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Premier League Rainbow Laces campaign explained: What is it and what has sparked controversy?

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Premier League Rainbow Laces campaign explained: What is it and what has sparked controversy?

The Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign, an annual show of support for the LGBTQ+ community, has been overshadowed this week.

Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy twice refused to wear the accompanying rainbow armband in games, citing his religious beliefs, while Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi chose to write two pro-Christian messages on the armbands he’s worn in their past two matches.

The Athletic also reported on Wednesday morning that Manchester United abandoned plans to wear rainbow-themed Adidas warm-up jackets ahead of Sunday’s 4-0 win over Everton after defender Noussair Mazraoui refused to join the initiative. The Morocco international, like Morsy, pointed to his Muslim faith as the reason for his reluctance.

A well-intended campaign from the Premier League has found itself at the heart of a wider, divisive debate but one that is not unique to English football. 

The Athletic analyses the origins of rainbow laces and whether the initiative can retain a place in the game’s calendar. 

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What is the Rainbow Laces campaign and why was it introduced?

The campaign dates back to 2013 when Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity, initially teamed up with UK bookmaker Paddy Power to send rainbow-coloured laces to all professional footballers across England and Scotland.

Players were encouraged to show their support for LGBTQ+ communities by wearing them and its success led to the Premier League formally partnering with Stonewall in an attempt to improve inclusivity across the top level of English football. A report released by Stonewall last month showed that one in four LGBTQ+ people still did not feel welcome at live sporting events.

It has become customary for the Premier League to allot two matchweeks to the Rainbow Laces campaign every season, presenting all 20 clubs with the opportunity to mark the event with a home fixture. The Premier League distributes rainbow-branded corner flags, ball plinths, handshake boards and substitution boards to its clubs, as well as the laces and captain’s armbands.


A rainbow-coloured substitution board is one of the other ways the Premier League marks the campaign (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

The wider period, this season running between November 29 and December 5, also sees clubs encouraged to highlight the work they do to “embed equality, diversity and inclusion”.

That typically includes content with managers, players and supporters to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities. One example this year was Southampton and England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale speaking out on the challenges faced by his brother, Oliver, who is openly gay.

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Why has it proved a talking point this year?

Morsy’s decision not to wear a rainbow armband for Ipswich’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday made him the only one of 20 captains in the Premier League not to do so. A club statement, released on Monday, confirmed the “religious beliefs” of Morsy, a Muslim, had been behind the step, with Ipswich saying they would “respect” the midfielder’s actions.

Also on Saturday, Guehi, a devout Christian, wore the rainbow armband in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United after having written ”I (heart) Jesus” across it. Doing so contravened the Football Association’s rules banning any religious messaging being carried on playing kits.

By chance, Morsy and Guehi were on opposing teams on Tuesday night as Palace won 1-0 away to Ipswich. Morsy again chose not to wear the rainbow armband, while Guehi had changed the written message on his to “Jesus (heart) you”.


Marc Guehi and Sam Morsy both made their own statements around the Rainbow Laces campaign (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, Guehi explained his thinking behind writing the messages.

“I think the message was pretty clear, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a message of love and truth as well and a message of inclusivity, so it speaks for itself.”

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On Wednesday, The Athletic revealed United’s plan to wear rainbow-themed warm-up jackets ahead of Sunday’s game with Everton was scrapped due to Mazraoui, who is Muslim, refusing to take part.

Is this the first time it has provoked controversy?

This is the second year that a Premier League side’s captain has opted against wearing the rainbow armband, after Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international defender, did so last December.

Ahmedhodzic, a Muslim, wore the standard Premier League armband for a 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool, in what was his first game as the team’s captain. Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told reporters after the game that he had been unaware of Ahmedhodzic’s decision, and when asked by Swedish outlet SVT Sport why he had chosen not to have a rainbow armband, the defender answered, “Guess.”

Are players allowed to not wear a rainbow armband or laces?

Neither the laces nor the armband are considered compulsory but there has been an unwritten expectation that all players help promote the campaign. No Premier League captain, until Ahmedhodzic did so, had shown any resistance to the pro-LGBTQ+ messaging.

What are the rules around footballers promoting political symbols or messages on their kits?

Doing that, in short, is prohibited by the FA, who have specific kit requirements for players at all levels of English football. “Equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images,” it outlines under Law 4.

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The theory is that football, and a player’s kit, should not be used for the promotion of any beliefs, ensuring religion and politics are kept at a distance.

Those lines, though, can be blurred.

The annual poppy appeal, raising money for veterans of Britain’s armed forces, sees clubs carry the charity’s logo on their kits but James McClean, now of Wrexham in League One, has long considered it a political symbol and refused to commemorate the occasion, owing to his roots as a Catholic growing up in Northern Ireland.


