Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson believes second-year point guard Lonzo Ball is primed for a breakout season after he refined his shooting mechanics over the summer.
According to ESPN.com’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Johnson told reporters Thursday that Ball’s new shot looks “beautiful.”
The Lakers legend said:
“We explained that this is going to be the most important offseason, and while he could be on the court, his shot looked great. He is going to be ready to have a breakout season and build on what he did last season, because it was only a couple of things he had to do better, and that was driving to the basket, finish and get the midrange in terms of getting his shot where he is on balance.”
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka co-signed Johnson’s assessment:
“I think his shot looks incredible. He was here every day. He was one of the most committed guys this offseason. … The way he’s shooting the ball looks a lot more fluid now.
One of the things about his college metrics is he was an outstanding 3-point shooter. With this team, with so many different ball handlers, I think that’s a strength for him. If he pushes it ahead to someone and runs and fills a spot, and he’s a catch-and-shoot player, he’s going to have the ability, I think, to be a good shooter.”
Ball, who shot 41.2 percent from three during his lone season at UCLA, wasn’t nearly as successful at finding the bottom of the net as a rookie.
In 52 games, the 2017 No. 2 overall pick swished 36.0 percent of his total field-goal attempts, including 30.5 percent from distance. He was also a woeful 45.1 percent shooter at the free-throw line and converted just 33.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot opportunities from beyond the arc, according to NBA.com’splayer-tracking data.
On the medical front, Pelinka disclosed Ball has been “100 percent cleared” to return to full basketball activities after he underwent offseason surgery to address a torn meniscus in his left knee, per Lakers.com’sMike Trudell.
However, Pelinka cautioned the Lakers will ease Ball along through training camp since he was sidelined throughout the summer.
“Because he hasn’t played NBA five-on-five for four or five months, there is a progression to come back.”
Ball and the Lakers will tip off their 2018-19 season Oct. 18 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson didn’t provide a definitive answer when asked if Baker Mayfield will be his starting quarterback after the No. 1 overall pick led the team to a 21-17 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night.
“Baker did some great things…but let’s not get into those debates tonight,” Jackson said, according to NFL Network’s Omar Ruiz.
Jackson added he wants to go back and “watch the tape” before making a decision.
When Jackson watches the tape, he will no doubt be impressed.
Mayfield entered in the second quarter after Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion, and he lit up the Jets defense to the tune of 201 yards on 17-of-23 passing and a 100.1 passer rating while leading three second-half scoring drives to help the Browns secure their first win in 635 days.
NFL @NFL
The No. 1 overall pick made his NFL debut.
And led the @Browns to a win!
“He was so ready for this moment and he grabbed it by the horns,” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said, according to The Associated Press’ Tom Withers. “…He’s really special.”
Conversely, Taylor went 4-of-14 passing for 19 yards before he departed to be evaluated by medical personnel.
The Browns (1-1-1) will have some time to prepare for a Week 4 meeting with the Oakland Raiders as they attempt to move above .500 for thefirst timesince the 2014 season.
The Boston Red Sox clinched their third straight American League East championship with an 11-6win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night.
By beating New York, the Red Sox reached 104 wins, nine ahead of the Houston Astros. Boston is also on pace to set a franchise record for most victories in a season—in a bid to best the 1912 squad that racked up 105 wins.
The Red Sox were the first team to clinch a playoff berth when they beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Sept. 11. Their subdued celebration indicated the job was far from over.
“It’s a nice accomplishment, but this isn’t what we set out to do,” Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi said, per the Eagle-Tribune‘s Chris Mason. “We still have a lot of things to prove. The goal is to win the World Series.”
The Red Sox’s mindset is understandable. Two years ago, the Cleveland Indians swept the Sox out of the American League Division Series. A season ago, the World Series champion Houston Astros brushed them aside in four games in the ALDS.
The 2018 Red Sox have the pieces to get to the Fall Classic.
Chris Sale is enjoying a campaign that may have culminated in his first Cy Young Award had shoulder issues not kept him out for a stretch. The seven-time All-Star is 12-4 with a 1.92 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 150 innings.
Just as important, Rick Porcello, David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez have meet or exceeded expectations. Having a strong three- or four-man rotation is imperative in the playoffs, and the Red Sox’s starters shouldn’t be an issue in October.
