Sports briefs
By The Associated Press
Travis Kelce gets
first producer credit
on SXSW movie
Travis Kelce is already making moves in Hollywood. The Super Bowl champ has his first executive producer credit on a new film making its world premiere in March at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
“My Dead Friend Zoe” is described as a darkly comedic drama about a U.S. Army veteran, the dead best friend she can’t let go and her estranged grandfather.
The film stars Ed Harris, Sonequa Martin-Green and Natalie Morales, who are all credited as executive producers alongside Kelce. Directed and co-written by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, “My Dead Friend Zoe” will debut on March 9 at the festival.
Ohio State fires basketball coach
Chris Holtmann
COLUMBUS, Ohio | Ohio State has fired seventh-year basketball coach Chris Holtmann with the Buckeyes in the middle of another subpar season. Associate head coach Jake Diebler will run the program for the rest of the season and a search for a new head coach will commence then, the school said in a statement.
Ohio State is 14-11, 4-10 in the Big Ten, and has lost nine of the last 11. In 2022-23, the Buckeyes suffered their first losing season in nearly two decades, finishing 16-19 and 5-15 in the Big Ten.
Rafael Nadal pulls out
of the Qatar Open because he isn’t yet healthy enough to play
DOHA, Qatar | Rafael Nadal has put off his return to the tennis tour because he isn’t yet healthy enough to play. He announced Wednesday that he will sit out next week’s Qatar Open. He said he will turn his focus to a March 3 exhibition with Carlos Alcaraz in Las Vegas and the Indian Wells tournament that follows.
The 37-year-old Nadal played in three matches at the Brisbane International in early January but then pulled out of the Australian Open and hasn’t been back since. He hurt his hip flexor during the Australian Open in 2023, and eventually needed surgery, missing the rest of last season.
Adam Silver tells ESPN that Las Vegas is ‘definitely’ on list of expansion candidates
INDIANAPOLIS | NBA Commissioner Adam Silver tells ESPN that Las Vegas is “definitely on our list” of cities under consideration for expansion franchises. Las Vegas has been mentioned as an NBA destination many times before and the timetable for when the league will add new franchises to its existing group of 30 clubs is unclear.
The NBA has another year after this season on its $24 billion, nine-year media rights deal and Silver has long said that serious expansion talks won’t happen until the new media deal is finalized.
Class-action suit
says North America’s major junior hockey system violates U.S. antitrust law
A class-action suit has been filed in federal court in New York arguing that the major junior hockey system violates federal antitrust law.
The lawsuit brought by the World Association of Icehockey Players Unions and two individual former major junior players takes aim at the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey that make up the Canadian Hockey League.
Plaintiffs argue the inability for players in North America to choose which league they play in restricts their movement and compensation. The NHL is named as a defendant for its role in supporting the system.
—From AP reports