McClean stands away from his Wrexham team-mates during the Remembrance Day minute’s silence in November (Gary Oakley/PA Images via Getty Images)

“The poppy represents, for me, an entire different meaning to what it does for others,” McClean posted on Instagram in November. “Am I offended by someone wearing a poppy? No, absolutely not, what does offend me though, is having the poppy… forced upon me.”

The same stance was adopted by Nemanja Matic as a Manchester United player, because of Britain’s historic involvement in a military campaign in his homeland of Serbia.

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It’s not just players either. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was fined £20,000 by the FA in 2018 for wearing a yellow ribbon — a symbol of solidarity with members of the independence movement in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where Guardiola is from, who had been arrested by Spain’s authorities — during an FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic.

What has been the response of the football governing bodies and LGBTQ rights groups?

The FA has been in contact with Palace since Guehi wore his modified rainbow armband to remind them of the kit regulations, but no formal action will follow. Palace manager Oliver Glasner told reporters on Tuesday night he had spoken with Guehi ahead of the Ipswich game. “He’s no child. He’s an adult and he has an opinion,” said Glasner. “We respect that, and accept every opinion.”

Though the FA and Premier League are yet to make any formal comments on Morsy refusing to wear a rainbow armband or Guehi’s messaging, Stonewall released their own statement this week. “It has been incredible to see so many football teams at all levels support our Rainbow Laces campaign to make sport safer and more inclusive for all. When clubs like Ipswich Town FC show their support, it helps people feel safe and welcome both on and off the pitch,” a spokesperson said. “It is up to individuals to choose if and how they show their support for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport.”

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

‘We deserve our rights’: How LGBTQ+ fans feel about Rainbow Laces controversy

Is the campaign likely to keep going?

There is no indication the actions of Morsy and Guehi, or the events at Manchester United, will lead to any changes in the Premier League’s allyship with Stonewall. It has been a long-running partnership designed to welcome LGBTQ+ communities and heighten inclusivity and the resistance to the campaign has been nominal.

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Ahead of this year’s event, the league’s chief executive Richard Masters suggested it remained a long-term commitment.

“There has been considerable progress to make football a more inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community since the Rainbow Laces campaign launched a decade ago,” Masters said. “We are determined to maintain this momentum to make sure football is welcoming for everyone and send a clear message that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated.”


Tottenham Hotspur Stadium lit up in rainbow colours in support of the initiative (Getty Images)

Are there equivalent campaigns in other sports?

The Rainbow Laces campaign is not confined to football in England, with Stonewall saying “over a million” people have participated since its launch 11 years ago, including elite athletes from the worlds of rugby union, rugby league and cricket.

Other countries have adopted similar initiatives and, like the Premier League, run into problems.

Clubs from French football’s top divisions wear shirts carrying rainbow colours once a season to promote LGBTQ+ causes, leading some players to make themselves unavailable for that round of games.

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Midfielder Idrissa Gueye, now in the Premier League with Everton, was twice left out of Paris Saint-Germain squads after refusing to wear the modified shirt. Mauricio Pochettino, the club’s manager at the time, said in 2022 that Gueye had missed one particular match for “personal reasons” and there was support from Cheikhou Kouyate of Palace and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr (now a Palace player himself) on social media. All three play at international level for Senegal, where homosexuality is illegal.

Toulouse and Morocco forward Zakaria Aboukhlal also decided not to appear for his French club in 2023 when rainbow kits marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Monaco and Mali midfielder Mohamed Camara was handed a four-match ban at the end of last season after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt during a match in Ligue 1, the top division of club football in France. Amelie Oudea-Castera, the country’s sports minister, called Camara’s actions “unacceptable behaviour.”

The rainbow colours also created an issue in the NHL, North America’s top ice hockey league, last year. The NHL reversed a ban on players wrapping multi-coloured ‘Pride’ tape around their hockey sticks in support of LGBTQ+ communities.

(Top photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

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School district mired in transgender athlete controversy tells critics to blame lawmakers in CA and DC

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School district mired in transgender athlete controversy tells critics to blame lawmakers in CA and DC

Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Riverside, California, addressed a controversy involving a transgender athlete on its cross country team and a lawsuit by two girls on the team alleging their “Save Women’s Sports” T-shirts were compared to swastikas by school administrators. 

The school has faced criticism locally from its own students and nationally from women’s athlete activists, including Riley Gaines and Jennifer Sey. 

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) says it has allowed the transgender athlete to compete on the team because it must to comply with California state law. The school said those who are upset by it should direct their anger to state and federal lawmakers. 

