Australia star suffers fractured jaw after on-field collision
Suaalii may miss rest of NSW Waratahs’ Super Rugby season
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is in a race against time to be fit to face the British & Irish Lions, with the Wallabies star set to miss the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season with a fractured jaw.
Suaalii will undergo surgery on a “small undisplaced fracture” he sustained in an accidental collision with a NSW Waratahs teammate against the Queensland Reds on Friday night.
May 13, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the basket beside Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) during the second half of game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 112-105 on Tuesday night to go up 3-2 in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Oklahoma City overcame a 44-point, 15-rebound night from Denver's Nikola Jokic. The Thunder can clinch the series on Thursday in Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander made 12 of 23 field goals and had seven assists. He led six Thunder players in double figures.
Jokic made 17 of 25 shots. Denver's Jamal Murray scored 28 points, but he made just 10 of 27 shots. No other Denver player scored more than 13 points.
Oklahoma City ran out to a 12-2 lead, and it looked like it might turn out like the Thunder's blowout victory in Game 2. Denver made one of its first nine shots, and that was a putback by Jokic.
Denver rallied and led by 11 in the second quarter, but Oklahoma City closed strong and trailed 56-54 at halftime. Jokic had 19 points and nine rebounds before the break.
Denver took control early in the third quarter. Murray scored 13 points in the period and Jokic added 12 to help the Nuggets take an 86-78 lead into the fourth.
Oklahoma City's Lu Dort, who scored three points in the first three quarters, hit three 3-pointers in a two-minute span to cut Denver's lead to 92-90 midway through the fourth.
Jokic hit a deep fadeaway 3-pointer to tie the game at 103 before Oklahoma City closed it out. Jalen Williams’ 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining gave the Thunder a 106-103 lead, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s three with 48 seconds to go pushed Oklahoma City's lead to six.
The two clubs that won all four AFL premierships between 2017 and 2020 squared off Sunday in a clash that didn’t look particularly enticing when the fixture was released last November. Heading into 2025, there were predictions of winless seasons and comparisons with the darkest days of Fitzroy. But the game between Richmond and West Coast boiled down to a last-gasp tackle. It was the kind of tackle that was supposedly given its last rites a fortnight ago, a tackle that saw a goal-bound but moribund fourth gamer ambushed like a cheetah on an impala. These things are a mix of technique, speed, luck and, most crucially, will. Tom Brown had all four in spades, and Richmond had another win.
Back in early March, if the Tigers’ coach, players and supporters had been offered three wins by Mother’s Day, they wouldn’t have hesitated in accepting. All they really wanted was to be as competitive as possible, to get some games into their draftees, and to steal four points here or there. They’ve achieved all of that already. Hell, they achieved that in their first game against Carlton. Throw in an unexpected victory over a not entirely beloved triple-premiership coach now at the Suns, and a hard-fought win over the Eagles, and the Tigers have much to be positive about.
The 1986 post-season will go down as another unforgettable
run in Calgary Flames history.
For starters, it was a whirlwind of a regular season for the
Flames, who went 23-12-6 after overcoming a then-franchise record eleven-game
losing streak from Dec. 14, 1985 to Jan. 7 1986.
Their efforts resulted in a second-place finish in the
Smythe Division, second only to provincial rivals, the titanic Oilers, led by Wayne
Gretzky who scored 215 points that season (remember this).
Gary Suter won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie of
the season.
The Flames swept the Winnipeg in the first round and then
beat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Edmonton with the Hart Memorial Trophy
winner Gretzky (yes, that 200+ point scoring guy) in seven games.
Rookie of the year Suter had a team-high five assists. His seven
points were the second-highest in the series alongside teammates Hakan Loob,
Joe Mullen and Oilers’ Glenn Anderson, trailing only The Great One’s 13 points.
This was a big moment in league history as this team, that came
second to Edmonton in the Smythe Division by a mammoth 30 points, took down the
big and mighty Oilers, and stopped them from potentially pulling off a historical Stanley
Cup five-peat for the greatest player in hockey. Edmonton had won the Stanley Cup the two years before (1984, 1985), and would go on to win in the two years after (1987, 1988).
