AP National Sports

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer The Sacramento Kings officially announced the hiring of Mike Brown as their new head coach with hopes he can end the NBA’s longest playoff drought ever. General manager Monte McNair said Monday that Brown was picked to replace interim coach Alvin Gentry. The Kings fired Gentry after a season

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The New York Giants have released veteran cornerback James Bradberry. A starter for the team the past two seasons, including making the Pro Bowl in 2020, Bradberry is a salary cap casualty. He would have been a $21.9 million cap hit, so cutting him Monday will save about $10 million.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Adreian Payne, a former Michigan State basketball standout and NBA player, has died in a shooting. He was 31. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a shooting at 1:34 a.m. Monday when Payne was identified and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Lawrence Dority, 29,

By The Associated Press Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who had cancer and made a full recovery, has been selected as the 2022 George Halas Award recipient by the Professional Football Writers of America. The Halas Award is given to an NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes adversity to succeed. The award is

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The trial of a pair of former 21st Century Fox Inc. executives and a sports marketing company on charges related to the U.S government investigation of corruption in soccer was postponed to Jan. 3. Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez were charged in March 2020 as

By PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — The NASCAR Cup Series playoff grid is filling up fast. Some drivers are taking aggressive measures to ensure they’re around for the postseason. Joey Logano rammed the back of leader William Byron on the next-to-last lap and went on to win at Darlington Raceway over

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer ROME (AP) — Denis Shapovalov overcame a point penalty and a hostile crowd to beat local hope Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open. Shapovalov was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct after hopping over the net to check a mark

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A day after calling Yankee Stadium a “Little League ballpark” following Gleyber Torres’ game-winning home run over the right field short porch, Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward said he regretted his postgame remarks. Woodward had said the 369-foot drive was “a easy out in 99%

ZURICH (AP) — Brazil and Argentina have lost their appeals to FIFA and will have to play the World Cup qualifying game that was abandoned within minutes of starting last year in Sao Paulo amid chaos on the field. Brazilian health officials came onto the field because they believed some Argentina players had broken pandemic

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Police say a Kentucky football player has been charged with drunken driving. News outlets cited an arrest affidavit in reporting that 24-year-old running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. was arrested Sunday and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, careless driving and driving without tail lamps. The citation

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — It’s been a quick rise for Carlos Alcaraz. It wasn’t long ago that the 19-year-old Spaniard was playing in youth tennis tournaments and talking about his idols Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. And about his dream of one day making it into the top 10 and

GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany (AP) — Schalke is coming back to the Bundesliga after a year of transformation on and off the field. A humiliating relegation from the top division galvanized one of Germany’s traditional giants to make changes on the field. Then came the war in Ukraine and Schalke cut ties with the Russian state gas

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — A person familiar with the decision says Denver’s Nikola Jokic has won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award after a season in which he finished with numbers never before seen in NBA history. The NBA was preparing to make the announcement official in the coming

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Everton, Leeds and Burnley are fighting for top-flight survival in England and are being led by the type of manager Premier League teams don’t typically turn to in a crisis. Clubs battling the drop have often defaulted to veteran managers with decades of experience as well as a supposed