LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — One of the world's top middle-distance runners has been banned for two years in a dispute over a missed drug test which overshadowed the opening of last year's world championships.

Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji, the silver medalist in the women's 1,500 meters at the 2023 world championships, was ruled to be “negligent” in failing to comply with an attempt to collect a doping test sample last year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday.

World Athletics wanted a four-year ban but CAS reduced the sanction, accepting Welteji's rules violation wasn't intentional. The two-year ban ends in June 2027, when Welteji will be 25, and means she could qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Welteji was initially cleared by an Ethiopian tribunal in August and was due to race on the opening day of the world championships in Tokyo the following month. World Athletics objected and she was ruled ineligible to compete the day before.

CAS said in its statement that drug testers arrived at Welteji's property in February 2025 and were told by Welteji's husband that she was asleep, and that witnesses disagreed about what took place after that until the testing staff left without a sample.

CAS said its arbitrator accepted there were language barriers and that “certain technical and best practice departures occurred” but that “an athlete of (Welteji's) caliber and experience should have known that she was required to comply regardless of the timing of the visit.”

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Phil Jackson had a handy rule for determining the NBA’s real championship contenders well before the playoffs began. Jackson is credited as the creator ‘40-20 rule,’ which states a team has to hit 40 wins before 20 losses in the regular season to have a shot at the title. This rule has held up shockingly well throughout time, with 18 of the last 19 champions and 41 of the last 45 champions fitting into the criteria. Only the the 1995 Houston Rockets, 2004 Detroit Pistons, 2006 Miami Heat, and 2021 Milwaukee Bucks have won an NBA championship without winning 40 games before losing 20 games since the league introduced the three-point line for the 1979-1980 season.

With the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, there’s now only three teams that fit Jackson’s ‘40-20 rule’ for this season’s 2026 championship race:

• Oklahoma City Thunder (45-15)
• San Antonio Spurs (42-16)
• Detroit Pistons (43-14)

The Thunder have been widely considered the championship favorites since the start of the season if not a potential dynasty, so joining this club doesn’t mean much to OKC. It should feel more legitimizing for the Pistons and Spurs, two teams attempting a ‘worst-to-first’ arc this season as they’ve made stunning leaps into contention just a few years after landing the No. 1 overall NBA draft pick. No wonder almost 30 percent of the league is tanking this year, especially with an incredible draft class on deck.

The Pistons went 14-68 two years ago. What’s changed since then? Cade Cunningham started living up to the hype as a former No. 1 overall pick, Jalen Duren developed into an All-Star center, and head coach JB Bickerstaff (who replaced Monty Williams after the 14-win season) whipped the defense into the league’s No. 2 unit behind homegrown players like Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson, and Ron Holland. Detroit made a big jump to 44 wins last year then had the Knicks sweating in a tough first-round series. Right now, the Pistons are on pace to win 61.5 games this season. It’s simply an incredible turnaround.

The Spurs were always destined to be a contender eventually with Victor Wembanyama, but no one thought it would happen this quickly. Wembanyama hasn’t even played a playoff game yet, but that won’t stop the Spurs from being a popular pick to win it all this year. Wembanyama’s defensive impact is levels beyond any other player alive, and he’s a top-10 offensive player, too. San Antonio put a solid supporting cast around him this year by trading for De’Aaron Fox, signing Luke Kornet in free agency, and rejuvenating Harrison Barnes’ career. The Spurs have proven it’s better to be lucky than good by moving up in the lottery three straight years for Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. This organization lit two lottery picks on fire in the 2020s with Josh Primo and Jeremy Sochan, but it didn’t even matter because they landed the best prospect ever and then moved up into the top-4 of the lottery the next two years.

I’m not fully convinced the ‘40-20 rule’ holds this year. The Denver Nuggets were my preseason championship pick, and while injuries have crushed them during the regular season, they should still be a serious contender if they can get healthy by the playoffs. The Celtics will also have a good chance at the title this year, especially if Jayson Tatum returns from a torn Achilles. I wrote that there are nine teams in the title race this season a couple weeks ago, and I still stand by it. This championship picture is much wider than it historically has been due to the CBA bringing parity to the league.