Sadly, this is the only flex
Flames fans can have over Oilers fans as Calgary has never beaten Edmonton in any
playoff series since.
The Flames then beat St. Louis in seven games to win the
franchise's first Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as Conference champions and advance
to the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals. Al MacInnis and Paul Reinhart led the series
with 10 and eight points respectively.
The Flames became the first team from Calgary to reach the Finals since the Calgary Tigers of the WCHL in 1924.
Unfortunately, after winning their first game, Calgary got
topped by the Prince of Wales Conference champions Montreal Canadiens in four consecutive
games to lose the series 4-1.
While the Flames did not claim Lord Stanley’s Cup that
season, they produced a memorable season that resonates with Flames fans, and
be remembered for years as the squad that denied immortality status for Gretzky.
The only team in NHL history that has won the Stanley Cup five years in a row are the 1956-60 Montreal Canadiens.
Fortunately, Calgary would have to wait only three more
years to finally reach the mountain top in 1989.
Nine of the Flames’ players from the 1986 Finals would go on to lift the cup.
These finals were also against the Canadiens that consisted
a lot of the 1986 Finals' roster, so a bit of payback was rightfully due.
LOS ANGELES — Touted Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Roki Sasaki landed on the injured list Tuesday with right shoulder impingement.
He told the team his arm was sore after his last start in which he pitched on five days rest for the first time in the majors. Sasaki threw four innings and gave up five runs on 61 pitches Friday at Arizona.
“Physically he was a little bit sore afterwards and that’s something that we’re still trying to figure out, what’s normal and what’s not normal,” manager Dave Roberts said before the team announced Sasaki was sidelined. “We want to make sure that he’s in a good spot physically.”
The right-hander is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts. He has 24 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .225 average. Sasaki was scheduled to make his next start Thursday against the Athletics.
The 23-year-old from Japan joined the Dodgers in January after spending the last four years with the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Sasaki was known for throwing 100 mph in Japan and in his major league debut against the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo in March he repeatedly reached 99 mph in the first inning.
But he’s struggled to find that same zip on his fastball since, with his velocity dipping to the mid-90s.
“We’re still trying to have conversations to see where he’s at,” Roberts said. “At the end of the day we want to make sure that he is performing up to his capabilities and up to our capabilities and our expectations.
“There’s a lot of kind of things that we’re trying to suss out right now with Roki.”
Sasaki was pulled from his Dodger Stadium debut in the second inning because of control issues. His sad face and teary eyes were shown on a Japanese TV feed.
His injury is the latest blow to the Dodgers’ rotation. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are on the injured list, although Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to make his season debut Saturday after starting the season on the IL.
Right-hander J.P. Feyereisen was recalled for his second stint with the Dodgers this season.
The belief in Brett Batyhas always been there. The question appeared to be if the Mets’ youngster had the self-belief to match.
With the score tied and two down in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night, the 26-year-old offered an answer, taking a 1-1 changeup from Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller the opposite way for what proved to be the game-winning solo home run in a 2-1 win.
"I've always thought I'm capable of doing whatever I want to accomplish in this game,” Baty said after the game. "I’m having some success right now, and, yeah, it’s nice.”
The home run gave him four in his last five starts since rejoining the team from Triple-A. What has been the difference for the infielder during this streak? Manager Carlos Mendoza pinpointed it.
“Confidence. A guy that knows he belongs in the big leagues and just having fun,” Mendoza said. “He‘s preparing, he’s going out there, keeping it simple, getting pitches to hit and not overthinking it. And he’s using the whole field. We saw it getting a single to the pull side and that homer.”
Baty said he doesn’t feel that different from before. “It’s just the game,” Baty, who went 2-for-3 while playing second on Tuesday, said. “There’s a lot of highs and lows, you just gotta be the same guy every single day.”
Mendoza noted that Baty is taking reps in the batting cage using the high-velo machine and taking “random BP” where he doesn’t know whether it’s a fastball or breaking ball coming.
“Basically when he gets out there [in the game], it’s like he had a few at-bats already,” he said, adding this is nothing new for the club or those around the league with the high-tech machines, but some guys need a bit more time to implement them into their routines. “I’m glad that Baty’s open to these new ideas and challenges himself, and he’s seeing these new results.”
Part of Baty’s struggles during his first stint in the big leagues to open the season appeared to come from him falling behind in counts. (He went down 0-1 in 18 of his first 24 at-bats and 0-2 nine times to start the year.) Baty said he still feels like he’s falling behind, but is working on being more aggressive to counter that.
“I need to go up there sometimes and hit the breaking ball that they just dump over the middle of the plate to start,” he said. “Right now, I’m focused on driving the pitch that I want to drive instead of just swinging at strikes.”
Mendoza credited him with “not overthinking what the pitcher is trying to do” and “keeping it simple.”
“Making sure I’m ready to hit, and if I’m getting a fastball, stay short and use the whole field. And if I’m getting a breaking ball, I'm gonna be able to keep my hands back, stay in position where I can do damage,” the manager said. “... Simple approach and he’s aggressive and he’s not missing pitches.”
And, of course, “Even his takes are different,” Mendoza said. “It looks like he’s ready to hit, and then, shutting it down. For me, that’s a sign of a good hitter.”
The round-tripper, which looked like it would just be a liner over the left fielder’s head before sneaking over the wall, was another demonstration of the “impressive big-league power” the club had been waiting for.
“Every young player, when they first come up to the big leagues, they are looking to impress or trying to do a little too much,” Mendoza said. “Trying to have success or results out of the gate. Sometimes it takes a lot longer for guys. This guy performed at the minor league level and for some reason, it took some time to get comfortable here.”
He added, “Every player is different. For Baty, I’m glad he’s finally settling in and getting comfortable at this level.”
On dealing with the ups and downs of his career thus far, Baty said that, "Everybody's journey in this game is different, and I'm thankful for every single part of mine, for sure."
The Winnipeg Jets trail the Dallas Stars 3-1 in their second-round series after losing Game 4, 3-1.
The Jets outshot the Stars 10-5 after the opening frame but exited the period trailing 1-0. A Dylan DeMelo holding the stick penalty gave the Stars a power play, which Mikael Granlund took full advantage of, scoring his second of the postseason.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored as the Stars' penalty expired, tying the game at 1-1 with a sharp-angle shot. A poorly timed pinch from Neal Pionk awarded the Stars a man advantage, which Granlund once again made the Jets pay.
Granlund continued his dominance of Game 4 by recording a hat trick and extending the Stars' lead to 3-1. An ill-advised penalty by Jamie Benn gave the Jets a power play opportunity with less than five minutes remaining, but the Jets could not capitalize. With the goaltender pulled, the Jets threw the puck on goal as many times as they could but were unable to sustain pressure, failing to score.
Jake Oettinger was stellar once again, turning away 31 of the 32 shots he faced. Hellebuyck allowed three goals on 24 shots, making key saves when called upon.
The Jets have now lost all five road games in the 2024-25 playoffs and are on the brink of elimination. The series returns to Winnipeg on Thursday for a must-win Game 5.
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May 13, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) celebrates during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
A year ago, the Pacers were called "lucky." They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals by beating a Milwaukee team without Giannis Antetokounmpo and then a banged-up New York team (before falling to Boston).
Doing it two years in a row isn't lucky — the Pacers are for real.
Cleveland came out in Game 5 Tuesday night playing with a sense of desperation and effort not seen from them often in this series — their backs were against the wall down 3-1, and the Cavaliers played like it, racing out to a 19-point second quarter lead.
However, sustaining that proved too much, especially with Darius Garland trying to play through turf toe and Donovan Mitchell battling injuries as well. Once again, Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers exposed the questionable switching defense of the Cavaliers, Haliburton hunted a slowed Garland, and Indiana found its rhythm. Cleveland could not get a stop when it needed it.
That wasn't just Game 5 — Indiana has played with more energy and pace all series. The Pacers grabbed the rebounds, got to the loose balls and just outworked the Cavaliers. And, when it mattered, they hit the big shots. They did it again on Tuesday.
The result was a 114-105 Indiana win that gives them the series, 4-1.
The Pacers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals again and will face the winner of the Knicks vs. Celtics series, which New York leads 3-1 (and Boston will be without their leader Jayson Tatum).
"We're not done. We still have a ways to go," Haliburton said.
Haliburton turned the game around with his scoring and shot creation, finishing with 31 points and eight assists.
Haliburton had LeBron James sticking up for him after a player survey named him the most overrated player in the league.
Hali fkn hooping!!!! Where the lames who said he was overrated??!! Quiet as hell. That boy NICE and even more someone everyone would love to play with! @mindthegamepod
Also deserving credit in this series is Myles Turner, who got labeled by some as a 3-point shooting big who was soft inside, but he has played with more force and physicality over the past couple of years. In this series, going up against Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, he was the best big on the floor most nights.
Cleveland has some hard questions to answer.
"We didn't get to the level we wanted to get to," Coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We're not pleased with that and we're not celebrating the season."
Injuries certainly were a part of the problem for Cleveland, this was a banged up team. However, the issues ran deeper than that. The Cavaliers executed poorly all series under pressure.
More concerning, Cleveland got outworked. Down 2-1 in the series, the Cavs no-showed in Game 4. This team lacked playoff grit.
Not Donovan Mitchell, who gutted his way to 35 points but shot just 8-of-25. Evan Mobley scored 24 on 8-of-12 shooting with 11 rebounds. But the bench players that carried them this season, De'Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome, had a rough series. So did Allen. And Max Strus was 0-of-9 shooting in Game 5.
With the Celtics not having Jayson Tatum next season, and the Bucks potentially trading Giannis Antetokounmpo, look for the Cavaliers to make tweaks around the edges but run back their 64-win team and bet on better playoff health next season. There are reasons to be hopeful.
Just know Indiana will be back next season with its core, too, and that team is for real.
With the Mets having several players able to play multiple positions, there are many combinations for Carlos Mendoza to choose from. On a rainy night with Kodai Senga on the mound, the skipper opted to have Brett Baty at second base and Jeff McNeil as the DH with Luisangel Acuña available off the bench. Naturally, after serving as the DH on Monday, the ball found Vientos, who is thought to be the least sure fielder of the bunch.
On two occasions, Vientos had balls hit right at him that ended up being doubles thanks to a wicked hop and bad luck.
The first came with one out in the top of the second inning when a 91.2 mph bouncer off Adam Frazier’s bat skimmed off the slick surface and ate Vietnos alive, taking a hard bounce off the dirt and into his chest. The ball bounced all the way to the tarp up the left field line to put two in scoring position.
But Senga was masterful, getting a strikeout on a nasty forkball and an easy bouncer to Vientos for him to make up for the misplay.
The second came with two down and a runner on first in the top of the sixth when a 99.3 mph smash by Jared Triolo went straight through the webbing of his glove as he went down to make a backhanded play on the ball.
"From the dugout, it happened so fast, I didn’t know what happened," Mendoza said after the game. "Somebody told me it went through the webbing, and I was like, 'Man, tough break there.'"
The play, which was not ruled an error, led to an earned run for Senga as reliever Reed Garrett entered and walked the next two batters to force in the tying run.
Vientos worked on the pocket as the Mets made a pitching change and had a clubbie tighten the webbing during the next half inning, but didn't change his glove for the eighth inning.
In the ninth, the manager used his bench, moving Baty to third and inserting Acuña at second. And the new second baseman made the game's final play, as he was positioned well to handle Joey Bart's liner up the middle for the game's final out.
Kodai Senga worked himself around trouble in a solid outing and Brett Baty cranked a solo home run in the seventh to give the Mets a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Senga and the four men who followed out of the bullpen gave the visitors chances, but held them to 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position to leave 12 men on base. New York improved to 28-15 on the season and 17-4 in Queens. The Mets are now 10-8 in one-run games.
Here are the takeaways...
- Senga bookended a 1-2-3 first by getting Adam Frazier swinging on a forkball in the dirt and blowing a fastball past Bryan Reynolds.
Ke'Bryan Hayes would jump on a fastball on the inside corner for a one-out triple to left center in the second, benefiting from Tyrone Taylor losing his feet on the track. But the righty got a pop-up to shallow center, tracked down by Baty (playing second base), and Jared Triolo to wave at a forkball in the dirt to strand the runner.
