Sports

NBA stars Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid get rare 'humbling' experience on Team USA

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2024

NBA stars Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid get rare 'humbling' experience on Team USA

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Jayson Tatum hadn’t spoken publicly since the benching, and by the time he had appeared again in front of the microphones, he was no longer benched.

Tatum started against South Sudan, and his 17 minutes in a 103-86 Olympic win were unremarkable, which for this discussion is beside the point.

“Definitely a humbling experience, right?” Tatum said, not about playing and scoring four points against South Sudan, but about not playing at all against Serbia in the Olympic opener. “Win a championship, new contract, cover of (NBA) 2K (video game) and then you sit a whole game. Cover of Sports Illustrated. So it was definitely a humbling experience.”

The Americans are 2-0 at the Olympics, 7-0 this summer and are just four games from capturing a fifth consecutive gold medal. Winning is or should be, the only goal, and the players and coaches all insist it is what matters among the USA Basketball traveling party in France.

But a mammoth side story, or at least the storyline grabbing all sorts of attention back home, is the one about a few major superstars not getting as many chances to play. On Sunday, it was Tatum, who, as he mentioned, is a newly minted champion with the Boston Celtics, signed a $314 million contract extension and graced the cover of games and magazines. He didn’t bother to say he was a first-team All-NBA performer for three years running and an All-Star for five consecutive seasons.

It happened again on Wednesday to Joel Embiid, who was the NBA’s MVP two seasons ago and probably would have won it again last season if not for knee surgery keeping him below the minimum number of games to be eligible. He averaged 34.7 points per game in 39 games for the 76ers.

Embiid was the odd man out against South Sudan, in part so Tatum could play, and in part because South Sudan’s lineup is fast enough that USA coach Steve Kerr felt he needed to play his fastest players. Embiid isn’t one of them, but his size and skill should — and 99.9 percent of the time do — transcend any matchup.

Unless he’s on a team of stars with USA Basketball.

“I think the NBA is so popular worldwide and the regular season is kind of a soap opera,” said Kerr, who is making these tough decisions. “And so we understand that, and social media takes over and everything becomes so dramatic. I think we need to give these guys more credit. They’re here to win a gold medal. They’re pros. They’re committed to each other.”

Kerr said the players aren’t bothered by the outside drama, but it is clear they notice. For instance, Bam Adebayo, who had a wonderful game against South Sudan with 18 points and seven rebounds, opened his news conference by admonishing a reporter for the mere suggestion that Adebayo might sit so Tatum could get a chance.

“Why did you pick my name?” Adebayo said. “My accolades don’t stand up?”

Tyrese Haliburton was benched before Tatum. Haliburton, a two-time All-Star and the NBA’s assists leader last season, didn’t play in the last exhibition game against Germany or the Olympic opener against Serbia. He finally saw some time against South Sudan, hitting two 3s in eight minutes, and afterward called the reduced playing time a “learning experience.”

Haliburton doesn’t have the résumé of Tatum or Embiid, and perhaps being the second-youngest player on Team USA, the masses had already penciled him in for not getting many minutes. But a player of Haliburton’s stature doesn’t drift toward the end of the bench.

“Win a championship, new contract … and then you sit a whole game. … It was definitely a humbling experience,” Jayson Tatum said. (Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)

“I mean, these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it,” Kerr said. “So the whole thing is, are we committed to the goal? That’s it. I always tell our guys with the (Golden State) Warriors, the reason they pay us a lot of money is there is so much interest worldwide in what we do. And so you can’t have it both ways. You can’t accept your salary and then get mad at social media or get mad at all the coverage.

“The beauty of the Olympics is none of that crap matters. And I know everyone’s going to write about it, but none of that crap matters. We’re just trying to win every game and win a gold medal, and it’s an incredibly pure feeling and the guys are committed to each other and they’re not going to worry about any of that.”

The games at the Olympics are 40 minutes (10-minute quarters), compared to the 48-minute game in the NBA. In seven total games — five exhibition contests and two Olympic matches — LeBron James and Stephen Curry share the team lead at 21.6 minutes per game. Devin Booker is right behind them at 21.1 minutes. Anthony Edwards plays 19 minutes per game, while Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Adebayo are all averaging about 18 minutes.

