PHILADELPHIA — Allen Iverson cupped his hand to his left ear and asked to hear his favorite tune one more time. With that command, 20,000 roaring Philadelphia 76ers fans gave AI the standing ovation he earned by stamping himself as one of the franchise’s all-time greats. Iverson, emotional as he thanked former teammates and friends, had his No. 3 retired at halftime of Saturday’s game against Washington.
High above the Wells Fargo Center court, Iverson’s banner slipped between Maurice Cheeks‘ No. 10 and Charles Barkley‘s No. 34. “They all wanted me to talk about how much y’all loved me,” Iverson said, “but trust me, the feeling was mutual.” Iverson officially retired in October after last playing in 2010. He won four scoring titles for the Sixers and was the 2001 MVP when he led them to the NBA Finals. He never won a championship, the lone omission in a career that is destined for the Hall of Fame.
The Sixers may as well have turned the arena into an AI museum. Four banners greeted fans at the main concourse entrance, and photos of him were plastered all around the arena. The merchandise stands sold Iverson jerseys for $130, and lower level tickets were going for as much for $1,280 on StubHub about an hour before the 7:30 p.m. tipoff. It was StubHub’s highest-priced 76ers home game this season, with the median ticket going for $109. The fans loved him, and he blew them kisses after the No. 3 was raised to show how much he loved them back. “I am Philly,” Iverson said. “It’s always going to be that way.”
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With Black History Month winding down, Fox Sports joined forces with poet Raliq Bashard for a sports-centric tribute to the legends who paved the way for today’s athletes. Check out the video above, put together by Fox and their partners at Relevant 24. To see the full written text of Bashard’s inspiring spoken-word testimonial, as well as specific stories about black sports figures such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Vonetta Flowers, Larry Doby and Wilma Rudolph, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Jason Collins made history Sunday when he became the NBA’s first openly gay player. On Tuesday, his jersey was the league’s top seller online. Collins’ No. 98 jersey for the Brooklyn Nets outsold NBA powerhouses like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Monday, a league official told the New York Times the demand for merchandise that bore Collins’ name was “unprecedented.” Tuesday’s sales proved it.
Collins plays in his second game Wednesday night after signing a 10-day contract with the Nets. The team beat the Lakers 108-102 in his debut. Collins tallied 10 minutes and, more importantly, 5 personal fouls in the victory. In addition to solid interior defense, giving “hard fouls” has become Collins trademark since entering the league in 2001. He’s not an All-Star and the Nets don’t need him to be. Ten minutes and five fouls could come again Wednesday night against the Blazers.
The Nets are in the midst of a 6-game road trip.
article via thegrio.com
LOS ANGELES — Jason Collins, a 35-year-old center, signed a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon and played against the Lakers hours later, appearing in an NBA uniform for the first time since last spring, when he announced that he was gay. The signing represents a significant step toward transforming North American professional sports into a more welcoming environment for gay athletes. Until Sunday night, no NBA game had taken place with an openly gay player on the floor. The NFL, Major League Baseball and the NHL — the continent’s other three traditional major sports leagues — have never had a publicly gay participant.
The very act of Collins’s suiting up and stepping onto the court — he entered the game to warm applause in the second quarter — represented a milestone in the effort to change a sports culture that some feel has lagged far behind society at large in acceptance of gay people. Collins played 11 minutes in the Nets’ 108-102 victory, finishing with no points, two rebounds, a steal and five fouls.
Collins said he had little time to process it all. He awoke Sunday morning to text messages from his agent and Nets Coach Jason Kidd alerting him to the move, and hours later he was signing his contract. A few hours after that, he was taking his physical and preparing to play his first game since April 17. “Right now, I’m focused on trying to learn the plays, the game plan assignment,” Collins, sitting at a lectern, said less than an hour before the game Sunday night. “I don’t have time to really think about history right now.”
Track star Lauryn Williams is the first American woman and the fifth athlete to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics after winning a silver medal in the women’s two-person bobsled at the Sochi Games on Wednesday.