After a one-out single to right, Frazier slapped a ball to third that ate up Mark Vientos, skipping off the ground into his chest to put runners at second and third. Senga again got out of trouble, making Isiah Kiner-Falefa look foolish on a forkball in the dirt before inducing a grounder to Vientos to strand two.
Senga put himself in trouble again with a walk and a single to cover the corners with nobody out. But the Houdini act continued as Alexander Canario, Triolo, and Ji HwanBae all went down swinging at the forkball. A one-out walk and a wild pitch put another Pirate in scoring position in the fifth, but Senga got a groundout to third and a lazy fly to right. Through 15 outs, Pittsburgh was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position with six left on base.
A two-out single in the sixth brought Carlos Mendoza to the mound to take Senga’s temperature, but the righty got one more batter. Unfortunately, Triolo smacked a ball that went through the webbing of Vientos’ glove to put runners at second and third on the double.
Reed Garrett entered and had trouble, walking Bae on four-straight to load the bases and got ahead of Henry Davis 0-2, but walked in the tying run, missing on four straight. A weak grounder to first ended the jam and left the bases loaded.
Senga's final line: 5.2 innings, one run, six hits, two walks, seven strikeouts on 102 pitches (68 strikes). His ERA jumped to 1.22 on the year.
- Juan Soto rocketed a ball right up the middle for a hit in the first inning. He promptly swiped second base easily off Pirates starter Mitch Keller, who does not hold runners well. With two down, Brandon Nimmo lined a double to the left-center gap on a lovely swing to take the ball the other way and plate the game’s first run.
Keller settled in and retired nine of the next 11 batters he faced, including getting Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso swinging for the second time of the night each. (Soto worked a walk in the third and Vientos got the Mets' second hit of the game with a one-out single in the fourth.)
Lindor and Alonso both finished 0-for-4. Soto 1-for-2 with two walks.
- Baty smacked a single through the right side to start the home half of the fifth, but Keller continued to groove, retiring the next eight batters. That streak came to an end when Baty lined an opposite-field home run that just got over the left field wall. The 365-foot shot (104.4 mph off the bat) gave the Mets a 2-1 lead and a much-needed big hit.
- Max Kranick needed eight pitches for a perfect seventh with a strikeout. Ryne Stanek allowed a one-out single, but two strikeouts and an infield pop-up meant it would be a Mets lead in the ninth.
Edwin Diaz put himself in trouble in the ninth. After a one-out four-pitch walk, Frazier promptly swiped second base and a slow bouncer to Lindor was gloved, but a wide throw pulled Alonso off the bag. Diaz allowed his second first-pitch steal of the inning to put two in scoring position.
But the closer froze Reynolds on a 3-2 fastball that was right down the pike and got Joey Bart to line a grounder up the middle right at Luisangel Acuña to end the game.
Game MVP: Brett Baty
Baty played well at second (before moving to third for the ninth inning) and now has six hits (four homers) in his last 13 at-bats with seven RBI.
The series concludes on Wednesday with a 7:10 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Clay Holmes (2.74 ERA, 1.242 WHIP in 42.2 innings) gets the ball and will go against left-hander Bailey Falter (4.36 ERA, 1.131 WHIP in 43.1 innings).
A masterpiece 39-point performance from Jalen Brunson and well-rounded help from the Knicks’ other starters propelled the team to its strongest performance of the Eastern Conference semifinals. After the Knicks took a 3-1 series lead with a 121-113 win against the Boston Celtics, New York has a golden opportunity to close the series out in Boston.
The top storyline for the series is Jayson Tatum, who is out with a ruptured right achilles tendon that he suffered late in Monday night’s game. The injury required surgery on Tuesday. The absence of Tatum is a massive blow to Boston. As we saw in Game 4, Tatum can be dominant. He had 42 points, nailing several off-the-dribble three-pointers. Tatum also initiates a lot of Boston’s offensive attack. On defense, he guards multiple positions.
Still, the Celtics had a top-three record in the NBA for a reason. The team has quality players across the roster, and a win won’t be easy for the Knicks. For much of the series, the Celtics have been able to stymie New York’s offense with a heavy switching defensive strategy. But Game 4 was a step in the right direction for the Knicks' offense.
