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Ja Morant suspended 1 game by Memphis for conduct detrimental to the team - AP News
Technology

Ja Morant suspended 1 game by Memphis for conduct detrimental to the team - AP News

Memphis has suspended two-time All-Star guard Ja Morant for its game Sunday at the Toronto Raptors, with the Grizzlies citing what they described as conduct detrimental to the team. Morant scored only eight points in Memphis’ 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. He had a brief postgame interview session, with most of his answers some form of “Go ask the coaching staff.” Morant also seemed disengaged at times in that game, even walking a few steps away from the bench area during a time-out in the second half. Asked about what happened in the game, Morant said, “Go ask them,” referring to the coaching staff. He did not score in the second half. He did give a different answer when asked if he felt like he should have played more or what could have gone differently. “According to them, probably don’t play me, honestly,” Morant said. “That’s what basically the message was, after. It’s cool.” Morant played 8 minutes, 25 seconds in the fourth quarter on Friday, more than any other Memphis player. He logged 16:11 of on-court time in the second half, second-most on the team; Jaren Jackson Jr. played 16:20 after halftime. Morant missed all seven of his shots in the second half. This suspension is the latest in a long series of disciplinary actions with Morant in recent years. He was suspended twice in 2023 for incidents with guns, those two events costing him 33 games and about $8.3 million in salary. The first was an eight-game ban for the live streaming of a video in which he displayed a firearm while in an intoxicated state at a Denver-area nightclub. The other was a 25-game ban after posing with a firearm in a car during another live-streamed video, when the league said Morant “wielded the firearm while knowing that he was being recorded and that the recording was being live streamed on Instagram Live, despite having made commitments to the NBA and public statements that he would not repeat the conduct for which he was previously disciplined.” He was fined $75,000 last season for an aiming-a-gun gesture to celebrate making 3-pointers. The league called the gesture “inappropriate,” adding that “Morant was previously warned by the league office that this gesture could be interpreted in a negative light.” Morant is making about $39.4 million this season and is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract. He’s averaging 20.8 points per game through six outings so far this season. AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Katie Uhlaender doesn't make US World Cup skeleton team, leaving Olympic hopes uncertain - AP News
Technology

Katie Uhlaender doesn't make US World Cup skeleton team, leaving Olympic hopes uncertain - AP News

Katie Uhlaender’s bid to become the first American women’s slider to make six Olympic teams hit a major bump Saturday when she didn’t qualify for the U.S. World Cup team that will start competing later this month. The team, which was finalized after the completion of selection races on the 2002 Olympic track in Park City, Utah, includes world silver medalist Mystique Ro, Sara Roderick, 2022 Olympian Kelly Curtis and Kendall Wesenberg on the women’s team, along with Austin Florian, Dan Barefoot and Nick Tucker on the men’s team. Ro and Florian combined to win the mixed team world championship last season. Not making the World Cup team doesn’t necessarily end Uhlaender’s hopes of competing at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February. U.S. team officials will re-evaluate the World Cup roster somewhere around the halfway point of the season before determining the Olympic team. There are other circuits besides the World Cup for athletes to compete, including North American Cup and Europe Cup. The team will be leaving within the coming days for Europe to resume training, when most sliders will get their first look at the venue where the Olympics will be held in February. The first World Cup races for men’s and women’s skeleton this season are at the rebuilt Olympic track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Nov. 21. Uhlaender was the top American women’s skeleton slider at the 2022 Beijing Games, placing sixth. It was widely believed that would be her final Olympic cycle, though she never announced her retirement and competed in 13 World Cup races over the last two years. She was sixth at the 2006 Turin Games, 11th at the 2010 Vancouver Games, fourth at the 2014 Sochi Games — despite the Americans still believing she deserved bronze because of a Russian slider’s involvement in that country’s doping scandal — and 13th at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Skeleton is the headfirst sliding discipline where athletes can reach speeds of around 80 mph. Ro had a bye onto the World Cup team after her silver-medal finish at the worlds, and most of the other spots on the team essentially came down to races held Friday and Saturday. AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics