6 a.m. before heading to school. He’s also enrolled in a school entrepreneur program that involves taking classes at a junior college that will qualify for college credits.
“They are long days, but I get through it,” Hudson said.
He comes from a family that enjoys golf. His great-grandfather played until his death at 98 last year.
“I love how it can take me to interesting places and meet interesting people,” Hudson said. “I can play for the rest of my life. It’s a lifelong sport.”
It’s looking like another strong year for golfers in Southern California, with several individual champions returning, including Jaden Soong of St. Francis and Grant Leary of Crespi.
Now Hudson has thrust himself into the conversation.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Sports
Dashcam video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon rear-ending vehicle on Connecticut highway
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Police have released new video showing former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon speeding before crashing his 2024 Bentley Continental GT into another luxury car on a Connecticut highway last summer.
McMahon appeared to be followed by a state trooper in Westport moments ahead of the eventual collision. McMahon’s vehicle reached speeds of more than 100 mph, state police said.
A trooper’s dashcam video showed McMahon accelerating and then braking too late to avoid rear-ending a BMW. The car McMahon was driving then swerved into a guardrail and careened back across the highway. A cloud of dirt, apparently mixed with vehicle debris, was visible in the immediate area of the crash.
WWE owner Vince McMahon enters the arena during WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium on Apr 3, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports)
“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” a state trooper asked McMahon after catching up to the wrecked Bentley.
“I got my granddaughter’s birthday,” McMahon replied, explaining he was on his way to see her. The encounter was recorded on police bodycam video.
No serious injuries were reported in the July 24 crash, which happened the same day former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida.
In an image taken from Connecticut State Police police bodycam video, Vince McMahon is questioned in his car after an accident on July 24, 2025, in Westport, Connecticut. (Connecticut State Police via The Associated Press)
Aside from the damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt, police video suggested.
McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. In October, a state judge allowed him to enter a pretrial probation program that could erase the charges if he completes it successfully.
He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution. His attorney, Mark Sherman, called the crash simply an “accident.”
“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”
Vince McMahon attends a press conference to announce that WWE Wrestlemania 29 will be held at MetLife Stadium in 2013 at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 16, 2012 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)
State police said a trooper was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They also said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape.
“I’m trying to catch up to you, and you keep taking off,” State Police Det. Maxwell Robins said in the video.
“No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon clarified.
An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.
The trooper’s bodycam video also shows him asking McMahon whether he was looking at his phone when the crash happened. McMahon said he was not and added he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.
After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”
Fox News Digital submitted a public records request to obtain the police video, which was first acquired by The Sun.
McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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