Brunson was phenomenal, hitting a plethora of difficult shots off the dribble. He was the steadying force throughout the game that the Knicks could always go to. New York’s other starters deserve credit, too. Karl-Anthony Towns was efficient with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Mikal Bridges was automatic from mid-range with 23 points and OG Anunoby awoke from a scoring slumber with 20 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the three-point line.
The Knicks will need that offensive diversity to win. Brunson can lead the way, but finding other sources for offensive creation is crucial. Bridges found success from mid-range in the fourth quarter, attacking Celtics big men Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet in drop coverage. He made five mid-range pull-up attempts in the final frame.
The offensive glass also ended up being a swing factor. The Knicks had 13 offensive rebounds and took 13 more shots than Boston. Mitchell Robinson had five offensive rebounds in 25 minutes. Keeping Robinson on the floor has led to extra shot opportunities.
Defensive moves
Tatum’s injury adds even more responsibility to Jaylen Brown. The Celtics’ other all-star is averaging 20.5 points but is shooting just 37.7 percent from the field and 22.6 percent from beyond the arc in the series.
Throughout the second round, Tatum constantly sought out Brunson and Towns on switches and has attacked or found the open man. It worked as Tatum knocked down 12 three-pointers and had 64 points in the last two contests. Now, Brown will have even more opportunities to attack, but he doesn’t create the same havoc shooting and making plays as Tatum.
Something to monitor will be how Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla tinkers with the starting lineup. Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard could start in a smaller, three-guard alignment with Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. Or do the Celtics go to Porzingis or Kornet in a jumbo starting big combination with Al Horford?
Either way, that should put less pressure on Brunson and Towns defensively. Still, the Knicks will have to focus on containing the outside shot and defensive rebounding. White, specifically, was a nuisance with six threes on Monday night. The Celtics lead all teams in the second round in three-point attempts per 100 possessions. If Boston catches fire from three, it can make up for Tatum’s absence.
Lakers forward Kobe Bryant, left, enjoys a moment with teammate Julius Randle during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center on March 22, 2016. (Kelvin Kuo / Associated Press)
Julius Randle had just scored 31 points, his career-high in the playoffs.
He was a game removed from his first postseason triple-double.
After his team's Game 4 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, Randle was asked about how he's been able to finally shake his reputation as a player who fades during the playoffs. Much of the credit, Randle said, belongs to someone he last played with nine years ago: Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.
“I’ve battled through a lot in my career, to be honest. I mean, my first game in my career I broke my leg. I’ve been through a lot," Randle said. "I had a great mentor in Kobe that didn’t necessarily let me pout or get down on myself. His thing was always, ‘All right, what’s next? How can you get better? How can you improve?’ So I always just kind of took that mentality with me."
Randle — who also credited his mother, Carolyn Kyles, for raising him "to be a hard worker and not feel sorry for myself" — has spoken before about Bryant's influence on him. The Lakers selected him at No. 7 overall in the 2014 draft, and he spent four seasons in Los Angeles, with the first two the final seasons of Bryant's Hall of Fame career.
In an essay published by The Players' Tribune in 2021, Randle recounted a life-changing encounter with Bryant early in the 2015-16 season. The Lakers had just arrived in Randle's hometown of Dallas late at night, with a day off before a game against the Mavericks.
Just before arriving at the hotel, Randle said, Bryant asked him what his plans were for the rest of the night. Randle responded that he was going to "have a night" with some family and friends.
"And Kobe, he just cuts me off," Randle wrote. "He’s like, 'Nah. We’re going to the gym.'"
And that's exactly what they did.
Timberwolves teammates Julius Randle, left, and Anthony Edwards talk during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers on April 5 at Wells Fargo Center. (Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
"I mean, that right there, it’s just the power of Kobe," he wrote. "If anyone else in the world had said that to me, in that moment, I might have hit ’em with an eye roll and went on with my business. But when Mamba is telling you that it’s a change of plans, and you’re coming with him to the gym tonight? You don’t ask questions. You just do as you’re told. ...