That’s the case with the starting lineup as well, as J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi anchor one of the most fearsome offenses in baseball.
According to FanGraphs, Boston entered Thursday first in slugging percentage (.448), first in weighted on-base average (.336) and tied for fourth in weighted runs created plus (108).
The next task will be wrapping up home-field advantage. Boston has gone 54-21 at Fenway Park, the best home record in MLB.
The playoffs can be a bit of a crapshoot. For example, two of Boston’s playoff losses in 2016 were decided by one run apiece.
Because of that, it’s difficult to label any season that doesn’t end in a World Series title a disappointment. But a number of Red Sox fans will likely consider anything short of a ninth championship an underwhelming conclusion to an otherwise outstanding year.
President Donald Trump had not explicitly criticized Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, before Thursday night. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Thursday night questioned why “somebody” did not contact the FBI 36 years ago when Christine Blasey Ford alleges she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh, now a Supreme Court nominee.
“You could say, ‘Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?’” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in a live interview before a rally in Las Vegas. “You can also say, ‘When did this all happen? What is going on?’”
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Since Ford came forward on Sunday night, Trump has defended his Supreme Court pick, but had not explicitly criticized Ford.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation that he sexually assaulted Ford at a party when the two were in high school.
Trump added that he still wants to hear what Ford has to say, but cautioned that the Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed its consideration of Kavanaugh long enough.
“I don’t think you can delay it any longer. I think they have delayed it a week already,” Trump said.
Trump’s mention of the FBI underlines one of the biggest points of contention since Ford came forward. Both Ford and Senate Democrats have requested that the FBI look into her allegation as a part of Kavanaugh’s background check.
Senate Republicans have responded that the FBI does not conduct such investigations, but former bureau officials told POLITICO that the FBI would probe such a thing if they were ordered to do so. Trump previously said the FBI was not interested in an investigation.
“Well, it would seem that the FBI really doesn’t do that,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “They’ve investigated about six times before, and it seems that they don’t do that.”
POLITICO reported Thursday night that Ford’s attorneys spoke with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) about their client possibly testifying next week, but a firm deal is not yet in place.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor was ruled out for the second half of Thursday night’s game against the New York Jets after he suffered a concussion in the second quarter.
The 29-year-old was 4-of-14 passing for 19 yards before exiting.
No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield entered in Taylor’s place and made his professional debut shortly before halftime.
After going winless with DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan in 2017, Cleveland made the move to acquire Taylor in March to provide some relief to the franchise’s seemingly endless quarterback carousel.
Last season, Taylor helped the Buffalo Bills end a 17-season playoff drought by leading them to a 9-7 record (8-6 in his 14 starts). The seven-year veteran completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 2,799 yards and 14 touchdowns, adding 427 yards and four scores on the ground.
He also threw just four interceptions, the fewest in his three years as the Bills’ starter.
Taylor was just one of many acquisitions the Browns made this offseason to overhaul a roster that couldn’t manage a single victory last year. Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde were signed in free agency, and Nick Chubb was drafted in the second round.
With the Virginia Tech product under center and several new playmakers around him, Cleveland’s offense figured to take a big step forward in 2018 one year after finishing 24th in total offense, 22nd in passing and last in points.
Taylor’s injury means the future could be now in Cleveland. The quarterback is in the final year of his contract, carrying a $10 million base salary, per Spotrac, and the team drafted Mayfield in April.
Coach Hue Jackson made it clear early on that Taylor would be the starting quarterback if healthy. However, if he misses an extended period of time or the injury lingers, Mayfield could have the opportunity to prove he is ready.
In the final year of his contract, that could prove to be a costly situation for Taylor.
As Conor McGregor took part in his UFC 229 press conference Thursday, UFC President Dana White revealed the Irish fighter has agreed to an eight-fight contract.
ESPN’s Darren Rovell reported the news Thursday night, noting the deal does not contain boxing rights.
The contract includes the UFC 229 showdown against Khabib Nurmagomedov on Oct. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. No financial terms were disclosed, but per Rovell, it has the potential to make McGregor the highest-paid fighter in the UFC.
“It’s not hard to do a deal with Conor McGregor because we know what he’s worth,” White said, per Rovell.
