Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Rudy Gobert wins record-tying fourth Defensive Player of the Year award
Rudy Gobert made some history. Victor Wembanyama nearly did.
Gobert, the Minnesota center, was announced Tuesday as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for a record-tying fourth time — joining Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace.
It was the fifth time in the last 11 seasons that a French center won defensive player of the year — and it sure seems like Wembanyama will add to that country’s total before long. The San Antonio rookie center, announced Monday as the league’s Rookie of the Year, was second in the voting and fell one spot short of being the first player to win the DPOY trophy in Year 1 of his NBA career.
Viva la France, indeed. Joakim Noah became the first Frenchman to win DPOY when he was the overwhelming choice in 2014, and Gobert now has the trophies for 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
“It’s great teamwork,” Gobert, the best defender on a Timberwolves team that had the best defense in the NBA this season, said on TNT during the award’s announcement. “We love to get individual awards and all these things, and it’s great but you can’t do it alone.”
It’s the ninth time in Gobert’s 11 seasons that he has been seventh or better in the DPOY voting. He was second in 2017, third in 2020 and 2022, fifth in 2015 and seventh in 2016 — and picked up this trophy one day after missing a playoff game for the birth of his son, Romeo.
“A lot of blessings,” Gobert said. “Just really grateful.”
Miami center Bam Adebayo was third, his best-ever finish in the voting. He was fourth in 2021 and 2022, along with fifth in 2020 and 2023.
Adebayo — an Olympic gold medalist from 2021 and part of the team that USA Basketball has picked to play in the Paris Games this summer — is the only player to have been in the top five of the DPOY balloting in each of the last five years. He’s gotten at least one first-place vote in all five of those seasons, the only player in the NBA who can say that.
Gobert was second in rebounds per game and sixth in blocked shots per game — a category where Wembanyama led the league. The Timberwolves led the NBA this season in fewest points allowed per game. They also held opponents to the lowest field-goal percentage.
“This year, training camp, we came Day 1 and said we wanted to be a top defense in this league,” Gobert said. “Every guy has bought in. Everyone has put in the work every single day, and now we’re here with one goal in mind, to try to get this championship.”
Gobert’s win adds to an awards haul this year for the Timberwolves, who are having their best season in 20 years. Minnesota hadn’t won a playoff series since 2004 before knocking off Phoenix in Round 1, and now has a 2-0 lead — both wins on the road — over defending NBA champion Denver in the Western Conference semifinals.
“Great things take time,” Gobert said. “You guys all know winning is not something that happens overnight. You need to overcome adversity, you need to go through some ups and downs as a group.”
Other major Timberwolves award finishes this spring saw Naz Reid winning Sixth Man of the Year,Mike Conley winning the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, Chris Finch finishing third in the Coach of the Year voting (won by Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault ), Tim Connelly placing third in the Executive of the Year race (won by Boston’s Brad Stevens ) and Anthony Edwards finishing eighth in the Clutch Player of the Year balloting (won by Golden State’s Stephen Curry ).
The winner of the NBA’s top individual award will be announced Wednesday.
Three international players — Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’ Luka Doncic — are the finalists for MVP. Jokic is seeking what would be his third MVP award in the last four seasons, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic are aiming to win the trophy for the first time.
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, last season’s MVP, was not eligible this year because of the league’s new policy requiring players to appear in a certain number of games before being considered for most awards.
Other NBA honors yet to be announced are the All-Defensive, All-Rookie and All-NBA teams — which won’t be revealed before next week — and the Social Justice Award winner, which will be announced Thursday.
Joe Burrow is
throwing again as
the QB rehabs his wrist
CINCINNATI | Joe Burrow threw some crisp passes in a team workout Tuesday and said rehabbing his surgically repaired right wrist is still a work in progress.
The Bengals quarterback was cleared to throw about a month ago, but hasn’t been cleared for contact yet. He hopes to be fully ready to go by training camp.
“I felt good the last couple of days,” the 27-year-old Burrow said. “I don’t ever know how it’s going to feel until I wake up the next morning, but I was encouraged by the last couple of days for sure.”
Burrow was lost for the season when he suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist in the 10th game, a loss to Baltimore on Nov. 16 that dropped the Bengals’ record to 5-5. He had surgery on his wrist Nov. 27.
Backup Jake Browning led Cincinnati to a 4-3 record the rest of the way and the team missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. The Bengals finished 9-8, last in the AFC North.
Burrow said uncertainty has been the most difficult part of rehab.