"It was him trying to use the situation to teach me a lesson. The lesson being: To get to the next level in this league, you can’t be putting in that next level of work only some of the time. Has to be all of the time. No such thing as sacrifice without sacrifice."
Bryant died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. About a month later, Randle had arranged for a Detroit gym to be open for his now-routine, Mamba-inspired late-night workout. When he got there, Randle wrote, the man who opened the doors for him said: “It’s good to see you. Guys don’t really show up here to work out anymore. Matter of fact, the last guy to come in this late to shoot — man, that must have been years ago. It was Kobe.”
Randle said just hearing Bryant's name in that moment "gave me chills."
"It was just one of those moments," Randle wrote. "One of those moments that stays with you. One of those moments that forces you to take a second, and feel humble about how connected everything is."
Randle was a three-time All-Star for the Knicks but didn't play particularly well in two postseason appearances during the team's three playoff series. He didn't play last spring after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery in April.
Just before the start of training camp last fall, Randle was traded to Minnesota in a deal that sent fan favorite Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. After getting off to a shaky start with his new team, Randle missed the month of February because of a groin injury.
Since his return, however, Randle and the Timberwolves have found their groove, going 17-4 down the stretch. While it's no surprise that young superstar Anthony Edwards has led the team in the playoffs (27 points, eight rebounds, five points per game), Randle's emergence as a postseason force is welcome news for Timberwolves fans. He averaged 22.6 points during Minnesota's five-game series win over the Lakers and is averaging 24.3 points in four games against Golden State.
Randle says that the Timberwolves' young superstar reminds him a lot of Bryant.
“The mentality is very similar," Randle told Andscape in October. "No hesitation. Ant gets right to it. He’s special. Physically, he’s gifted. Skill-wise, he’s gifted. Dude is different. There aren’t many players like him.
“Now I’m seeing his leadership, that he is charismatic, and his energy. He makes everybody believe. He’s special.”
And that's one of the reasons why with him and Edwards at the helm, the Timberwolves are only a win away from a repeat trip to the Western Conference finals.
Dragons, Cowboys and Knights to join rugby league festival in March
Hull and Leeds clash revealed but women’s fixture yet to be confirmed
The NRL will attempt to capitalise on Canterbury’s popularity by putting them on the plane to Las Vegas next year, alongside St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Newcastle.
Head office confirmed the four men’s NRL teams for the league’s third Vegas extravaganza, with all teams on their maiden trip for the 1 March (AEDT) event.
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki adjusts his right sleeve while walking off the field in the fifth inning against the Diamondbacks on Friday. (Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
The Dodgers' pitcher injury woes are continuing to pile up, this time with heralded Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki out of action.
Sasaki did not throw at his scheduled bullpen session Tuesday and is instead getting his right shoulder examined by the team doctor, a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said.
The Dodgers soon after announced Sasaki was placed on the injured list after he was diagnosed with right shoulder impingement.
When manager Dave Roberts was asked pregame about J.P Feyereisen having a locker in the clubhouse — a roster move that would require a player moving to the injured list or on the bereavement/paternity list — he mentioned that there was “smoke” around a player on the team. Asked if the “smoke” was Sasaki, who is scheduled to pitch against the Athletics on Thursday, Roberts responded:
“I'm not, I'm not going to say right now,” he said.
Roberts said that after Sasaki’s most recent start, in which he pitched on five days of rest for the first time in his major league career, the 23-year-old rookie reported arm soreness. He pitched just four innings and gave up five runs on 61 pitches. Sasaki threw 90-plus pitches in his previous two starts.
"Physically, he was a little bit sore afterward,” Roberts said. “And that's something that we're still kind of trying to figure out — what's normal, what's kind of not normal.”
Sasaki, whose 100-mph fastball garnered attention in Japan, as well as his appearances pitching for Japan at the World Baseball Classic, has dipped in velocity since joining the Dodgers. He’s averaged 96 mph on his fastball, while occasionally dipping into the 92- to 93-mph range.
Roberts did not say pregame where in Sasaki’s arm he was sore, only that it was his arm. Sasaki is 1-1 with a 4.72 earned-run average across eight starts so far in 2025.
Staff writer Dylan Hernández contributed to this report.