The NBA’s problems — tanking, load management, a typically crappy All-Star Game — get all of the attention, but the playoffs might be the best product in all of sports right now. This last Super Bowl sucked! Meanwhile, last year’s Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals was amazing, and this year’s title race will be as wide open and competitive as it has ever been. The ‘40-20 rule’ hitting 41 out of 45 years is astounding. If the Pistons, Spurs, or Thunder win it all this year, please remember that Phil Jackson was right again.

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The Portland Trail Blazers head to the Windy City tonight to face the slumping Chicago Bulls at the United Center for an 8 p.m. ET tip. 

Chicago is in the middle of a 10-game losing skid, but my Trail Blazers vs. Bulls predictions expect the hosts to snap out of it. 

Read more in my NBA picks for Thursday, February 26. 

Trail Blazers vs Bulls prediction

Trail Blazers vs Bulls best bet: Bulls moneyline (+155)

It’s been an underwhelming campaign for the Chicago Bulls, who are sitting in 12th place in the East with a 24-35 record. Chicago couldn’t be in worse shape right now, with its last victory coming on January 31. 

February has been a terrible month for this team, but this contest presents a clear opportunity to end a 10-game skid. The Bulls have won two straight against the Portland Trail Blazers, including a 122-121 victory in November. 

The Blazers have also lost two of their last three and are 12-16 on the road. Chicago has a 15-16 record at the United Center.

Trail Blazers vs Bulls same-game parlay

Matas Buzelis has been brilliant, averaging 15.3 points per game on 36% shooting from downtown. He’s averaging 2.1 makes on 5.7 attempts per game.

The youngster has cashed the Over in treys in back-to-back contests, even going 6-for-11 from long range in Tuesday's loss to the Hornets. 

Isaac Okoro is averaging only 9.2 PPG, but he’s hit the Over in four of his last six appearances.

In Chicago’s last meeting with Portland, Okoro played well, scoring 13 points. He’ll do his part in helping the Bulls grab a victory this evening.

Trail Blazers vs Bulls SGP

• Bulls moneyline
• Matas Buzelis Over 2.5 made threes
• Isaac Okoro Over 10.5 points

Our "from downtown" SGP: Gettin' Giddey with it

Josh Giddey is averaging 7.9 dimes at home, and he had 13 assists against the Blazers in November.

Trail Blazers vs Bulls SGP

• Bulls moneyline
• Matas Buzelis Over 2.5 made threes
• Isaac Okoro Over 10.5 points
• Josh Giddey Over 5.5 assists

Trail Blazers vs Bulls odds

• Spread: Trail Blazers -4.5 (-110) | Bulls +4.5 (-110)
• Moneyline: Trail Blazers -185 | Bulls +155
• Over/Under: Over 235.5 (-110) | Under 235.5 (-110)

Trail Blazers vs Bulls betting trend to know

The Chicago Bulls have hit the Game Total Under in 24 of their last 40 games at home (+8.60 Units / 20% ROI). Find more NBA betting trends for Trail Blazers vs. Bulls.

How to watch Trail Blazers vs Bulls

Trail Blazers vs Bulls latest injuries

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There are never too many unbelievable quotes to share, are they?

Not when it comes to your 2026 New York Knicks.

Here’s a bunch more content to worry about while the Bockers gear up to face the Bucks on Friday.

Mike Brown

On adjusting the Knicks’ style of play and still evolving the system with 20 games left:

“We have a brand of basketball or style of play that we’re focused on, we’re trying to get better at. We’re playing different offensively, not a lot different, but we’re playing different offensively to a certain degree from the preseason up until this point we’ve made some changes. And we made some changes defensively. That evolution will continue to happen throughout the course of the rest of the year.”

