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Philadelphia ruled out Joel Embiid for the season with a knee injury on Wednesday, and in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter much. The Sixers are 22-38, 6½ games out of the last playoff spot and just traded away a key rotation player. Embiid’s surgically repaired foot is fine, and Philly will benefit more from adding lottery ping-pong balls than a few extra wins. Embiid will be back, a true franchise player joining a likely franchise player (Ben Simmons) and the now probable Rookie of the Year, Dario Saric, in an absurdly talented young frontcourt. The 76ers will...

Golden State Warriors All-Star Kevin Durant will minimally miss a month with an MCL sprain and bone bruise in his left knee, but is expected to return for the start of the playoffs in mid-April. After an MRI late Tuesday night, the Warriors announced on Wednesday that Durant suffered a Grade 2 medial collateral ligament sprain and a tibial bone bruise in Washington.

She was the No. 3 overall draft pick from Stanford in 2008. She was named the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year as a rookie. She won a championship with the Minnesota Lynx. The success, Wiggins says now, hid a darker reality. “It wasn’t like my dreams came true in the WNBA. It was quite the opposite,” said Wiggins, the La Jolla Country Day alum who is being inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions’ Bretibard Hall of Fame on Tuesday. For the first time in an extensive interview, Wiggins described what she said was a “very, very harmful”...

Candice Wiggins' WNBA dreams quickly turned into a nightmare. In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Wiggins said she was bullied for eight years in the WNBA for being straight. The former Liberty player described the culture of the league to be “very, very harmful.” “It wasn’t like my dreams came true in the WNBA. It was quite the opposite,” Wiggins said.

Add 100 consecutive wins to the UConn Huskies' long list of milestones. Given the team's glitzier numbers linked to national championships, 11 titles and counting, it may seem ho-hum with no added significance. Geno Auriemma's squad already owns the longest winning streak in Division I college basketball history. UConn beat its own record of 90 consecutive wins earlier this season with little fanfare.

LAWRENCE University of Kansas police have been investigating the reported rape of a 16-year-old girl at McCarthy Hall, which houses the KU men’s basketball team and other male students. The alleged rape and three other crimes occurred between 10 p.m. Dec. 17 and 5 a.m. Dec. 18, according to a police report obtained by The Star on Wednesday. According to the report, those alleged crimes are contributing to a child’s misconduct, furnishing alcohol to a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia. An investigation remains open. No description of a suspect was released by KU police, including whether the suspect is...

Outspoken San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich had some harsh words for President Donald Trump before his team squared off with the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday. Popovich slammed Trump to media members, saying that “you really can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth.”

A 2015 study by Microsoft revealed that the average person's attention span in this wild world of technology and social media is down to eight seconds — which is less than that of a goldfish.

Jimmer Fredette is a big, huge star again in China. Jimmer leads the Chinese Basketball Association in scoring with 38.4 points per game and won the league’s 3-point contest during halftime of the All-Star game this weekend.

Duke's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Thursday morning that junior guard Grayson Allen has been indefinitely suspended after tripping a player Wednesday night during the Blue Devils 72-61 win over Elon. This is the third time Allen has tripped an opponent.

The German parent company behind Jägermeister has filed a formal notice of opposition to the Milwaukee Bucks’ primary logo, citing, among other things, the likelihood of confusion between the two brands and the “false suggestion of a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or brings them into contempt, or disrepute.”

A Missouri school district’s superintendent has apologized to the community after students turned their backs on a rival school’s basketball team in what some are calling a racially motivated display. According to KSHB-TV, during a basketball game between Warrensburg High School and Center High School, Warrensburg students turned their backs on Center’s team as the school’s starting roster was announced. One of the students held up a campaign sign for President-elect Donald Trump. The Kansas City Star described Center’s basketball team as “predominantly black.” “Where it went over the line is when they held up the [Trump] sign,” Warrensburg R6...

Tonight when the Warriors take on the Pacers, Stephen Curry will be wearing an orange and black bracelet with the phrase 'BrodyStrong' on it. It's a gift from his biggest fan, and their recent meeting is sure to bring a tear to even the most cynical eye.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich continued to express his frustrations with Donald Trump on Wednesday, again discussing the president-elect with reporters and calling the appointment of Steve Bannon as chief strategist “troublesome.”

At least three NBA teams have stopped staying at Donald Trump-branded hotels this season in part to avoid any implied association with the new president-elect, according to league sources. Sources told ESPN.com that the Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks have moved away from Trump hotels in New York City and Chicago, which bear Donald Trump's name through a licensing agreement.

A woman performing the national anthem before an NBA preseason game in Miami on Friday night did so while kneeling at midcourt, and opening her jacket to show a shirt with the phrase 'Black Lives Matter'. The singer was identified by the Heat as Denasia Lawrence. It was unclear if she remained in the arena after the performance, and messages left for her were not immediately returned. Heat players and coaches stood side-by-side for the anthem, all with their arms linked as has been their custom during the preseason. 

Almost a third of the workers for the local authority in a Sicilian town have been charged with aggravated fraud, after an investigation revealed they were skipping work in favor of activities such as shopping and massages. A total of 59 employees of the city authorities in Milazzo, one of Sicily’s major cities, were found to be leaving the office after clocking in, in order to undertake personal errands, Il Corriere reported. The prosecution said that the workers would also clock in for absent colleagues using their swipe cards, meaning some weren’t present for their entire shift. The investigation had...

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- New York Knicks center Joakim Noah says he skipped a team dinner at the West Point Military Academy that featured cadets and a speech by a former colonel because he is against war. Noah added he had "mixed feelings" about spending time at the West Point Military Academy, where the Knicks are holding training camp this week, because he is opposed to the idea of young troops fighting in wars.

The latest round of athlete protests during the playing of the national anthem came Wednesday against the backdrop of recent fatal shootings of black men by the police in Tulsa, Okla., and Charlotte, N.C. Before a win-or-go-home W.N.B.A. playoff game against the Phoenix Mercury in Indianapolis on Wednesday, every Indiana Fever player knelt and linked arms as the national anthem played. They were joined by two Mercury players, Mistie Bass and Kelsey Bone. The other Mercury players remained standing. Even given the high stakes of the game, Fever Coach Stephanie White told her players that she had been proud to...

This past week the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pulled all championship events out of North Carolina for the 2016-2017 season simply because that state passed a law, known as HB 2, which requires men and women to use the restroom or locker room corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate. In essence, the North Carolina legislature said men use the men's room and ladies use the ladies room. By doing this, North Carolina was simply protecting women and children from sexual predators and voyeurs. Along with punishing North Carolina, the NCAA is forcing all potential championship host sites...