“As these matters play out in our courts and the media, opposition and protests should be directed at those in a position to affect those laws and policies, including officials in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento,” the statement said. 

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The statement also cited language in the California Education Code, California Code of Regulations and California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) bylaws, all of which outlined protections for transgender athletes in public schools. 

“It is important to remember that RUSD is bound to follow California law which requires that students be ‘permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records,’” the statement said.

“While these rules were not created by RUSD, the district is committed to complying with the law and CIF regulations. California state law prohibits discrimination of students based on gender, gender identity and gender expression and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in physical education and athletics. The protections we provide to all students are not only aligned with the law but also with our core values, which include equity and well-being.” 

SJSU TRANSGENDER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL: TIMELINE OF ALLEGATIONS, POLITICAL IMPACT AND A RAGING CULTURE MOVEMENT

The RUSD’s statement did not address the controversy involving the “Save Women’s Sports” T-shirts. 

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California has had state laws in effect to protect transgender athletes in women’s sports dating back to 2014. That year, AB 1266 took effect, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

And Martin Luther King High School is not the first public institution to blame Democrat-authored state laws for a controversial dispute with student-athletes over sharing spaces with transgender athletes.

The University of Nevada, Reno dealt with a controversy with its women’s volleyball players in October, when the athletes’ request to forfeit a match against a team with a transgender athlete was initially rejected by the administration. 

The players made their own public statements about intending to forfeit the match and held a press conference where they accused the university of trying to pressure them into playing. Team captain Sia Liilii alleged athletic department officials told the players they “didn’t understand the science” of facing a transgender athlete. 

The university provided a statement to Fox News Digital, outlining that it could not fulfill the player’s wishes of forfeiting the match without violating Nevada state law. The state’s constitution was revised in 2022 when Nevada voted to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment, which added gender identity to the list of protections. 

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Nevada state Sen. Pat Spearman, a Democrat from North Las Vegas who co-sponsored the bill to get it on the ballot, said the law has helped transgender people maintain their identity.

“As a state university, a forfeiture for reasons involving gender identity or expression could constitute per se discrimination and violate the Nevada Constitution,” the university’s statement added. 

The university ended up forfeiting the match one day before it was scheduled due to not having enough players to compete.

California and Nevada are not the only states that have faced controversy involving public school girls not wanting to face a transgender opponent in the past year. 

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Even states with laws in place to restrict transgender inclusion have had incidents of it happening due to decisions by liberal judges. New Hampshire and Virginia, both states with such laws in place, were affected in 2024. 

Judges Landya McCafferty of New Hampshire and M. Hannah Lauck of Virginia, both appointed during the Obama administration, each issued rulings this year that enabled biological males to play on high school girls soccer and tennis teams. McCafferty issued an order that allowed two transgender athletes to compete in New Hampshire, while Lauck ruled that an 11-year-old transgender tennis player was allowed to compete against girls the same age in Virginia. 

The Biden administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions” in April. The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports. 

The RUSD’s message on Friday has given the district a chance to remind the public that it is at the mercy of the Democratic establishment on this topic. 

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom (IMAGN)

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Still, the students have fought back. 

California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey revealed that more than 150 students have worn the T-shirts to school since the controversy started and alleged that students who refused to comply with the new dress code were forced to spend hours in the principal’s office. Lorey says those students plan to keep doing this on a regular basis despite their school’s new rule. 

“I received those numbers from parents directly involved,” Lorey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “I then have received word on social media that the students plan to continue to do this every Wednesday.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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High school basketball: Thursday’s scores from boys’ and girls’ games

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High school basketball: Thursday’s scores from boys’ and girls’ games