Williams joined the sport only seven months ago. The 30-year-old track and field sprinter of Trinidadian decent competes internationally for the United States. She previously won gold as part of the women’s 4×100 relay in the 2012 London Games as well as a silver medal in the 100 meters at the 2004 Games in Athens.
“I didn’t come here to make history,” Williams said, as reported at TeamUSA.org. “I came here to help Team USA, and I feel like I did the best I could. I’m just happy to be here, and it wasn’t about history for me.”
Had Williams won gold, she would have become the first woman and only the second athlete ever to win a gold medal in the Olympic Winter and Summer Games. Eddie Eagan is the only other American to medal in both Olympics, winning gold in boxing in 1920 and in the four-man bobsled in 1932.
Chicago native and former Illinois track star Aja Evans took bronze in the women’s two-person bobsled, giving the US two medals in a bobsled event for the first time in history. A former Big Ten shot put champion, Evans also was a sprinter. “You go into the competition setting goals for yourself, and the ultimate goal is to win gold,” Evans said. “But you go in with nothing, so to come out with a bronze, you’ve reached a goal, you’ve achieved a lot. I’m just as excited as if I’ve won gold.”
Track star Lolo Jones finished in 11th place. Jones, a two-time Olympic hurdler, joined Williams as the ninth and 10th American athletes to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The U.S. is the only nation to medal in every women’s bobsled Olympic event since the discipline made its debut at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers won the inaugural women’s bobsled race in 2002, with Flowers becoming the first African-American ever to win a gold medal at the Winter Games.
article by Carolyn M. Brown via blackenterprise.com
NEW YORK – Basketball and celebrity superstar Shaquille O’Neal and Peerless Clothing have partnered to create a new fashion menswear collection. O’Neal recently launched the line exclusively at Macy’s, offering a line that ranges in sizes from regular to, fittingly, big and tall.
The Shaquille O’Neal Collection, available at 100 Macy’s stores nationwide and online at www.macys.com, will include suit separates and sport coats and patterns will include traditional solids, stripes, and plaids as well as more modern and unexpected sharkskin in shades of black, navy, tan and gray. Retailing from $150 for pants to $400 for a jacket, The Shaquille O’Neal Collection will allow the 60XL guy to shop in the same store as his size 40R friend.
“Shaq is one of the biggest stars in sports with a huge fan base and following. A favorite celebrity and personality that is larger than life. Fans everywhere love Shaq for his athletic accomplishments, and his successful foray into music, movies, television shows and business. They love his style, passion and charisma,” said Ronny Wurtzburger, president of Peerless Clothing. “When it comes to fashion, Shaq is a trendsetter not only for big and tall and regular size men, but he also has strong consumer appeal among African- and Hispanic-Americans, moms who relate to Shaq’s dedication to providing quality products at affordable prices, and kids who see him as their ultimate role model.”
“My interest in developing a menswear collection was based on my frustration with the lack of fashion for big and tall customers and the higher prices for larger size suits,” O’Neal said. “I was frustrated that I had to go to a big and tall store rather than shop with my friends at the local department or specialty store. I originally wanted to develop a more fashion-forward menswear collection at an affordable price. Once Peerless and I developed the collection, the reaction from Macy’s was so positive that we decided to make the collection in all sizes.”
Barry Bonds is making a return to baseball, of sorts. The San Jose Mercury News reports the career home run leader has wanted to take on a more active role in the San Francisco Giants organization and will get his chance. It marks his return to baseball after retiring in 2007.
Bonds finished with 762 career home runs. He also holds the Major League Baseball record for homers in a season with 73. He finished with a .444 career on-base percentage and stole 514 bases.
“He’s part of what we’ll do here,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s going to be part of the group of instructors like (Will) Clark, (J.T.) Snow or (Jeff) Kent. He’s going to be like the other guy sna help where he can. I don’t have any concerns.”