On failing to help the offense from the sidelines in the loss against the Cavs:

“No matter what we did, we either turned the ball over or we had a tough shot. And so we made some play calls tonight, but we didn’t generate anything from the calls that we made.”

Josh Hart

On the difficulty of maintaining Brown’s demanded pace late in the season:

“It’s what? Game 55 [actually it was the 59th game]? Sometimes it’s tough. Guys are banged up. So sometimes playing with that pace is difficult at times.

“I think that’s when we really have to focus on the execution, calling plays, calling sets, and executing those, getting guys in position to be successful… Obviously, you want to play fast, play with pace. Sometimes it’s difficult, and we’ve got to adjust to it.”

Jalen Brunson

On the team not being a finished product yet:

“We’re still becoming a better team every single day. We’re not trying to be a final product by Game 60… I know how good we can be.”

Karl-Anthony Towns

On tuning out the noise before the playoffs:

“I’ve seen teams come together pretty late and win a chip. I think for us, we just gotta continue to have our head down, block out the noise and just continue to find ways to improve every single day. Because at the end of the day, when playoff time comes, and the ball goes up, there ain’t no more time.

“We gotta have it figured out. Not hearing all the noise and having it distract us, and we lose games trying to impress people or whatever the case may be, or trying to please the noise. We just gotta keep our heads down and focus on everyone in this locker room, this organization, and how we can help each other win.

“And be the best version of ourselves so that when it comes to playoff time, we have no regrets where we stand.”

On whether the plan was for him to shoot less after attempting five shots vs. Cleveland:

“Nah, we had a game plan that we wanted to try to execute. You’ve seen this all year: we wanted to move the ball, hunt mismatches, do what we do. We just didn’t execute today to get the job done.”

On taking only those five shots:

“We’re trying to run our offensive game plan that we had coming into today. We wanted to execute it at the highest level possible. We just didn’t do a good job of making the plays needed to win the game.

“That’s fine. It happens like that. Yeah, we’re just trying to do what we talked about at shootaround, what we game-planned offensively, what we wanted to get done.”

As we breathlessly await the next trickle of information about Jayson Tatum’s eventual return to the court, it makes sense to discuss something that I’m sure the coaching staff has been thinking about for a long time. Who starts when Tatum returns? And what are the trickle down impacts of the rest of the rotation? (and yes, we are totally milking this Tatum news cycle content for all it is worth)

First of all, let’s assume this is after whatever reintegration time the team takes to ramp him up. They might bring him off the bench or give him a minutes restriction at first. But once he’s through the training camp phase, I assume he’ll be back in the starting lineup.

We can also assume that Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will join him in the starting lineup. So that leaves 2 other spots. Let’s look at some of the candidates.

Neemias Queta – He’s started all season long and has been the team’s best center. He’s earned the right ot keep starting. However,…

Nikola Vucevic – …the Celtics traded Anfernee Simons for Vuc for a reason. Thus far he’s been coming off the bench behind Queta, and that makes a great deal of sense. However, it will be interesting to see how well Vuc fits next to Tatum.

Payton Pritchard – Seems unlikely they would transition him back to a 6th man role if that wasn’t going to be his final destination once Tatum returns. But on the other hand, he might be the 3rd best performing player this season (or 2nd??).

Sam Hauser – Of the remaining players, he has the most starts this season (27) and has plenty of history playing with Tatum. He obviously stretches the floor and has evolved his game even more this year.

Jordan Walsh – He’s been up and down this season, but has established himself as a valuable role player. One that doesn’t need the ball to make an impact on the game.

Baylor Scheierman – Back in Summer League, it wasn’t exactly clear if he had a long term future in Boston. Fast forward to today and he’s firmly in the rotation and a big part of the team’s depth and identity. He’s started 12 games and gives the game good effort and surprising defense.

Hugo Gonzalez – No one is surprised by his defense and he’s been creative and poised in his role. Another player that doesn’t need the ball to add value. Of course, he’s still a rookie on a deep squad.

So make the call. Which two players would you start next to Tatum, Brown, and White?