BASKETBALL
Slur sprayed on James' home
A racial slur was spray-painted on a Los Angeles home owned by LeBron James on Wednesday, the police said, just a day before the basketball superstar was set to play in his seventh consecutive NBA Finals. Officer Norma Eisenman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, said the episode was being investigated as a hate crime, and that the slur had been painted over by the property's managers. Officer Aareon Jefferson, a spokesman for the Police Department, said that someone had called to report the slur at 6:44 a.m. Wednesday and that it was covered up by the time officers arrived at the home in West Los Angeles a short while later. He said the incident was still being investigated and that he did not know who had reported the slur. He did not know whether anyone was home at the time of the incident. The vandalism came the day before the opening game of the NBA Finals, in which James' Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Golden State Warriors for the third consecutive season. Over the last several seasons, James, the NBA's most recognizable superstar, has been unafraid to voice his political opinions, decrying police killings of African-American men and endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. His willingness to speak his mind has set him apart from stars of previous eras, including Michael Jordan, with whom he is often compared. In 2015, Variety reported that James had purchased a $21 million home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The basketball superstar has demonstrated his interest in a second career as a Hollywood player; the production company he co-founded, SpringHill Entertainment, signed a deal with Warner Bros. Entertainment in 2015 and James played himself in the movie Trainwreck that year.
BASEBALL
Harper's suspension reduced
Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper has agreed to drop his appeal of a four-game suspension and will have one game shaved from the punishment. Harper reached the agreement Wednesday with Major League Baseball and was to begin serving the suspension immediately. The punishment stemmed from a bench-clearing brawl on Monday after Harper was hit by a 98-mph fastball from Giants reliever Hunter Strickland. There's no word on Strickland, who received a six-game suspension and also had planned to appeal. The bad blood between the two stemmed from a pair of home runs Harper hit off Strickland in the 2014 playoffs. MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre's explanation of the disciplinary decisions said Strickland intentionally hit "Harper with a pitch, inciting the bench-clearing incident and fighting," while Harper's suspension came "for charging the mound, throwing his helmet and fighting." Each player also was fined an undisclosed amount.
Trout has thumb surgery
Mike Trout has undergone successful surgery on his injured left thumb, and the Los Angeles Angels slugger is likely to be out for at least six weeks. Dr. Steve Shin performed surgery on Trout on Wednesday, the Angels said. Trout had surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and dorsal capsule. The typical recovery time for the procedure is six to eight weeks. The two-time AL MVP injured his hand while sliding headfirst into second base in Miami on Sunday. Trout is off to another spectacular start to the season, batting .337 with 16 home runs, 36 RBI and a 1.203 OPS. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said he hopes Trout has a chance to beat the estimated recovery time. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons had similar surgery and returned in five weeks last season.
GOLF
Video out of Woods' arrest
Police in Jupiter, Fla., have released video of Tiger Woods' DUI arrest. Police released the dash-cam footage Wednesday night. Officers on patrol early Monday noticed a Mercedes pulled awkwardly to the side of the road with the engine running, the brake lights on and a right turn signal blinking. Both tires on the left side of the car were flat, and police described fresh damage to the driver's side. The video shows officers approach the car and Woods, who didn't know where he was. The footage also shows Woods stumble and sway through a field sobriety test before being arrested. A breath test registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.00 percent. Woods later said his condition was caused by prescription medications. Woods is to be arraigned July 5 in Palm Beach County court on the DUI charge.
MOTOR SPORTS
Kanaan to race at Le Mans
Tony Kanaan will replace injured driver Sebastien Bourdais on the defending class winning team at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Bourdais teamed with Joey Hand and Dirk Müller to drive the No. 68 Ford for Chip Ganassi Racing to the GTE Pro Class victory last season. The Le Mans native broke his pelvis, a hip and two ribs in a crash at Indianapolis during qualifying for the Indy 500. It will be Kanaan's debut at Le Mans, a bucket race for most drivers. Kanaan has significant time in Ganassi's sports cars and was part of the overall winning team at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Scott Dixon, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Larson in a Ford EcoBoost prototype in 2015. But it's the first time he will be paired with Hand and Muller, who along with Bourdais won Daytona this year, as well. Kanaan has been in the Ford GT this year and led laps in Rolex 24 as the Brazilian teamed with Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell to finish fifth in GTLM. Ford estimates Kanaan spent seven hours, 30 minutes in the car at Daytona and was the third-quickest driver in the category, behind Ganassi teammates Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe. Kanaan expects to get about three hours of simulator work before he heads to France for the June race.
TENNIS
Johnson beats Coric in four hours at Open
PARIS — Steve Johnson, the 25th-seeded American, managed to edge Borna Coric 6-2, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 7-6 (6) and reach the French Open’s third round Wednesday.
For nearly 4 full hours, Johnson stayed the course, over and over, even as the on-court particulars grew complicated. He managed to be OK even after his initial four match points slipped away. And even when he was docked a point by the chair umpire for what an incredulous Johnson considered an innocuous extra hit of the ball deep in the fourth set. And yet again when Coric twice was a single point from forcing a fifth set.
On his fifth chance to end things, Johnson delivered a clean forehand winner to seal the victory. Then he let go, dropping onto to his knees near the baseline, his chest heaving, his eyes filling with tears.
Johnson’s father died three weeks ago.
“I know it’s going to be emotional for quite some time. Who knows how long it’ll take? I just know he’s with me. He raised me to be a competitor and a fighter to the last point. And that’s what I try to do with my tennis,” said Johnson, 27.
There were other winners and losers, of course, on Day 4 of the French Open, but nothing quite so poignant.
The 12th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga left meekly, eliminated 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4 by 91st-ranked Renzo Olivo of Argentina after only one game Wednesday in a match suspended a night earlier because of darkness. It was 2008 Australian Open runner-up Tsonga’s first loss in the first round in Paris since his debut 12 years ago.
Others who advanced included defending champion Novak Djokovic and nine-time champion Rafael Nadal among the men, and defending champion Garbine Muguruza and former No. 1s Venus Williams (whose pregnant sister Serena was in the stands) and Caroline Wozniacki among the women. There were a couple of surprises: No. 6 Dominika Cibulkova was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by 114th-ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, while 18-year-old Californian CiCi Bellis defeated No. 18 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Two-time major champion Petra Kvitova, who needed surgery on her left hand after a knife attack at her home in December, bowed out in the second match of her comeback, a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) loss to American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Sports on 06/01/2017