The Giants are not sure what to expect from Bonds, 49, but the paper reports the team believes he can make an immediate impact. He was originally scheduled to arrive in Scottsdale on March 9 and leave on March 17, but the newspaper reports the Giants are still waiting on exact dates.
article by Jason Boyd via sportingnews.com
Lamar Odom is no longer a free agent. Seven months after the Los Angeles Clippers released the athlete, Odom signed a two-month contract with Spanish club team Laboral Kutxa for the rest of the 2013–14 season, with the option to play for one more year. Laboral Kutxa is ninth in the 18-team Spanish league and last in its Euroleague group.
“We’re very happy to have signed a very important player who has had a long and fruitful career in the NBA,” Josean Querejeta, president of Laboral Kutxa, says in a statement. “We’ve worked very hard over the last couple of days to make this happen. We felt we needed a boost and had to break the collective cloud that has been hanging over us over the last while so we could get back to winning.”
Odom, 34, could make his debut as early as Saturday when Laboral Kutxa plays Valladolid. The native New Yorker previously played for the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks.
In August, Odom was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. In December, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to three years’ probation and three months of alcohol abuse treatment. That same month, Khloé Kardashian filed for divorce from Odom after four years of marriage.
article by Zach Johnson via eonline.com
Comparisons to her uncle Tiger may be inevitable, but Cheyenne Woods is coming out from under her famous relative’s shadow with a win at the Australian Ladies Masters on Sunday. ESPN.com reports that Woods earned her first her first major professional tour victory by holding off 17-year-old Australian amateur Minjee Lee by two strokes. The 23-year-old golfer closed with a 4-under 69 at Royal Pines to finish at 16-under 276. Lee also shot 69 in the event sanctioned by the European and Australian tours. Woods’ two-stroke lead came when she birdied the par-5 15th, hitting a wedge from about 120 yards to 4 feet. On the par-5 18th, she holed out from 1½ feet as she matched Lee with a birdie.
Speaking of the impact of winning a Ladies European Tour event, an emotional Woods labeled the moment as “a huge accomplishment for me.” “The European Tour has been great to be able to play this past year, she said while acknowledging her fellow golfers. “I’ve been able to see all of these great players, play with Solheim Cup members. … To be able to come out here and compete with them and come out on top was huge for me.”
On Sunday, Michael Sam made headlines around the country when he came out as gay. If drafted, as projected, he will be the first openly gay player in the NFL. While some people reacted poorly to the news, Sam has racked up plenty of support in the football world. See who’s standing with Sam below.
Dick Cass, Baltimore Ravens president
“We’re all about winning. If he’s a good football player who can help us win games, he will be welcomed here,” he said. “I’m disappointed it is such a big issue in 2014.”
John Elway, Denver Broncos executive
“I applaud Michael Sam and wish him the very best as he continues the pursuit of his NFL dream,” he told 7SPORTS. “We will evaluate Michael just like any other draft prospect — on the basis of his ability, character and NFL potential. His announcement will have no effect on how we see him as a football player.”
John Mara and Steve Tisch, New York Giants co-owners
“Our sport, our game, is the ultimate meritocracy. You earn your way with your ability. As Patrick Burke and Wade Davis constantly remind all of us, regardless of who you are, what your background is and what your personal or sexual orientation is, if you can play, you can play. Michael’s announcement will not affect his position on our draft board,” said Mara.
“Michael Sam is a gifted athlete and a courageous man,” Tisch said. “I hope any NFL team would not hesitate to draft Michael if he is right for their team. Our game is the ultimate team game, and we often talk about how a team is a family. Regardless of where you are from, what your religious beliefs are, what your sexual orientation is, if you are good enough to be on the team, you are part of the family.”
Robert Kraft, Patriots owner
“We’re about winning,” Kraft told the Boston Herald. “And anyone who can come in here and help us win, I personally don’t care what their ethnic background is, their racial background, the gender preference. If they can help us win, and they’re about team first, then I’m happy to have him here… I think it’s good for America.”