Newsmakers
Underwent The Oklahoma City Thunder say star forward Kevin Durant had successful surgery Thursday to address a bone fracture in his right foot and will be out at least six weeks. General manager Sam Presti said the procedure was performed in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the team, Durant and his representatives decided surgery was needed. He will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
Confirmed Georgia coach Mark Richt expects star tailback Todd Gurley’s indefinite suspension to stay in place this week. No. 10 Georgia plays a Southeastern Conference game at Arkansas on Saturday. The school is investigating allegations of rules violations by Gurley, whose suspension began for last week’s 34-0 win at Missouri.
Denied Morocco’s minister of information has denied reports that his country has withdrawn as host of next year’s African Cup of Nations because of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But Mustapha Khalfi, who is also the government spokesman, says Morocco still wants the tournament postponed, forcing a conflict with organizers. The Confederation of African Football insists the Jan. 17-Feb. 8 event must go ahead as planned.
Invited Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said he has invited safety Eilar Hardy to return to the roster, although he has academic work to complete before he can practice.
Approved The NBA’s Board of Governors has approved several modifications to the league’s instant replay system. The most notable change allows officials to use replay only in the last 2 minutes of overtime, not the entire overtime period. Referees also will be able to use replay to determine if a foul merits being upgraded to a flagrant foul.
Retired Former third-ranked player Nikolay Davydenko confirmed his retirement from tennis due to injuries. Davydenko made his announcement on the sidelines of the Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow.
Discovered Serbian police said they have found the drone that flew an Albanian nationalist banner over a soccer stadium in Belgrade, igniting a brawl on the field and fueling simmering political tensions between Balkan rivals Serbia and Albania. Police chief Nebojsa Stefanovic said that the small drone, last seen being carried off by a Serb fan during the stadium brawl, will be checked to see where it was manufactured and purchased and who could have flown it.