The deal also includes Proper 12 Whiskey, which McGregor recently released and subsequently brought to the UFC presser, as a sponsor for the fights. The star himself said the drink’s logo will be on the canvas in the Octagon “like [Nurmagomedov’s] blood.”
UFC 229 marks McGregor’s return to the Octagon. His last UFC fight came in November 2016 against Eddie Alvarez, which McGregor won via second-round TKO. During that nearly two-year long absence, though, he stepped into the ring against Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a boxing match.
Mayweather (50-0) spoiled McGregor’s boxing debut by winning via 10th-round TKO.
Now, McGregor (21-3-0) is set to return to a more familiar environment—and his bout against Nurmagomedov is just the start of things to come.
Those likely to be hauled up to Capitol Hill include close Trump associates like former White House communications director Hope Hicks and the current White House social media director Dan Scavino. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo
Reopening investigations into the 2016 election would thrill liberal voters but could involve political risk, and showdowns with key Trump associates.
House Democrats stuck in the minority have spent months demanding more answers about Trump campaign contacts with Russians in the 2016 election, only to find themselves stymied by a lack of investigative power.
House Republicans ignored dozens of those Democratic requests for witness testimony, emails, documents and other evidence before shutting down the Intelligence Committee’s Russia investigation altogether.
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But the tables could soon turn.
Democrats appear poised to make major gains in the November midterms, with forecasters calling a House Democratic majority likely. That outcome would allow Democrats to re-open the House’s Russia probe and work through a checklist of witnesses and subpoenas Republicans refused to grant them.
Several lawmakers in line to take powerful committee posts have prepared lists of people to summon for what could be the House’s first public hearings on the subject. The House Intelligence Committee quizzed several associates of President Donald Trump about alleged collusion with the Kremlin, but only behind closed doors.
Those likely to be hauled up to Capitol Hill include close Trump associates like the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., former White House communications director Hope Hicks and the current White House social media director, Dan Scavino. Trump Jr. and Hicks have appeared before the House intelligence panel but, Democrats complain, gave incomplete answers in their testimony.
Such an approach comes with political risk. Republicans already accuse Democrats of being obsessed with Russia, to the exclusion of kitchen-table issues, and say the investigative zeal is merely a prelude to an inevitable impeachment push. The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee even fretted earlier this year that Americans might soon grow “tired” of such probes.
And some Trump associates may be prepared to fight back.
“Contempt of Congress? I don’t really care,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump 2016 campaign adviser, one of more than 65 people identified earlier this year by the Democratic leaders of the House Intelligence and Senate Judiciary committees as someone who had information that Republicans refused to pursue.
Trump Jr., Hicks and former White House strategist Steve Bannon all declined to answer questions during the Republican-led Russia investigations by citingexecutive branchprivileges that Democrats called dubious, and they could adopt the same position come 2019 — daring Democrats to escalate the standoff.
Democrats will also need to be careful about stepping on the toes of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose own Russia probe appears likely to spill into next year.
“They’d come in for immense criticism if they come in like the bull in the china shop and create more problems for Mueller,” said Douglas Letter, a recently retired senior Justice Department attorney who teaches at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, who would chair the House Intelligence Committee, said he’s looking forward to a productive relationship if Democrats capture the majority between the panel under his leadership and the special counsel’s office.
“It would certainly be a more cooperative relationship and we would want to have the special counsel aware if witnesses are committing perjury or if witnesses are providing information that would be relevant to their investigation,” he said.
The Democrats’ ready-made roadmaps cover a number of other Russia-related topics too. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who is in line to chair the House Judiciary Committee, has been demanding hearings on Trump’s repeated disparagement of the FBI, as well as immediate action on a bill that would prevent Trump from unilaterally firing Mueller. The New York Democrat also wants briefings from the Justice Department on the prosecution of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
At the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings has sought testimony from Trump’s intelligence chief, Dan Coats, after Coats warned of the urgent threat of Russian interference in the 2018 election and beyond.
The Maryland Democrat has also asked for subpoenas for information connected to the Russia probe: including for testimony from Bannon, documents about former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn’s foreign contacts and details about Republican data firms and any foreign payments received by the Trump Organization.
A driving factor for Democrats as they prepare for majority status is a concern that Mueller’s investigation might not produce a public report anytime soon that helps clarify what happened in 2016 when Trump upset Hillary Clinton.
