Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley, left, will not return when the NBA restarts, deciding instead to remain with his family. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

 

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley has decided to sit out the NBA’s upcoming resumption of the season in Florida.

Avery, who played his first seven seasons with the Celtics, told ESPN on Tuesday night that he wants to remain with his wife and three children, including a 6-year-old son with a history of respiratory illnesses. By sitting out, Bradley figures to lose a projected $650,000 in salary.

Bradley averaged 8.6 points and 2.3 rebounds while starting 44 games before the season was shut down in March due to the coronavirus. The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference heading into the 22-team restart.

“I can’t imagine making any decision that might put my family’s health and well-being at even the slightest risk,” Bradley told ESPN. “As promised also, I will use this time away to focus on the formation of projects to help strengthen my communities.”

Bradley and Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving have been vocal leaders of a players’ coalition that has sought to keep a focus on social justice and racial equality issues.

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• Indiana Pacers guard Malcolm Brogdon announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus as the NBA is set to resume play at Disney World next month.

The 27-year-old guard, who was in the midst of a career year before the NBA shut down on March 11, said that he still plans to play for the Pacers when the 2019-20 season commences on July 30.

“I recently tested positive for the COVID virus and am currently in quarantine,” Brogdon said in a statement. “I’m doing well, feeling well and progressing well. I plan to join my teammates in Orlando for the resumption of the NBA season and playoffs.”

COLLEGES

NAVY EXPECTS FANS AGAINST NOTRE DAME: Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo remains optimistic that the Midshipmen won’t be playing in an empty stadium in the season opener at home against Notre Dame.

The longest continuous intersectional rivalry in the country was moved from Ireland to Annapolis because of COVID-19 and is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 5.

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“At this point I feel good about all the plans we have in place,” Niumatalolo said Wednesday. “Obviously it won’t be a full stadium and it will be a lot different from other games that we’ve ever played at the Naval Academy, but that’s the new norm now.”

This will be the first time Notre Dame visits Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in the 94-year history of the rivalry. It will not be sellout because social distancing will be required.

• The University of Connecticut decided to eliminate four athletic teams as it deals with an expected budget deficit driven by issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

UConn President Thomas Katsouleas told the school’s Board of Trustees Wednesday that the school will reduce the number of sports it supports from 22 to 18, eliminating its men’s cross country, men’s swimming and driving, men’s tennis and women’s rowing teams.

He said eliminating those programs, along with mandating a 15% cut in the operating budget of all sports and cutting some scholarships, should result in a requested savings of $10 million, or 25% of the school’s subsidy to the Division of Athletics over the next three years. That subsidy was $42 million in 2019.

The school will continue to support the eliminated sports through the 2020-21 academic year, allowing athletes time to transfer or make other decisions, officials said.

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The board spent almost an hour and a half hearing from former athletes who asked to save their sports.

Track and field alumni have pledged more than $1.6 million for that program. Men’s golf alumni had said they could contribute $900,000 over the next five years.

SOCCER

U.S. WOMEN: A federal judge has denied a request by American women’s soccer players to allow an immediate appeal of his decision to throw out their claim of unequal pay against the U.S. Soccer Federation.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in Los Angeles has scheduled a trial for Sept. 15 on the players’ remaining claim of discriminatory work conditions.

Lawyers for the women had asked him to enter a final judgment on his decision to dismiss the pay claim, which would have allowed them to take the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

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“The granting of an immediate appeal will not eliminate the possibility of two trials or the possibility of successive appeals involving interlocking facts,” Klausner wrote Tuesday. “The court has declined the parties’ request to stay trial pending the resolution of any appeal. And should a jury render a verdict unfavorable to plaintiffs on their remaining claims, there is no reason to think plaintiffs will not appeal that decision.”

ROAD RACING

BERLIN MARATHON: This year’s Berlin Marathon has been canceled following months of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizers say “after extensive examination and various discussions” they were not able to find a later date. Authorities in Germany have blocked the hosting of major events through October.

The marathon was scheduled for Sept. 27. The Berlin Marathon is one of the fastest in the world. The current men’s world record was set in Berlin by Eliud Kipchoge in 2018.

It will be the first year with no Berlin Marathon since the race was founded in 1974. The announcement came on the same day that the New York City Marathon was canceled. That race had been scheduled for Nov. 1.

 

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