Typically, U.S. Olympic teams aren’t this loaded with superstars. There are usually a few role players on the roster who may be more prepared to play fewer minutes than they do in the NBA.

For the Tokyo Games in 2021, the U.S. brought JaVale McGee, Jerami Grant and Keldon Johnson. In 2016, Harrison Barnes was on the roster. In 2012, Tyson Chandler and Andre Iguodala were a part of Team USA. The 2008 Redeem Team included Carlos Boozer, Michael Redd and Tayshaun Prince. Those nine players have a combined five All-Star appearances between them.

The U.S. team in France now has 11 current All-Stars. The only player who isn’t one, Derrick White, is getting major minutes because he is one of their best perimeter defenders. He scored 10 points with three steals Wednesday, and in close games, Kerr has him on the floor at the end because he is so good on defense.

“Derrick White’s a phenomenal basketball player,” Kerr said of White, who is on Team USA as a replacement for Kawhi Leonard. “He’s a winner. He’s a FIBA player. FIBA is different for every single guy. There’s some different rules, different flow. Derrick’s a champion. He’s a phenomenal basketball player and he’ll continue to make a huge impact for us.”

Kerr said Embiid would return to the starting lineup for Saturday’s game, as would Jrue Holiday (who didn’t start for the first time in a while Wednesday but logged 15 minutes off the bench). What that means for Tatum is hard to tell. Kerr said it’s important now to keep everyone engaged, which would seem to suggest Tatum will play while another regular sits against Puerto Rico.

But when the Olympic knockout stage begins Tuesday, and there is no margin for error, Kerr will undoubtedly limit his rotation, and a player (or two or three) with outrageously impressive NBA accomplishments is never going to take off his warm-ups.

It’s an experience unique to this iteration of Team USA because of the enormous star power on the roster and the proliferation of talent all over the world — which means the Americans’ games are much closer. In blowouts, it’s easier to find minutes for 12 players in a 40-minute game.

There also is one more factor to keep in mind. This is Kerr’s last summer with Team USA — he previously told The Athletic he would step down after the Paris Games. So his only care is to win now. Get the gold. However, USA Basketball’s program has to think about the 2028 Olympics, which are in Los Angeles. Finishing anything other than first will be unacceptable.

The Americans will need to turn to Tatum, Booker, Embiid and Haliburton in four years. Which is why the rotation now is a more delicate juggling act.

“You can be frustrated that you want to play as a competitor but maybe have some empathy for some of the guys on my team (the Celtics) that don’t always get to play or play spot minutes,” Tatum said. “So it’s a learning experience to have, see it from that point of view, and just move on from it.”

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(Top photo of Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)

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Sports

Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

Published

5 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Deion Sanders mourns loss of Colorado quarterback Dominiq Ponder: ‘One of my favorites’

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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.

“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”

Ponder was 23 years old.

Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)

Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.

Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.

The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.

Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)

“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”

Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.

Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)

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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Published

5 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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No. 2 UCLA women dominate rival USC to finish Big Ten play undefeated

Sunday was “Senior Night” for the USC women’s basketball team at Galen Center, but it was the other team’s seniors who stole the show.

Gabriela Jaquez scored 14 points, Kiki Rice had 11 points and four assists and Lauren Betts had 15 rebounds and five assists as UCLA wrapped up the regular season with a 73-50 victory over its rival and finished undefeated in conference play for the first time since going 18-0 in the Pac-10 in 1998-99 under Kathy Olivier.

Having already clinched the regular-season title, UCLA became the first team to navigate the Big Ten schedule without a loss since Maryland in 2014-15.

“These are two elite programs, we knew it would be different tonight, we knew they’d come with fire,” said UCLA coach Cori Close, who improved to 9-4 against the Trojans since counterpart Lindsay Gottlieb started at USC in 2021. “We knew we’d have to do it with our defense, our rebounding and by taking care of the ball.”

It was the Bruins’ 22nd consecutive win, one shy of the record they set last season. Since their lone loss to then-No. 4 Texas on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, they have won by 20 or more points 17 times.

Ranked second in the nation in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls behind defending national champion Connecticut (30-0), the Bruins earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament in Indianapolis and got a bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.

Charlisse Leger-Walker, nicknamed “X-ray vision” by teammates, equaled her season high with 20 points for the Bruins (28-1, 18-0) while Gianna Kneepkens added 14 points and five assists.

