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By NewsPress Now

Chiefs’ Rashee Rice

leased Lamborghini involved in crash

DALLAS | Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was leasing a Lamborghini sport utility vehicle that authorities say was one of two speeding sports cars that caused a chain-reaction crash on a Dallas highway, an attorney for the company that owns the vehicle said Tuesday.

Dallas police have not confirmed whether Rice was involved in Saturday’s crash, which caused minor injuries. The occupants of the Lamborghini and the other speeding vehicle — a Corvette — left without determining if anyone needed medical attention or providing their information, police said. A total of six vehicles were involved in the crash.

An attorney for Rice said this week that the NFL player was cooperating with authorities but has not elaborated.

Rice was leasing the Lamborghini from The Classic Lifestyle, said Kyle Coker, an attorney for the Dallas-based exotic car rental company. He said that contractually, Rice would have been the only person allowed to drive the vehicle, which rents for about $1,750 a day and is worth about $250,000.

Police have said that the drivers of a Corvette and a Lamborghini were speeding in the far-left lane of North Central Expressway when they lost control. The Lamborghini went onto the shoulder and hit the center median wall, causing a chain-reaction collision. Four people in the other vehicles were treated for minor injuries.

Police said Tuesday that they were still working to identify suspects. Police have not released any information about the people they are seeking, including whether Rice was among them.

Rice’s attorney, state Sen. Royce West, said that Rice “will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly.” West did not respond to questions Tuesday and has not said whether Rice was driving one of the vehicles.

Rice, a member of the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs team, is from the Dallas area. He played for Southern Methodist University and grew up in the Fort Worth suburb of North Richland Hills.

Joel Embiid returns for 76ers for stretch run following knee surgery

PHILADELPHIA | Joel Embiid returned to the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup on Tuesday night, getting his first start in nearly two months after the reigning NBA MVP had knee surgery.

Embiid was cleared to return ahead of Philadelphia’s game against Oklahoma City and played for the first time since he was injured in the Sixers’ last game of January. The Sixers plummeted in the Eastern Conference standings without him. A team playing for a top-four spot in the East before Embiid’s injury, the Sixers are 14-27 overall without him this season and 11-18 since he was injured in a Jan. 30 loss at Golden State.

“I want to get him out there and evaluate where we’re at,” coach Nick Nurse said.

Sixers fans were ready for the All-Star center’s return, chanting “MVP! MVP!” as Embiid warmed up. His hair in braids, Embiid received a roaring ovation when he was introduced in the starting lineup. Embiid had started the day listed as out on the injury report before he was upgraded to questionable by late afternoon.

The Sixers played without All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (hip tightness). The Thunder played without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (quad) and Jalen Williams (ankle).

The Sixers entered Tuesday eighth in the East with seven games left this season and seem poised to make the play-in tournament. The No. 7 seed plays No. 8. The winner is in and gets the No. 7 seed for the playoffs. The loser has a second chance.

“I usually don’t worry about the seeding stuff,” Nurse said. “There is some common sense here that we need to get this team ready, whatever that means, to be the best they can be, if there’s a postseason.”

Embiid, a two-time NBA scoring champion, has averaged 35.3 points and 11.5 rebounds this season. He scored a franchise-record 70 points to go along with 18 rebounds on Jan. 22 in a 133-124 victory over San Antonio.

“He’s a really good defensive player. He’s a very good rim-protector,” Nurse said. “I think just his presence limits the quantity of number of drives you have at the basket. That’s always a really good starting point.”

Embiid had meniscus surgery on Feb. 6 after Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga fell on the 7-footer’s left leg. Before that, Embiid had been held out because of left knee swelling in Philadelphia’s two previous games.

“One thing I give our team credit for is, they’ve continued to fight, with the idea of, let’s get better, let’s get better and when he gets back, we’ll be ready to go,” Nurse said. “There’s been a couple kind of punches to the gut along the way on that. For the most part, I’m super-happy with the way they’ve prepared and focused and the effort they’ve given.”

Judge allows

Pat Fitzgerald’s lawsuit against Northwestern

to continue

CHICAGO | A judge denied Northwestern’s motion to dismiss former coach Pat Fitzgerald’s $130 million lawsuit against the school claiming he was wrongly fired in the wake of a hazing scandal.

Cook County Circuit Judge Daniel Kubasiak ruled Tuesday that Fitzgerald made a strong enough argument to keep the case going. A trial is set for April 2025.

“As we set forth in announcing our complaint in October 2023, defendants’ actions have exacted terrible, immeasurable costs to coach Fitzgerald, his family, and his career,” attorneys Dan Webb and Matthew Carter said in a statement. “As a result of that conduct, we had no choice but to file our complaint for breach of oral contract, breach of his employment contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, false light, and tortious interference with a business expectancy.”

A star linebacker at Northwestern in the 1990s, Fitzgerald was initially suspended for two weeks and then fired last year after 17 years as coach of the Wildcats. The school said he had a responsibility to know that hazing was occurring and should have stopped it.

Fitzgerald denies wrongdoing.

“We remain confident that the university acted appropriately in terminating coach Fitzgerald and we will vigorously defend our position in court,” Northwestern spokesman Jon Yates said in a statement.

—From AP reports