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

THURSDAY’S RESULTS

BOYS

Agoura 73, Oak Park 65
Alta Loma 77, Bell Gardens 49
AMIT 52, Vaughn 45
Animo Venice 101, Burton 10
Animo Watts 75, New Designs Watts 32
Antelope Valley 63, Mojave 10
Aquinas 65, Yucca Valley 25
Arleta 88, Van Nuys 34
Arrowhead Christian 74, Yucaipa 68
Aspire Ollin 61, Alliance Bloomfield 44
Barstow 58, Silver Valley 46
Beckman 48, Salesian 34
Big Bear 77, Entrepreneur 36
Blair 68, King/Drew 51
Buckley 61, Flintridge Prep 53
Burbank 123, Waverly 27
Calabasas 69, Moorpark 58
California Lutheran 78, Santa Rosa Academy 59
California School for the Deaf 51, Rubidoux 49
Calvary Baptist 53, Edgewood 31
Camarillo 90, Bishop Diego 38
Canoga Park 67, University Prep Value 58
Capistrano Valley 48, Costa Mesa 32
Century 44, Santa Ana Valley 30
Chadwick 48, Wildwood 44
Chaffey 56, Sherman Indian 39
Chatsworth 79, Crenshaw 32
Chula Vista Mater Dei 53, La Salle 50
Citrus Hill 110, Cathedral City 32
Citrus Valley 70, Pacific 31
Clovis North 80, Simi Valley 40
Compton Early College 56, Animo Leadership 40
Corona 73, Burton 23
Covina 44, Don Lugo 35
Cypress 66, Summit 58
Damien 80, Arlington 25
Desert Chapel 41, Palm Valley 23
Desert Mirage 48, West Shores 24
Edison 62, San Clemente 58
El Dorado 69, Laguna Beach 60
Elsinore 62, Moreno Valley 50
El Toro 78, Portola 75
Entrepreneur 52, Public Safety Academy 49
Etiwanda 54, Indian Springs 31
Faith Baptist 54, St. Genevieve 51
Fernley 70, Huntington Beach 67
Fountain Valley 80, Northwood 42
Gardena 83, Environmental Charter 39
Garden Grove 57, Westminster La Quinta 54
Garey 59, Ganesha 24
Garfield 58, RFK Community 32
Geffen Academy 56, de Toledo 55
Glendale 83, Vasquez 77
Grace 59, San Fernando Valley Academy 41
Grand Terrace 75, Eisenhower 27
Harvard-Westlake 69, Bishop Montgomery 30
Hemet 80, Canyon Springs 61
Hillcrest 47, San Diego Lincoln 37
Hillcrest Christian 69, El Camino Real 66
Holy Martyrs 59, Burbank Burroughs 31
JSerra 84, Rowville 62
Jurupa Valley 51, Vista del Lago 32
Kaiser 63, Sultana 39
Lakeside 74, Nuview Bridge 27
Lancaster Baptist 47, Desert Christian 42
L.A. Marshall 84, San Fernando 62
La Quinta 60, Southwest EC 31
L.A. University 74, Paramount 65
Leuzinger 60, Hart 49
Loma Linda Academy 34, Arroyo Valley 26
Magnolia Science Academy 61, Liberty Christian 50
Marina 64, Temple City 20
Mayfair 59, St. Monica 56
Maywood Academy 78, Port of L.A. 38
Mesrobian 67, Downey Calvary Chapel 34
New Designs University Park 85, Neuwirth Leadership 8
New Roads 51, SEED L.A. 42
Norwalk 57, Rancho Alamitos 28
Oak Hills 80, Baldwin 48
Oakwood 55, Mary Star of the Sea 46
Orange County Pacifica Christian 50, Clark (Nevada) 45
Orange Vista 54, Norco 36
Orcutt Academy 61, Coastal Christian 41
Oxnard 80, Arroyo Grande 45
Palm Springs 67, Northview 16
Paloma Valley 59, Patriot 57
Panorama 66, Fulton 40
Pasadena Poly 65, Mesa Grande Academy 21
Ramona 81, San Gorgonio 79
Rancho Cucamonga 80, Great Oak 69
Rancho Verde 49, Beaumont 45
Redlands East Valley 93, Apple Valley 75
Redondo Union 93, Chaminade 57
Rio Mesa 69, Nordhoff 46
Riverside King 87, Rialto 56
Riverside Notre Dame 54, Redlands 44
Riverside Poly 58, Corona Santiago 36
Rowland 60, Ontario Christian 57
Royal 76, Cate 50
San Bernardino 61, Diamond Ranch 58
San Gabriel Academy 62, Santa Ana Foothill 52
Sanger 88, Carpinteria 56
San Jacinto 65, Heritage 47
Santa Barbara 78, Fresno Christian 59
Shalvehet 50, Lakeview Charter 14
Sierra Vista 54, Webb 60
Sotomayor 80, Compton Centennial 33
South Torrance 58, Quartz Hill 54
Stern 69, Rise Kohyang 58
St. Bonaventure 66, Wooster 31
St. Louis (Hawaii) 71, Villa Park 55
St. Monica Academy 61, Hesperia Christian 55
St. Margaret’s 78, Bolsa Grande 38
St. Puis X-St. Matthias Academy 94, North Torrance 44
Sun Valley Poly 67, Maranatha 48
Tarbut V’Torah 70, Samueli Academy 40
Temecula Prep 69, Redlands Adventist Academy 28
USC Hybrid 30, Getrz-Ressler 20
Valley Torah 71, Taft 53
Viewpoint 58, Milken 37
Villa Park 64, Kohala 32
Vista Meridian 47, NOVA Academy 42
Weaver 32, Noli Indian 23
WISH Academy 51, Animo Pat Brown 33
Whitney 34, Orange 30
Whittier 51, L.A. Cathedral 44
Whittier Christian 58, Monrovia 43

