AP National Sports

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer Kevin Durant wanted no part of James Harden on the day their partnership in Brooklyn ended. Durant kept passing on Harden in the NBA All-Star Draft until LeBron James had to take him with the last pick. James had the first pick among players in the starters pool for

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer Kevin Huber completely understands how big a deal this really is. He’s living out the dream every Bengals fan has ever had. Including himself. The 36-year-old punter has been rooting all his life for the only NFL team for which he has played. He grew up in

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Beijing’s Winter Olympics remind us of how everything in China is big, bigger — and even bigger. Think of famous landmarks like Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Three Gorges Dam, and dozens of high-end malls in Beijing. China has thousands of years

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Les Snead really doesn’t mind if the public and the media think he’s a risk-taker whose decade as the Rams’ general manager is defined by his eagerness to mortgage Los Angeles’ future for big-name stars of the present. Snead feels the Rams’ reputation is a

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s women’s basketball game at No. 3 Louisville has been canceled due to mechanical and aircraft staffing issues. The Atlantic Coast Conference made the announcement less than two hours before Thursday night’s scheduled tipoff. The Cavaliers will forfeit the contest. Virginia is the league’s only winless team in conference play. The

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer In swapping James Harden for Ben Simmons, the Brooklyn Nets decided they needed to act now as they slide down the standings. The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t do the same. A number of deals were made Thursday before the NBA’s trade deadline, topped by the blockbuster between the Nets

LONDON (AP) — Diogo Jota is squeezing every moment out of his understudy role in the Liverpool attack. Even with Egypt striker Mohamed Salah back available after a month away at the African Cup of Nations, Jota still started and scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over Leicester. The second was scored with Salah

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal has undergone surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist. Beal opted earlier this week to have the season-ending surgery. A three-time All-Star, Beal averaged 23.2 points and a career-high 6.6 assists in 40 games this season. He suffered the torn ligament on Jan. 29

BEIJING (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin is ready to have some “fun” when she returns to Olympic action in the super-G. Shiffrin posted on Twitter early Friday morning in China to say she’s grateful “to have the opportunity to refocus on a new race, in the sport that I love so much.” The two-time Olympic gold

By PRESTON SHOEMAKER For the Associated Press INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, joined by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke and Chargers owner Dean Spanos, promoted a new campaign Thursday to give children access to more parks and athletic equipment, featuring what was described as the sports version of an ice cream

BROSSARD, Quebec (AP) — Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis was introduced as interim coach of the Montreal Canadiens. St. Louis says becoming a head coach in the NHL is a dream come true. He replaces Dominique Ducharme, who was fired after the Canadiens lost their seventh straight game Tuesday night. The 46-year-old St. Louis’

WOLVERHAMPTON, England (AP) — Gabriel’s first-half goal has given Arsenal its first win of the year, although the Gunners had to hang on with 10 men for a 1-0 victory at Wolves after yet another needless sending off. The Brazilian defender was on hand to poke in the winner in the 25th minute but it

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes will use Arizona State’s new on-campus hockey arena for at least the next three years while the team looks for a permanent home. Arizona State’s arena will hold about 5,000 fans, easily making it the NHL’s smallest home venue. The Coyotes will begin there  next season and the

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference distributed about $54.6 million in revenue to each of its 14 member schools in the fiscal year that ended last August. Commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday that the league divided $764.4 million of total revenue among the members, not including $13.4 million retained by universities that participated in

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Winter signing Dušan Vlahović has scored late for defending champion Juventus to squeeze into the Italian Cup semifinals with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo. The former Fiorentina striker did well to go past Mert Müldür and was fortunate his shot took a decisive deflection from Brazilian defender Ruan to finally beat

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool forward Diogo Jota scored twice to reach the 100-goal mark for his club career and give Liverpool a 2-0 win over Leicester in the Premier League. Jota has now scored in 18 different Premier League games for Liverpool, of which it has won 15 and drawn three, and he is