“There’s no assurances we’re going to get any answers from Mueller,” said one Democratic leadership aide. “Maybe he would issue a report. Maybe he wouldn’t. Who knows what’s going to come from that whole process?”
Several Democrats said they are interested in reviving the idea of an independent commission to investigate 2016 Russian election meddling. They stressed that their interest is not simply the question of alleged collusion between Trump associates and Russia. One party leadership aide said a wider agenda would include protection against future cyberattacks on voting systems and infrastructure.
Several party officials warned that pushing for Trump’s impeachment, however much their base might demand it, is an imperfect solution. “Impeachment gets you nothing,” the Democratic leadership aide said. “You lose all your capital.”
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is in line to become chair of the Judiciary Committee, has her own list of more than 40 people, as well as companies like Facebook and Twitter, who have not responded to her personal office’s information requests related to the Russia investigation. Her office declined comment on any specific oversight plans if Democrats won the Senate majority. “Too hypothetical for us to engage in now,” said a spokesman for the lawmaker.
On the Senate Intelligence Committee, ranking member Sen. Mark Warner earlier this month told CBS News that his panel’s bipartisan investigation on the Russia front would be “hard pressed” to finish its final report on collusion before the November midterms.
Warner also said he remained interested in obtaining more interviews, beyond the 100-plus that his committee has already conducted. He singled out both Cohen and former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopolous, whose contacts with Russians triggered the FBI’s initial investigation into the Trump campaign.
Warner has also suggested that Americans might be growing fatigued by the Russia investigations.
Speaking at a conference earlier this year, Warner warned “partisans” hoping that Democrats would “ramp up” investigations that “the American public will be tired of it if this is not wound down in this calendar year.”
Republicans and Trump allies, meanwhile, vow not to roll over for newly empowered Democrats.
“I’d think if my answers to the special counsel were sufficient then there really is no need for me to testify before Congress,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for Trump’s legal team who has been identified by both Schiff and Feinstein as a witness they’d like to question.
Michael Caputo, a former Trump senior campaign adviser who has already voluntarily sat for interviews with both the House and Senate Intelligence committees, said he was reluctant to return again to Capitol Hill for more testimony.
“If the Democrats restart this bogus investigation, it’ll just be two more years of the same and at some point, you become numb to the dumb,” he said in an interview. “I have no legal exposure. It’ll just be financial exposure. And at some point, it has to end.”
Congressional Democrats are sure toface pressure from party activists clamoring for more answers, as well as a 2020 presidential field looking to please core Democratic voters, many of whom are convinced huge amounts of 2016 wrongdoing remains unknown to the public.
“Looking forward to this true Patriot @tedlieu getting subpoena power in January!” tweeted Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, citing the Twitter handle of Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Ca.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
Hard as it may be to imagine someone friend-zoning Liam Payne, that’s exactly what happens in the singer’s new video for “First Time,” his club-pop collab with French Montana.
In the NYC-set vid, which arrived Thursday (September 20), Payne pines after a blonde heartbreaker while wandering the city and its lonely subway stations. Doing his best impression of Drake’s moody half-rapped verses, he sings, “You brush me off, yeah, you know I hate it / You playing tough now, don’t try to fake it / Girl, you a savage, you ain’t no lady.” Montana swings through later to pick up Payne in his whip and double down on the “savage like Rihanna” descriptions.
After all that after-hours brooding, though, it looks like Payne may finally catch up with his “savage” crush in the end. Because how could anyone resist a reliable guy who always picks up on the first time?!
Two months after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has been medically cleared by team doctors.
“He’s been 100 percent cleared by our medical staff to return to full basketball activity,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said Thursday, per Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell. “Because he hasn’t played NBA five-on-five for four or five months, there is a progression to come back.”
This comes two days after Los Angeles coach Luke Walton revealed, perSpectrum SportsNet’sMike Bresnahan, that the team wouldn’t rush the second-year player back to the court, revealing Ball won’t participate in five-on-five scrimmages when training camps opens next week.
In fact, there is no guarantee that he will be on the floor when Los Angeles opens the season against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 18.
“It’s impossible to predict the future when you’re coming back from an injury,” Pelinka revealed Thursday, perBresnahan.
The Lakers can afford to let Ball take his time on the recovery trail after signing veteran Rajon Rondo this summer.