GIRLS

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Academy for Academic Excellence 32, Arroyo Valley 17
Agoura 62, Palmdale Academy Charter 15
Alhambra 45, Norwalk 33
Animo Venice 60 Burton 3
Antelope Valley 75, Littlerock 19
Apple Valley 48, South El Monte 41
Azusa 28, Webb 25
Banning 55, Arlington 38
Barstow 50, Silver Valley 38
Beaumont 88, Twentynine Palms 33
Bolsa Grande 27, Capistrano Valley 22
Bonita 47, Santa Margarita 46
Burbank 51, Hacienda Heights Wilson 39
California 56, Schurr 37
California City 50, Palmdale Aerospace Academy 29
California School for the Deaf 42, Perris 32
Cajon 55, San Marino 43
Canyon Springs 61, Norte Vista 7
Carpinteria 51, Fillmore 19
Charter Oak 52, EL Monte 6
Chatsworth 45, Narbonne 27
Coachella Valley 62, Desert Hot Springs 21
Collins Family 27, USC-MAE 9
Colton 68, Citrus Valley 43
Corona 45, Ayala 41
Corona Santiago 67, Valley View 37
Costa Mesa 34, Western 13
Crossroads 45, Notre Dame Academy 40
Culver City 51, Bishop Alemany 46
Desert Christian 45, Lancaster Baptist 27
Diamond Bar 76, Northview 31
Don Lugo 37, Miller 34
Edgewood 35, Nogales 26
El Dorado 57, Rolling Hills Prep 41
El Rancho 52, Arroyo 12
El Segundo 65, Elsinore 28
Fairmont Prep 67, Portola 34
Flintridge Sacred Heart 51, Muir 49
Gahr 50, Bell Gardens 24
Garey 51, Linfield Christian 47
Gertz-Ressler 15, USC Hybrid 7
Glendora 52, Arcadia 38
Godinez Fundamental 34, Aliso Niguel 29
Grand Terrace 55, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 32
Hillcrest 46, Riverside North 30
Hillcrest Christian 69, Villanova Prep 49
Holy Martyrs 61, Milken 30
Immaculate Heart 31, Millikan 27
Katella 44, Rosemead 33
Keppel 51, Dana Hills 37
Laguna Hills 52, Rancho Alamitos 26
La Jolla Country Day 81, Marlborough 36
Legacy 63, Bravo 16
Lompoc Cabrillo 34, Marina 29
Los Alamitos 81, Northwood 25
Maranatha 48, Trinity Classical Academy 44
Mary Star of the Sea 20, Paraclete 19
Mayfield 47, Chadwick 23
McClatchy 64, Rancho Christian 58
New Designs University Park 26, Neuwirth Leadership 3
Norco 40, NOVA Academy 35
North Torrance 61, Anaheim Canyon 39
Oak Hills 45, Yucaipa 40
Ontario Christian 106, Troy 15
Orange Lutheran 71, South Torrance 51
Orange Vista 63, Indian Springs 36
Orcutt Academy 56, Santa Barbara 15
Oxnard 50, Righetti 30
Palmdale Aerospace Academy 43, California City 24
Palm Desert 56, Redlands 16
Palos Verdes 49, Yorba Linda 38
Panorama 33, Fulton 12
Pasadena Poly 76, Chaffey 24
Public Safety Academy 42, Entrepreneur 12
Quartz Hill 52, Palmdale 27
Ramona 43, Paloma Valley 23
Rancho Verde 50, Aquinas 35
Redondo Union 52, Leuzinger 18
Rio Hondo Prep 48, Duarte 24
Riverside Notre Dame 47, Xavier Prep 36
Rowland 47, Sunny Hills 44
Sacred Heart of Jesus 56, Pomona Catholic 23
San Diego Cathedral 52, Murrieta Mesa 26
San Gorgonio 38, Rim of the World 33
San Marcos 35, Santa Ynez 31
Santa Ana Mater Dei 74, San Clemente 42
Santa Monica 50, YULA 30
Santa Rosa Academy 27, California Lutheran 11
Serra 65, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 9
Shafter 41, Corona del Mar 32
Sierra Vista 47, El Modena 44
Silver Valley 50, Barstow 38
St. Bonaventure 76, Santa Maria 42
St. Monica 65, Burbank Burroughs 44
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 57, St. Genevieve 36
Temecula Prep 68, Lakeside 26
Temple City 63, San Gabriel 17
Tesoro 45, Santa Ana 43
Trabuco Hills 62, Santa Ana Valley 24
Valley Christian Academy 66, Laguna Blanca 5
Valley Vista 70, Orange County Pacifica Christian 40
Verdugo Hills 55, Cleveland 51
Westchester 58, Hart 37
Westminster La Quinta 37, Mission Viejo 27
Westridge 24, Balir 20
West Shores 44, Desert Mirage 3
Whitney 68, Golden Valley 27
Whittier Christian 56, Edison 32
Wiseburn-Da Vinci 58, St. Paul 27
Woodbridge 61, Firebaugh 4
Yucca Valley 62, Bloomington 32

