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James received 78 points in balloting by U.S. editors and news directors announced Thursday, while Boston Red Sox star Mookie Betts was second with 46. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was third, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was fourth and Triple Crown winner Justify was fifth. On the court, James remained dominant. He averaged 28.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.4 assists in 2018 between his time with the Cavaliers and Lakers, playing in 102 games through Thursday. “In addition to being on everyone’s short list as one of the league’s all-time greatest players, LeBron is among the hardest working players and is a thoughtful and impactful leader,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “He serves on the executive committee of the Players Association even as he builds an impressive media company of his own. And what’s most inspiring, and no surprise given his talent and focus, is how he’s done all of this while embracing his unique opportunity to positively impact communities in need.”
When it comes to winning the ESPY award for best male or female athlete, a championship helps but the hardware is not necessarily required. Jose Altuve of the World Series champion Houston Astros and Alex Ovechkin of the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals are both first-time nominees for the award. But so are New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Houston Rockets guard James Harden.
“I told everyone that when John was coming off his rookie contract, we would sign him and he would be our bedrock player,” Leonsis said, then referenced Caps players. “I told everyone when Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom” had similar contract extensions. “I told everybody that we would keep Bradley Beal, and already everyone is talking about the [Wall] extension,” Leonsis continued. “So my prediction is John Wall will sign his extension. He wants to be here, and my goal is to have no drama.”
Barkley lives in Arizona and attends five to 10 Coyotes game per season. He's also following the career of Arizona native Auston Matthews, who is a young star with the Toronto Maple Leafs. “But really I root for the guys who are great but didn’t win a championship because I’m on that list,” he said. “At the start of the playoffs, I was rooting for Henrik Lundqvist, (Alex) Ovechkin and Joe Thornton.”
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My first reaction to seeing Ted Leonsis’s recent appearance on Bloomberg TV was holy wow, he’s lost a lot of weight. You can’t really do an entire blog post based on images of someone’s torso, though — well, unless it’s Alex Ovechkin, or John Wall, or Rex Grossman. So let’s move on to what Leonsis was actually discussing, which was his continuing push toward at least partial ownership of a sports network. “I think everyone who owns a sports team, and especially those who own multiple sports teams, has to look at what is the way that they can grow their revenue and be competitive on the ice or on the court, and that’s to generate more media dollars,” Leonsis said. “And one of the ways to do that is to launch and own, or own a part of, your own network.
Kirilenko, who will be in town Wednesday with the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA pre-season game against the Detroit Pistons at MTS Centre, spoke to the Winnipeg Sun on Sunday from Minneapolis after a team practice. It will be Kirilenko’s first visit to Winnipeg, but he said he’s aware of the hockey passion here and, although there’s no real time for them to explore the city, he’s looking forward to seeing something new. And he has one small goal, too. “Definitely I want to buy a jersey,” he said, undoubtedly endearing himself to Winnipeg Jets fans. “It’s a very rare opportunity because I’ve never seen the other parts (of Canada) but I like hockey.” Born in Izhevsk, in the western portion of Russia, Kirilenko was curious about the Russian influences on the Winnipeg Jets and then listed off his favourite players. “(Ilya) Kovalchuk, (Alexander) Ovechkin, (Evgeni) Malkin, those are the three I cheer for,” he said.
Wall has already made a name for himself after signing a five-year contract with Reebok worth a reported $25-million. Wall become the new face of Reebok basketball, replacing former Georgetown alum Allen Iverson. He also helps Reebok possibly develop a stronger foothold in Washington, where the company has already signed Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Wall has already met with Iverson, who assisted with the sales pitch to Reebok. Todd Krinsky, Reebok's head of sports and entertainment marketing, said they will likely do some sort of cross-marketing with Ovechkin and Wall.
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