“Anytime we play together we know we can win,” Leger-Walker said. “We did a good job looking into the scout. Every game we just think about going 1-0. People scouting us know that all five players on the court can score the ball.”

UCLA center Lauren Betts, left, controls the ball in front of USC forward Vivian Iwuchukwu during the first half Sunday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA held USC to 27% shooting in the teams’ first meeting — a 34-point Bruins victory at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 3 behind Betts’ 18 points. It was USC’s most lopsided loss under coach Lindsay Gottlieb. On Sunday, USC shot 39% and was only three for 19 from three-point range.

“Going undefeated [in conference] is a great step in the right direction towards what we want to accomplish,” said Jaquez, who appreciated the flowers she received before the game from USC. “I love this rivalry. It’s super fun to play against them and it was nice that they honored us too.”

UCLA jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes and carried a 19-11 advantage into the second quarter. The Bruins widened the gap to 18 points by halftime, holding the Trojans scoreless for the last 3:08.

USC (17-12, 9-9) opened the second half on an 11-2 run but gave up 14 second-chance points and allowed 22 offensive rebounds.

UCLA guard Kiki Rice, front, and forward Angela Dugalic celebrate as USC guard Kennedy Smith walks away.

“If we get more possessions than our opponent we’re most likely going to win,” Close said. “We didn’t allow one basket on an out-of-bounds play and they lead the conference in that.”

Freshman guard Jazzy Davidson, USC’s leading scorer, got into early foul trouble but still finished with 12 points. She was held to 10 points on four-for-15 shooting in the first meeting.

“It was a great crowd, we were in the fight but we didn’t rebound or shoot well enough,” Gottlieb said. “We wanted to keep them out of our paint. We swarmed Betts, double-teamed her and got it out of her hands but other people scored.”

Londynn Jones, who spent three seasons in Westwood (playing in 108 straight games) before transferring to USC for her senior year, was held to six points in the team’s first meeting and nine points (on four-of-10 shooting) in the rematch. The Trojans’ other senior, Kara Dunn, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points.

“I love Londynn,” Close said. “We think she looks better in blue, but we love her and I told her that. I appreciate all she gave to our programs.”

Asked if this is the best team she has ever coached, Close had a one-word answer.

“Yes.”

Sports

Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

Published

17 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Israeli national gymnastics team suspends all activities after Iranian counter-attack

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Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the recent Iranian counter-attack on the country following the U.S.-assisted strikes on Iran.

The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) provided a statement to Fox News Digital announcing the violence has caused “unavoidable disruptions.”

“The current security situation in our region has resulted in unavoidable disruptions to our regular training schedule and has created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, particularly as we are at the outset of the international season,” the statement read.

“At this time, all training activities have been temporarily suspended, pending approval from the relevant authorities to safely resume operations. Naturally, the suspension of training and the closure of airspace are causing considerable stress and concern. However, the safety and well-being of our gymnasts and professional staff remain our highest priority. We sincerely hope for safer and calmer days ahead, when we can focus solely on sport.”

A source within the team told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s counterstrikes began.

Israel’s gymnastics team is considered one of nation’s strongest Olympic programs alongside its Judo and sailing teams. The team is only a week removed from a successful trip at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Germany, where the country’s star Artem Dolgopyat won the gold medal in floor gymnastics.

Now, the team will have to seek safety until the attacks are over.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has directed all U.S. government employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place either in or near their residences as Iran continues to fire missiles at Israel.

Additionally, the embassy announced that due to the security situation, it would be closed on March 2, and did not give an estimate on when it would be reopening. The closure includes consular sections in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The embassy also said it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It noted that Ben Gurion Airport remains closed and there there are neither commercial nor charter flights operating from the airport.

On Friday, ahead of the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the embassy gave all non-essential workers permission to leave Israel, with reports that U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged those looking to leave to do so as soon as possible.

Iranian airstrikes killed at least eight Israelis on Sunday as Tehran’s latest missile barrage landed just miles from Jerusalem.

The strikes landed in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Initial reports said four people were killed when missiles landed in a residential area on Sunday, but that death toll rose to eight, according to Israel’s national emergency service.

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Iran’s military has carried out counterattacks against Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East after a joint U.S.-Israeli strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.

The strikes also killed several other top Iranian leaders, including the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.