“Whenever you have an injury to your throwing side, you’re never quite sure how it’s going to turn out at the end,” he said. “But I’m in a good spot. I’m happy with where I’m at, and I’m going to continue to get better.”
Burrow knows the drill when it comes to rehab. In his rookie year in 2020, he tore up his knee while being sacked in Week 11 against Washington. He finished rehab just in time for the start of the 2021 season.
Appendicitis caused him to miss all of training camp in 2022. On the second day of camp in 2023, Burrow strained a calf muscle. He didn’t miss any games, but the injury limited his mobility in the early part of the season.
He knows enough from the previous injuries not to push himself so hard that it’s going to end up being detrimental to his recovery.
“I need to first off try to be out there for training camp. Get as many reps as I can with the guys,” he said. “I’m going to be smart about it. You know, if I need a break, I need to break. The wrist maybe it’s going to hurt sometimes. And I’m going to be honest with myself about how my body is feeling, maybe a little more cautious than I have been in years past. So that’s kind of been something that’s been on my mind for the last couple of months.”
Burrow’s teammates were just happy to see him on the field and working after all this time.
“Everyone’s injury is their own personal journey,” receiver Trenton Irwin said. “So it was cool to see he really hasn’t missed a step and is able to do what he can do.”
Second year receiver Andrei Iosivas said Burrow also has reclaimed his role as one of the leaders on the team.
“You can tell he’s been working, giving guys advice, like giving (tight end Mike Gesicki) advice every route, just trying to build chemistry with everyone on the field,” Iosivas said. “So it’s been good.”
Brazil’s soccer
federation suspends matches for three clubs
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil | Brazil’s soccer federation has suspended matches involving three top-tier clubs of the country’s flood-ridden southern region, but only for 20 days.
Gremio, Internacional and Juventude, which are based in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, will only return to activities after the harms of major flooding are mitigated, the Brazilian soccer body said in a statement Tuesday. Ten of their matches in the Brazilian league and the Brazilian Cup will be rescheduled.
The decision also applies to away matches of the three clubs.
Many fans and players had pushed for a complete halt to competitions in the South American nation.
The soccer body said it will reassess its move after May 27.
“(The Brazilian soccer confederation) stresses its unrestricted support so all measures and actions are adopted for the benefit of the population, which is the maximum priority,” it said.
Later, South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL said that it postponed one group-stage match of Gremio’s in the Copa Libertadores and another of Internacional’s in the Copa Sudamericana.
Authorities say at least 95 people have been killed over the last seven days in the region and another 131 are reported missing.
Both Internacional and Gremio had their stadiums inundated in state capital Porto Alegre, with their pitches now severely damaged by the water. The stadium of Juventude, based in the countryside city of Caxias do Sul, risks being flooded in the next few days.
Only jet skis have entered the Beira-Rio and the Arena do Gremio stadiums in Porto Alegre since last week.
Porto Alegre’s airport is also flooded, as are many of the city’s hotels and roads, which would make it impossible for away teams to play even if the local stadiums were to be immediately cleared.
Other Brazilian clubs have expressed their support to the Rio Grande do Sul clubs and offered their facilities for training until the end of the month.
All three clubs had their weekend matches in the fifth round of the Brazilian league suspended.
Internacional is in ninth position with seven points, three behind leader Athletico Paranaense. Gremio is in 11th position with six points and Juventude has five competition points.
Damage from the rains have affected more than 1 million people in the region, according to authorities. Approximately 200,000 people are now displaced and taking refuge in schools, gymnasiums and other temporary shelters.
More heavy rains are expected until the end of the week, meteorologists say.
The suspension of professional soccer matches in Rio Grande do Sul state also applies to local clubs in Brazil’s third and fourth divisions, its national women’s soccer league and under-20 tournaments.
Ryan Garcia
reportedly wants second drug sample tested
Ryan Garcia, who tested positive for a banned substance before defeating Devin Haney last month in New York, has requested his B-sample also be analyzed, ESPN reported.
ESPN previously reported that Garcia’s A-sample tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Ostarine the day before and the day of the April 20 fight, citing a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association letter. Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator, and its use can stimulate muscle growth. It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The results of the test weren’t known until later.
Garcia defeated Haney by majority decision in New York. Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss, but did not win the title because he was over the weight limit.
Garcia emphatically denied that he broke the rules in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“I’ve never taken a steroid in my life,” Garcia said. “I don’t even know where to get steroids. At the end of the day, I barely take supplements.”
Garcia’s victory could be overturned if the positive drug test is confirmed.
—From AP reports