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LeBron James, Mikal Bridges and most of the Sixers lead NBA All-Disappointment Team

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LeBron James, Mikal Bridges and most of the Sixers lead NBA All-Disappointment Team

At some level, horrible players can’t disappoint us. It’s all about expectations, right? The first step to being disappointed is setting the achievement bar somewhere higher than the ground.

So when we talk about the NBA season’s most disappointing players, keep in mind they’ve already done something that had us anticipating some level of success. We react differently when they fall short of our preconceived target; even a performance that might otherwise be characterized as “good” by mere mortals can earn the “disappointing” label. That’s particularly true if, say, a player not only sustained his success in an unbroken string of excellence for two decades but had done so at an exalted, MVP-caliber level well into his late 30s.

This takes us to LeBron James, the soon-to-be 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers superstar who is, by his lofty standards, taking a rare excursion on the struggle bus. While the big news recently is that the Lakers have lost six of eight, including Wednesday’s humiliating 134-93 defeat in Miami, the bigger-picture story comes when you get into the “why”: James doesn’t seem capable of carrying a team by himself anymore … or even in tandem with another superstar.

Coming into the season, we knew this Lakers roster had some massive shortcomings. The lack of a third high-level starter, let alone a fourth and fifth one, and the sea of negative minutes coming from the bench augured that James and Anthony Davis would have to carry a massive burden to get Los Angeles to the playoffs, let alone beyond the first round. After All-NBA-caliber seasons from each a year ago, that didn’t seem like a big ask.

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The part about the rest of the roster, however, has held up: James and Davis are the only Lakers regulars with a PER above 15 or a BPM above 0. But that was the case the past two years, and L.A. not only made the playoffs in each season but also advanced to the 2022 Western Conference finals.

This time around, L.A.’s 12-10 record entering Friday has been built mostly on a soft-ish schedule and good fortune in close games. It masks some horrific underlying numbers — the league’s 23rd-best net rating and 27th-ranked defense — as well as the scary fact that the team has basically been completely healthy. James and Davis have missed one game between them; Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and rookie Dalton Knecht have only missed nine.

The difference is that we aren’t getting our usual LeBron. If the West coaches picked an All-Star squad right now, I don’t think he’d make the team. And as he closes in on his 40th birthday in a few weeks, we may have to acknowledge James is no longer superhuman, even as he still does things nobody else has done at this age.

James’ 20.6 PER is absurd for age 40, but “for age 40” is doing a lot of work here. It’s a steep decline from last season (23.7) and his lowest since his rookie year. Other metrics are similarly bearing on his impact thus far, from his horrific on-off numbers to the more nerdy advanced numbers that have always ranked him as a top-10 player now having him nowhere close.

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At a more basic level, James is doing a lot of things either less often or less well. His points per game average (22.3) is his lowest since his rookie year, and it’s not like he’s offset the decline in buckets by scoring more efficiently. Much has been made about his declining 3-point percentage, but he’s also down to 55.9 percent on 2s with a career-low free-throw rate. For the first time in his career, James is averaging fewer than one dunk per game; he’s also trending toward a career-worst in total turnovers and turnover rate.

His steal rate is another career low and half what it was a year ago; the eye test says James’ brain can’t impact games defensively the way he often did the past two years. Now, in addition to the team-wide transition defense struggles, it’s easier to pick out sequences where he’s stuck in mud on the weak side.

So if we’re coming up with our biggest disappointments from the first quarter of the season, James has to be at the top. He’s the headliner, but here is the rest of my All-Disappointment Team. (Stats current as of Thursday afternoon.):

Mikal Bridges, Knicks

Our Fred Katz and James Edwards have devoted a lot of energy to figuring out what’s wrong with Mikal Bridges, so I won’t rehash everything. Optimists will note the past two games (50 combined points!) have been slightly encouraging.

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But still … yikes. The Knicks gave up five first-round picks for a guy who is shooting 33.1 percent from 3 and looks deeply uncomfortable taking them from above the break, has been their worst perimeter defender on many nights and plays like the goal of the game is to never get fouled.