Ball was diagnosed with a torn left meniscus in late June, according to Stadium’sShams Charania. The 2017 No. 2 overall pick was limited to just 52 games as a rookie.
Last season, Ball averaged 10.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds. And Lakers president Magic Johnson believes that’s just the beginning.
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
.@MagicJohnson on Lonzo Ball’s offseason work: “He’s going to be ready to have a breakout season” https://t.co/8ZLw60DMLL
Los Angeles improved its record for the second straight year this past season, going 35-47. However, expectations have skyrocketed after the team landed four-time NBA MVP LeBron James this summer. Snapping a five-year playoff drought is no longer viewed as the goal; this squad now has championship aspirations.
Santa Cruz del Quiche – Thousands took to the streets in several major cities and small towns in Guatemala on Thursday, demanding the resignation of dozens of legislators and officials, including President Jimmy Morales.
The protests were prompted by Morales’s decision last month to not renew the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity’s (CICIG) mandate, which is set to expire in September 2019. He also barred CICIG’s head commissioner from re-entering Guatemala.
“We’re tired of so much corruption,” Luz Emilia Ulario told Al Jazeera, who marched with about 1,000 others in Santa Cruz del Quiche, 129km northwest of Guatemala City.
“We’re here protesting the injustices the government commits against the people,” said Ulario, who is part a community development organisation in the Quiche department. “The president of the republic has never been on the side of the people. He’s always defending the country’s oligarchy.”
Government defies court ruling
For more than a decade, CICIG has helped bring down high-profile officials for corruption. Under the tenure of head commissioner Ivan Velasquez, the commission has helped Guatemalan prosecutors investigate and prosecute dozens of judges, executives and officials, including former president Otto Perez Molina.
Elected in 2015, President Morales initially supported of CICIG, but soon became the subject of investigations into illegal campaign financing. He has denied wrongdoing. Morales’s party and relatives have also come under fire for alleged corruption.
People hold a banner depicting CICIG commissioner Ivan Velasquez during a march called by university students to demand the resignation of President Morales in Guatemala City [Johan Ordonez/AFP]
Morales’s decision to end the work of CICIG and ban Velasquez from the country set off a flurry of protests and legal challenges. Last week, the Constitutional Court issued an injunction against the ban of Velasquez, ordering Morales to permit the commissioner back into the country.
The government responded by saying the ruling did not apply to Velasquez because he was not specifically named in the ruling. It gave the UN 48 hours to suggest a replacement.
On Wednesday, the UN said Velasquez will stay on as commissioner. The Constitutional Court also clarified its ruling to specifically name Velasquez and order Morales to abstain from making statements and taking out measures against the commissioner.
‘Attack on the democracy’
Thursday’s protests were organised in small towns, as well urban centres, including in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala’s second largest city where civic groups organised marches through the city.
Parts of the largely indigenous highland department of Quiche were shut down due to Thursday’s actions.
“The people of Guatemala are demanding that Morales submits himself to the law and that he not end CICIG’s presence in the country,” Miguel de Leon, the indigenous mayor of Nebaj, Quiche and member of the traditional Ixil Maya Ancestral Authorities, told Al Jazeera.
De Leon and other residents Nebaj blocked the highway that passes through their region as part of the actions against Morales. Neighbouring communities established similar roadblocks across the northern regions of the department.
“We utterly reject the actions of the government is taking,” de Leon told Al Jazeera. “Their actions are an attack on the democracy that they claim to protect. The government itself is causing the destabilisation that they speak of.”
University students were also among the groups who organised the protests.
In Guatemala City, AEU, the student association of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC), initially called a march, but the university governing council and student groups from other universities are now backing the action.
A demonstrator holds up a poster of Guatemala President Jimmy Morales as a prisoner, during a protest against Morales’s decision to not renew the mandate CICIG [Luis Echeverria/Reuters]
AEU president Lenina Garcia told Al Jazeera that the support of the USAC governing council is an important development, as is the unity among students, workers and faculty across universities in the face of the president’s refusal to respect the Constitutional Court ruling and UN agreement.
“We think we’re already experiencing a coup d’etat,” she said, from Guatemala City.
Thursday’s national day of protest is in preparation for a nationwide shutdown, Garcia added.
“We’re committed to continue making statements and organising actions until the rule of law and human rights are restored in the country.”
: @nflnetwork 
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