From Broderick Turner: LeBron James was full of joy before the Lakers faced the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, dancing, laughing, running around, his infectious energy the driving force behind his team’s easy win and yet another NBA record for a man who owns so many already.
James produced a triple-double of 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in leading the Lakers to a 124-104 win over the Mavericks, making him at age 41 the oldest player in league history to post a triple-double, surpassing Karl Malone.
James explained why he was so full of glee before the game that left the Lakers 33-21 and in fifth place in the super-tough Western Conference.
“That’s always me. I’m a goofy-ass 41-year-old kid,” James said, laughing. “I think people should know that by now, right? That’s just me. I get to play basketball. They pay me to play basketball. Why wouldn’t I be happy? I get to be with my son (Bronny James) and my teammates and all these unbelievable fans that watched me throughout my career and they give me all the support and love. I enjoy what I do. Have fun. You see me on the court, see me in the back. I just love what I do. It’s pretty cool.”
James now has 123 triple-doubles in his career, tying him for the fifth-most in league history during the regular season.
Jazzy Davidson leads USC women
From Ryan Kartje: Their frustrating midseason slump was finally in the rear-view mirror, their season finally feeling back on the right track.
Any reservations about USC righting the ship after losing six of seven had largely been forgotten on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Victories over No. 8 Iowa, Rutgers, Northwestern and Illinois, two of which came on the road, had cemented its place on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble.
But as the Trojans were reminded in a 79-73 win over Indiana at Galen Center, now is no time to get comfortable — even if Thursday’s victory had marked their longest winning streak of the season.
The Hoosiers certainly never let USC settle in, even as freshman Jazzy Davidson poured in another stat-stuffing performance that would have to carry a stagnant Trojan offense for much of the way. It would take an aggressive defensive effort, too, complete with 19 forced turnovers, to put Indiana away.
Kiké Hernández is back
From Anthony Solorzano: Kiké Hernández agreed to a one-year, $4.5-million deal with the Dodgers Thursday, with the popular utilityman taking to his Instagram account to announce his return.
“What else did you expect?!!! 3 in a row has a nice ring to it,” he wrote, accompanied by a picture of him at the parade celebration last year.
In a video posted on the Dodgers’ Instagram account, the three-time World Series champion apologized to fans for taking so long to re-sign, and jokingly put the blame on Andrew Freidman, the team’s president of baseball operations.
“There’s no other place I would rather be than here,” he added.
‘Our dealings are not with Casey.’ Rob Manfred distances MLB from LA28’s Casey Wasserman
John Shirreffs dies
From John Cherwa: John Shirreffs, the soft-spoken giant who trained Zenyatta, perhaps the best mare of all-time, died in Southern California on Thursday. He was 80. No cause of death was announced.
Shirreffs was one of the top trainers in Southern California with 3,589 starts, 596 of them wins resulting in $58.5 million in purses.
He was a familiar face around local tracks, usually ponying his horses to the track during morning training and then avoiding the spotlight when his horse won by staying on the racing surface and not going to the Winner’s Circle, leaving the punditry to his wife, Dottie Ingordo.
Shirreffs first grabbed national attention when he won the Kentucky Derby with Giacomo at odds of 50-1 in 2005. The horse was partially owned by legendary record producer Jerry Moss, the M along with Herb Alpert in A&M records. Shirreffs remained Moss’ primary trainer until his death in 2023.
This day in sports history
1923 — The New York Renaissance, the first all-black pro basketball team, is organized. Rens become one of the dominant basketball team of the 1920s and 1930s.
1937 — Maribel Vinson wins her ninth and final U.S. figure skating singles championship. Robin Lee wins his third straight men’s title.
1937 — The NFL Redskins move from Boston to Washington.
1948 — Dick Button, the Olympic gold medalist, beats Hans Gerschwiler again to win the men’s World Figure Skating championship in Davos, Switzerland.
1954 — Furman’s Frank Selvey scores 100 points in a 149-95 victory over Newberry. Selvey breaks the record of 73 points, set by Temple’s Bill Mlkvy in 1951, with 41 field goals and 18 free throws.
1973 — Frank Mahovlich of the Montreal Canadiens scores his 1,000th point with an assist in a 7-6 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
1975 — Boston’s Bobby Orr gets an assist in the Boston Bruins in a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres to become the first player in NHL history to reach 100 points in six consecutive seasons. It’s the final 100-point season of his career.
1977 — Julius Erving, playing in his first NBA All-Star Game, is voted MVP, despite his East team losing 125-124. Erving scores 30 points and grabs 12 rebounds.
1990 — Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders becomes the 15th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark, scoring in the second period of a 4-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.
1994 — Tommy Moe wins the men’s downhill over local hero Kjetil Andre Aamodt at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Moe won by .04 seconds, the closest Alpine race in Olympic history. Norwegian speed skater Johann Olav Koss has a world record-setting gold medal performance in the 5,000 meters in 6 minutes, 34.96 seconds.
1995 — Connecticut is voted No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and joins the school’s women’s team at the top. It is the first time teams from one school were ranked No. 1 in the men’s and women’s college basketball polls.
1999 — Steve Jaros rolls the 13th televised 300 game in PBA history en route to winning the Chattanooga Open.
2003 — Teresa Phillips becomes the first woman to coach a men’s Division I team, but her presence couldn’t stop Tennessee State from losing for the 17th straight time, 71-56 at Austin Peay.
2015 — Ted Ligety wins the giant slalom at world championships held at Beaver Creek, Colo. Ligety defeats Austrian rival Marcel Hirscher by 0.45 seconds, to attain his third straight world giant slalom title.
2018 — Chloe Kim saves the best for last in winning women’s halfpipe snowboarding event at the Pyeongchang Games. The 17-year-old from Torrance puts up a leading score of 93.75 on the first of her three finals runs, and then betters it with a near-perfect 98.75 on her final run. Kim, with the gold already well in hand, becomes the first woman to land back-to-back 1080s, confirming her dominance in the sport.
2022 — Super Bowl LVI, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood: Rams beat Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20; MVP: Cooper Kupp, Rams, WR.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
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