The decline in Bridges’ free-throw rate is particularly jaw-dropping. Just over a year ago, he drew 18 foul shots in a 42-point eruption against the Orlando Magic. Fast forward 12 months, and Bridges has 14 free-throw attempts all season. One of them was on a defensive-three-seconds technical. And it seems to have only become worse lately. Even in his two-game burst of scoring, Bridges only drew one free-throw attempt. He has drawn two shooting fouls in his past 10 games — and remember, he’s playing 40 minutes a night.

Of players with at least 500 minutes played, only Oklahoma City Thunder role player Cason Wallace has a lower free-throw rate than Bridges. In a related story, Bridges’ efficiency numbers aren’t great either, with the paucity of freebies dragging his true shooting percentage down to 55.3 and his PER to 12.6.


Mikal Bridges dives for a loose ball against the Mavericks in Dallas. (Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)

Nearly everything in Philly (except Jared McCain)

It seems wild to think that after the offseason the Sixers had, the guy they took with the 16th pick in the draft could turn out to be the Rookie of the Year, and yet the team would be an abject disaster.

Welp … here we are. Philly is off to a 5-15 start, and only the mess that is the Eastern Conference is keeping it remotely attached to the playoff race.

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Superstar center Joel Embiid has played four games, hasn’t looked anywhere close to his old self when he played and is out again with knee soreness with a hazy timeline for his return. It’s not clear if he’s ever going to come back as the same guy, the one who dominated at the offensive end with a mix of jumpers and overpowering drives. And if he does, can he do it for more than a week or two at a time before having to shut it down again?

While it starts and ends with Embiid, let’s not lose sight of the other disappointments. There were hints of this last season, when the Sixers went 16-27 in the non-Embiid games. But that team didn’t have max free agent Paul George, and it would take a torrid hot streak to get these Sixers to 16-27.

Two secondary free-agent targets, Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre, look like replacement-level players so far, with Martin already falling out of the starting lineup. Eric Gordon, a 35-year-old free-agent pickup, aspires to improve enough to be replacement level.  Coach Nick Nurse has had no answers, and maybe the roster just doesn’t have any.

Even All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey has struggled to replicate last season’s breakout that earned him the Most Improved Player award and an All-Star berth. He’s at just 30.5 percent from 3 and 48.8 percent inside the arc.

Philly’s three max players have played less than a full game together. But the more telling stat may be the Maxey-George minutes, which was supposed to be the floor if the Sixers can’t count on Embiid. There have only been 93 minutes of it so far across five games, but the Sixers’ plus-5.0 net rating in that time may be the one glimmer of hope.

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Rookie Jared McCain, taking inspiration from Stephen Curry, is thriving for the Sixers

Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, Pacers

Remember how much fun Indiana was six months ago? Um … what happened?

The Pacers are 9-14, the blazing fast attack that tore through the league last year ranks just 18th in offense, and if the playoffs started today, last year’s conference finalist (and NBA Cup finalist!) would barely be clinging to the final Play-In spot.

Haliburton has been the more obvious disappointment, seemingly still struggling with the physical ailments that chipped away at his performance in the second half of last season. (First-half Hali was a thing of wonder, and it sucks more people didn’t see it.)

He’s dipped to 33.3 percent from the 3-point line after being deadly anywhere inside half court a year ago and is shooting 2s so rarely that they stop the game for a small ceremony when he takes one. His 7.8 2-point attempts per 100 possessions are in line with snipers like Keegan Murray (whom we’ll discuss below), Buddy Hield and Cameron Johnson, not an NBA All-Star.

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Haliburton is taking the spotlight, but can we talk about Turner? He’s somehow managed to thread the needle of not really going inside the arc much but still committing a ton of turnovers. Turner has 19 bad-pass turnovers in 21 games, according to Basketball-Reference, after he committed 22 all of last season. One suspects this might be a symptom of increased high-low attempts to last year’s late-season pickup Pascal Siakam, but there’s more. Turner also is losing the ball in other ways far more frequently and committing more offensive fouls.

All of this might be understandable if Turner was trying to mash on the block, but his 2-point attempts are markedly down from a year ago, as are his attempts at the rim, and his 15.1-foot average shot distance is a career high.

Sum it up, and Haliburton-Turner units have massively diminished in effectiveness. The same duo that had a plus-8.8 net rating in their minutes together in 2023-24 is now sporting a minus-6.0 this season, and Haliburton-Turner have played more as a duo than all but eight pairs in the league.

The surging Hawks have won five straight. Ca-Caw! But the amazing part is that they’ve done it even as Trae Young continues to post some of the worst shooting numbers of his career. In Wednesday’s impressive road win at Milwaukee, for instance, Young was just 6 of 19 from the floor and missed all nine of his 3-point attempts.

