BASKETBALL
Kareem recovering
Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was recovering Friday after undergoing quadruple coronary bypass surgery. He had the surgery a day earlier at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a hospital statement. Dr. Richard Shemin, who performed the surgery, said the 68-year-old former NBA and UCLA star is expected to make a full recovery. He was admitted to the hospital this week with cardiovascular disease. Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 38,387 points during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks that ended in 1989. The 7-2 center was known for his trademark sky hook shot. In the statement, Abdul-Jabbar said he’s looking forward to getting back to his usual activities soon. He asked people to keep him in their thoughts and “most importantly, cherish and live each day to the fullest.” He was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2008. In recent years, he has written several books.
Atlanta Hawks forward Thabo Sefolosha is recovering from surgery on his right leg, which he said was injured during his arrest by New York police last week. The team said Sefolosha had surgery Thursday to repair a fractured fibula and ligament damage. The operation was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson at the Ortho-Carolina Foot & Ankle Institute in Charlotte, N.C. Sefolosha will miss the playoffs, with an expected recovery period of about six months. The team hopes he’ll be ready for the start of training camp next season. Sefolosha and teammate Pero Antic were arrested outside a Manhattan nightclub where Indiana’s Chris Copeland was stabbed. The Hawks players were charged with obstructing authorities and disorderly conduct, but have denied any wrongdoing. Antic said he and Sefolosha weren’t even with Copeland.
The Brooklyn Nets said Mirza Teletovic has been cleared to resume basketball activities after recovering from blood clots in his lungs. The Nets announced Friday that Teletovic would be listed as out for their playoff games, and they would provide updates if his status changes. Teletovic last played on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles against the Clippers. He said doctors believe the clots could be traced to a hip pointer he sustained in December that traveled to his lungs. Team physician Dr. Michael Farber said in a statement that Teletovic has been closely monitored on blood thinners and “follow-up testing has met our expectations. The most recent bloodwork was normal.” Teletovic, a forward from Bosnia, averaged 8.5 points in 40 games.
The NBA could extend the season by a week in 2015-2016 to build in more rest for players, but there will be no changes to the playoff or draft lottery format. Commissioner Adam Silver is committed to reducing the number of times teams have to play four times in five nights or on back-to-back nights. He said ending the season a week later next year could help, and that a decision should be made by early May. He said Friday that owners also had their first serious discussion about the playoff format, after the Oklahoma City Thunder missed the playoffs in the West with a 45-37 record that would’ve been sixthbest in the East. It’s too early to tell how they feel about changing the current system that puts the top eight teams from each conference in the postseason, Silver said.
TENNIS
Djokovic advances
Novak Djokovic won the first eight games of his Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal match Friday before Marin Cilic managed to hold his serve, raising a thumb in the air to celebrate. The momentum change was short-lived, though, with the top-ranked Djokovic powering his way into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-3 victory. Djokovic, who ended Rafael Nadal’s reign in Monte Carlo when he won the clay-court Masters tournament in 2013, will next face the Spaniard in a match he sees as “probably the biggest clay-court challenge you can have.” It will be their 43rd career meeting, the first since Nadal beat Djokovic in last year’s French Open final. Nadal, an eight-time champion at the Country Club, had to battle for nearly three hours before securing a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory over David Ferrer, who stopped him in the quarterfinals last year. Djokovic is off to his best start since 2011. Earlier, Tomas Berdych advanced to the semifinals for the third time after Milos Raonic retired with a foot injury. He will face Gael Monfils, who followed up his convincing victory over Roger Federer in the previous round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
MOTOR SPORTS
Ross Kenseth debuts
Ross Kenseth will make his national series debut at Chicagoland Speedway, where he will drive for the same team, car number and sponsor that his championship-winning father uses at NASCAR’s highest level. Kenseth will run the Xfinity Series race June 20 in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota. The car will be sponsored by Dollar General. His father, Matt Kenseth, drives the same combination in the Sprint Cup Series. Ross Kenseth turns 22 next month and has been actively trying to build a racing career but has struggled to find opportunities. He has just two ARCA starts to his career and has never raced in one of NASCAR’s three national series. Matt Kenseth helped his son put together the one-race opportunity with JGR.
Ryan Hunter-Reay vehemently disagrees with a penalty levied against him for a three-car accident at New Orleans. IndyCar this week docked the Indianapolis 500 winner three points and placed him on probation for three races for what the series called “avoidable contact” in last Sunday’s race. Simon Pagenaud ran off course as he raced three-wide with Hunter-Reay and Sebastien Bourdais following a late restart. When Pagenaud re-entered the racing surface, he slammed into Hunter-Reay, who spun into Bourdais. All three cars slid off course, with Pagenaud and Bourdais hitting tire barriers. Pagenaud maintained Hunter-Reay ran him off the track, and Hunter-Reay insisted Pagenaud ran out of racing surface. Hunter-Reay on Friday told The Indianapolis Star the penalty “is BS” and he said he relayed that opinion to IndyCar.
Chip Ganassi Racing Team teammates Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan have the fastest times through the first round of practice at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Dixon had the top time, completing the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit in 1 minute, 8.6458 seconds. Kanaan finished the course in 1.8076 and Ryan Hunter-Reay was just behind him. John Edwards, formerly of Little Rock, had the third-best time in GTLM. Qualifying in the 32nd running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach is today and the 80-lap race is Sunday.
HORSE RACING
Star-quality Cozmic One runs dead last in debut
About the only thing Cozmic One did in his career debut that was mindful of his famed mother, Zenyatta, is he lagged far behind the competition early in the second race Friday at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, Calif.
But unlike Zenyatta, who won 19 of 20 career starts, losing by a head in her final race, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Cozmic One did not display a late kick. He closed some ground in the 1-mile race for 3-year-old maidens, but finished last of six, beaten 8 ½ lengths as the second betting favorite.
“For whatever reason — and I don’t know why — he dropped back more than we would have expected,” trainer John Shirreffs said of Cozmic One. “At one point, we were wondering if he was going to get into the race at all. At least he made a little move.”
Cozmic One, who is by 2006 Preakness Stakes winner Bernardini, is expected to make his next start in New York, where Shirreffs will be stabled during the spring and summer.
“As far as what level of talent he has, that’s the great thing about horse racing — nobody really knows,” said Shirreffs, who trains Cozmic One for owners/ breeders Jerry and Ann Moss. “Every horse, no matter who his mother is, no matter who his father is — they have to prove themselves. Now it’s time for ‘Coz’ to start learning how he’s going to prove himself.”