Newsmakers: Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic says she is out of Rio Olympics
Announced Top-20 player Belinda Bencic says on Twitter that she is pulling out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, another blow to a Swiss tennis team that lost Roger Federer this week, too. Bencic, who is No. 16 in the WTA rankings, says she is “not completely ready” to compete at the Summer Games, although her injured left wrist has healed.
Center Anderson Varejao will miss the Olympics for host Brazil because of a herniated disc in his lower back. The Golden State Warriors said Varejao should be ready for the start of training camp but will not be healthy enough to play in the Olympics. Varejao recently experienced back pain while training with the Brazilian National Team and returned to California to be examined by Dr. Robert Watkins earlier this week.
Signed The Portland Trail Blazers formally signed guard CJ McCollum to a four-year contract extension. The terms of the deal were not disclosed by the team, but a person familiar with it told The Associated Press on Monday that it is worth $106 million. The extension, which takes effect after the upcoming season, will keep McCollum in Portland through the 2020-21 season.
Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki signed his contract with Dallas, and a person with knowledge of the deal says it’s worth more than the original agreement. Nowitzki signed a two-year, $50 million contract – $10 million more than the deal struck before contracts could be signed.
The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed forward Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year, $3.875 million contract. The 23-year-old appeared in 80 games last season, finishing with 14 goals and 35 points. He had one goal and four points while skating in 17 games during the playoffs. In 127 career NHL games, the Russian has 23 goals and 51 points.
The Detroit Red Wings have agreed to a two-year, $8 million contract with goaltender Petr Mrazek. The 24-year-old Mrazek was 27-16-3 last season with a 2.33 goals-against average in a career-high 54 games. The Czech is 46-30-8 over two NHL regular seasons and has a 4-6 mark with a 1.88 GAA and three shutouts in the playoffs.
Hired Phoenix Suns coach Earl Watson named Jay Triano associate head coach and Tyrone Corbin and Nate Bjorkgren assistant coaches.
Triano spent the last four seasons as assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers, including Watson’s final season as a player in 2013-14. The first Canadian-born head coach in NBA history when he directed Toronto, he also is the coach of Canada’s national team.
Corbin was Sacramento’s interim head coach for 28 games in 2014-15. He played the Suns in 1987-89.
Bjorkgren remains with the Suns after spending last season as assistant coach/player development coordinator. He also was head coach of the Suns’ NBA Summer League team the past two years.
Died Boston’s Rudolph “Spider” Edwards, who with his dust mop and jaunty fedora shared the parquet floor with Celtics stars from Bill Russell to Larry Bird in the old Boston Garden and new, has died. He was 86. Edwards had suffered from cancer. Edwards began working for the Celtics in 1964, sweeping the floor during timeouts so the stars of the NBA’s first dynasty wouldn’t slip on the moisture seeping up from the hockey ice underneath.
Renowned land speed motorcycle racer Sam Wheeler died Monday afternoon after the high-performance bike he was testing at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats fish-tailed, went airborne and crashed at 200 mph. He was 72. Wheeler died at Intermountain Medical Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray because of traumatic injuries suffered in the motorcycle accident.