Hampered by a sore Achilles for most of the season, Young has seen his shooting percentages dip everywhere — his 2-point and 3-point percentages (46.4 percent and 30.6 percent, respectively) are career lows, and his free-throw rate is his lowest since his rookie year. The only shot type that hasn’t declined is dunks — he’s still holding level at zero. More seriously, he’s also pushing to lead the league in turnovers and is at a career-worst on a per-possession basis.

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Young has offset that with some positives; he’s leading the league in assists, and while the comparison bar couldn’t be lower, his defense has definitely improved from two years ago. That said, the Hawks depend on him to be their offensive engine and are only 19th on that end as he labors.


In Atlanta, everything revolves around Trae Young. (Brett Davis / Imagn Images)

I get that nobody is watching the Wizards, but if you happen to stumble across one of their games, it doesn’t take long to hit you: What the heck are some of these shots Kyle Kuzma is taking?

Even by his thirsty standard of recent years, this has been some breathtaking stuff. Perhaps the surrounding talent is somewhat to blame; somebody has to shoot on this team, and the shot chart shows Kuzma is 14 of 37 in floater range. In other words, a lot of forays to the rim haven’t quite reached their destination.

Even open jumpers have been a struggle, however, and the result has been incredibly ineffective. Kuzma has a 9.9 PER and 47.6 percent true shooting, and it hasn’t just been because of cold 3-point shooting; he’s at 48.8 percent even inside the arc. An already tanktastic Wizards offense plummets to a 97.0 offensive rating in his minutes.

Kuzma has missed a few games, so his sample isn’t quite as large as some others on this list, but the notion that Washington could get value for the remaining three years and $64 million on his deal seems increasingly improbable.

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Sacramento is 24th in 3-point frequency and 25th in percentage, and that wasn’t supposed to happen because the Kings had two knockdown shooters on the wing to stop defenses from crowding De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis and DeMar DeRozan.

Instead, Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter are clanging bricks to the tune of identical 28.7 percent marks from the 3-point line and starving for other opportunities while the Kings’ big three dominates the ball. Huerter’s usage rate would be his lowest since his rookie year; Murray’s would be a career low after he jumped to 15.2 points per game in his second season in 2023-24.

It hasn’t been fatal for the Kings, who are eighth in offense thanks to their three stars, but it’s still money left on the table that’s likely to matter in a cutthroat West playoff race. The Kings were No. 1 in offense in their Beam Dream season in 2022-23, and to get to a top-six win total in the conference, they likely need to push near the top of the league again.

Top 15 picks of draft

McCain (mentioned above) is making an impact, but of the first half of the first round of the 2024 draft, only two (behemoth bigs Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey) have rated significantly better than replacement level in their minutes; both have been injured, and Edey was pulled from the Memphis Grizzlies starting lineup. Yay? Nobody else in the top 15 has a PER above 12.

Yes, there are levels to this, from the Cody Williams insta-inferno to the Ron Holland 3-point experience (9 of 50!) to the, er, “developing” chemistry between Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr (an offensive rating of 96.0 with a minus-20.3 net rating as a combo) to the more encouraging flash-sprinkled efforts from guys like Stephon Castle and Zaccharie Risacher. As a group, though, this has been jaw-droppingly underwhelming.

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Zaccharie Risacher might not be a typical No. 1 pick, but he’s a good fit with Hawks

While there’s always risk in panning a draft class too early, it’s an understatement to say things aren’t going real well for the top 15. Castle and Sarr are the only players who routinely get to finish games. Two of them (Rob Dillingham and Kel’El Ware) can’t even get on the court, while third pick Reed Sheppard is baaaaarely hanging on (don’t cry; we’ll always have summer league).

Did Oklahoma City and Sacramento win the draft by taking injured guys? Can we just pause the Rookie of the Year award and give out two trophies next year? I have questions.

The general presumption was that, after a bumpy rookie year, the third pick in the 2023 draft would be a lot better in Year 2.

I wish I could tell you things look different, but they really don’t. A 30.2 percent 3-point percentage? Wild finishes leading to a 45.7 percent mark inside the arc? Marching up the leaderboard in turnovers per 100 possessions? Yep, we’ve seen this movie before.

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The 20-year-old Scoot Henderson still has time on his side, but the Blazers moved him to the bench this season despite being in a rebuild. It hasn’t been much of a decision to keep him there. For a guard drafted for his athleticism, there just haven’t been many positive signs — he has three and-1s all season and has made negligible impact on defense. Can he clean up some of the myriad offensive mistakes and get his career pointed in the right direction, or is this just who he is?

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(Top photo of LeBron James and Paul George: Harry How / Getty Images)

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