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After Bryant’s shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, he had a brief moment of doubt toward the future of his playing career. He wasn’t sure if he could continue to rehab for the third consecutive season. MORE: Stoudemire calls out Mavs | Austin’s impact well beyond basketball His doubts must not have lasted long because Bryant was adamant toward reporters about returning to play next season. “Who the hell said I’m retiring?...

Bryant mainly focuses on LeBron James, examining his habits and routines to explain how to slow down the Cavaliers star. MORE: LeBron James dishes on his pregame diet Bryant ultimately says to guard James, you have to understand his physiological and tactical tendencies, and the basketball gods have to be in your favor, too. So yeah, not that easy.

Lakers legend and future first-ballot Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant made an estimated $680 million during his 20-year playing career and had a reported net worth of $350 million in 2016. The man can afford nearly anything, but up until recently he didn’t have something most avid basketball fans do —NBA League Pass. That’s right. Bryant, the man many (erroneously and blasphemously) think is the greatest basketball player ever to play the game couldn’t even watch NBA games outside his regional market if they weren’t nationally televised....

Bryant was a full participant in the Lakers' Tuesday practice, taking part in 5-on-5 with the team and showing little rust. “I’m pleasantly surprised, Bryant said, according to the team. "Been doing some things… It’s always different in a game though.” As for when he will play in a game, there still is no set date for his return. The Lakers previously said they would defer to Bryant on his level of practice involvement, and they are likely to take the same approach with games....

The Lakers star came into the game against the Timberwolves with 32,284 points, trailing Jordan by just eight. The moment came with 5:24 left in the second quarter. Bryant had tried to pass Jordan the play before with a baseline fadeaway but it bounced out. Instead, Bryant had to settle for free throws as he drove to the hoop after getting fouled. MORE: Kobe vs. Jordan | Bryant calls focus on Jordan a myth | Will Kobe retire in 2016?...

Everton suffered a 1-0 home defeat on Sunday, their fourth loss in five Premier League matches, which leaves them 16th after being tipped to challenge for the top four ahead of the season. Everton 28/1 to win Europa League Koeman is coming under intense pressure with the Toffees also bottom of their Europa League group, but he believes the club’s fans would be wrong to criticise his players’ effort....

They got louder for each birdie by Tiger Woods that moved him closer to the lead Sunday in the PGA Championship, and Koepka could hear a ripple effect of noise. First, real time. Seconds later, another burst from patrons watching on TV in chalets. Then, distant cheers from every corner of Bellerive when the score was posted. “We knew what was going on,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious when Tiger makes a birdie....

Drawing a comparison with legends such as Brian Lara and Vivian Richards, Waugh said Kohli has shown all the traits of a great batsman. “He (Kohli) has got the game to survive anywhere, I think he’s got the best technique of anyone in world cricket,” Waugh was quoted as saying in Cricket.com.au. “He and AB de Villiers have got the best techniques, and AB de Villiers is not playing Test cricket so that makes him (Kohli) the stand-out player....

True to his aggressive demeanour and style, Kohli got to his 18th Test hundred with a flat and powerful six over extra cover off paceman Suranga Lakmal and let out a big roar, going down on his knees to celebrate the moment much like former England batsman Kevin Pietersen. In the list of most number of centuries, Kohli sits at number eighth behind Brian Lara (53), Mahela Jayawardene (54), Hashim Amla (54), Jaques Kallis (62), Kumar Sangakkara (63) Ricky Ponting (71) and iconic Sachin Tendulkar (100), who is the only cricketer to get 100 international hundreds....

Closer Koji Uehara is out for the season after suffering a broken bone in his wrist when he was hit by a line drive, the team announced Monday. X-rays taken Friday night came back negative, but the pitcher was sent back to Boston on Sunday for further tests, which revealed the fracture. The 40-year-old will finish his season at 2-4 with a 2.23 ERA and 0.917 WHIP in 43 appearances....

Kirby and the Forgotten Land isn’t the first Kirby game to permit flashy entrances for its bosses. Kirby Star Allies, for instance, provided names and titles for each of its major bosses, giving them a little more context and description than most Kirby games might otherwise do. Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s bosses are poised to make even greater use of this concept, however, thanks to the game’s setting. By fleshing out each of Forgotten Land’s bosses a little, HAL is setting up the game’s wasteland to be one of Kirby’s more memorable locales, filled with fearsome members of the Beast Pack....

Much is made about Cousins’ struggles in prime-time games in general, but it goes to a whole different level on Mondays. He’s 0-9 as a starter on MNF in his career, and his teams haven’t even covered the betting spread in any of those nine games. There have been a few memorably bad moments for Cousins on Monday nights, but mostly, he’s just been consistently poor. The next chance for Cousins to reverse his apparent Monday night curse comes in Week 10 of the 2020 season against the Bears when the Vikings travel to Chicago....

It is a measure of Henry Kissinger’s Years of Renewal (Simon & Schuster, $35) that it is anything but. Unsurprisingly, there are passages that challenge all but the utterly committed, like 48 pages on the Cyprus crisis of 1974. Yet the very comprehensiveness of this account–billed as “the concluding volume” of Kissinger’s three-part memoir of his years serving Ford and Richard Nixon–is part of its appeal. Not that this is just a sourcebook; on the contrary, it has perhaps the clearest expression yet of what Kissinger believed he was doing, and why, during his time as secretary of State....

Starc was ruled out with a stress fracture, paving the way for the the 23-year-old Englishman to make his IPL debut. A yorker specialist, Curran also bowls a deceptive, back-of-the-hand slower ball, and his skills were on full display in a thrilling ODI against Australia in January. Curran claimed a wicket with his second ball in his T20I debut for England. An utility batsman with a strike-rate of 128.36, Curan has played over 51 T20s with a highest score of 51 not out....

He said that the vice-captain needs to be given a sense of security in the playing XI after returning to T20Is following a six-month gap (due to knee injury and COVID-19). Speaking to India News, Karim said: The statement comes when India has some other options as far as picking an opening partner for Rohit Sharma is concerned. The likes of Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav will also be in contention to move up the order....

BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter Despite having come back from a 3-0 first leg quarter-final FA Cup defeat to Selangor to lead the return fixture 3-0 in the second half on Saturday, Kuala Lumpur (KL) seemed reluctant to kill the game by scoring their fourth of the night. The Hawks instead took their foot off the gas and decided against using their remaining two substitutions in the remainder of the match, and was edged by the hosts 8-7 in the ensuing penalty shootout....

After missing the last two and a half years with ACL and Achilles injuries, the Warriors’ five-time All-Star took to Instagram to announce he will return to action when Golden State hosts the Cavaliers on Sunday, Jan. 9. It will be his first NBA action since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals on June 13, 2019, marking 941 days in between appearances. NBA League Pass: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial)...

The Austria match was Klinsmann’s last chance to see his strongest possible team for four months until the March international fixture period, but with so many players missing (like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Matt Besler, Graham Zusi and Fabian Johnson), the November friendlies were never really going to be a true dress rehearsal for Brazil. Because of all of those absences, the November friendlies against Scotland and Austria became much more about a coach wanting to see some specific things than it was about cohesion and a team playing well as a group....

The Liverpool boss was upset with a number of things after a fightback was required twice to secure a road point in the 2022/23 Premier League season opener. One of his issues was with the pitch, which he deemed “dry.” Fulham took the lead in the first half following a fantastic team move that resulted in Aleksandar Mitrovic bullying Trent Alexander-Arnold at the back post to nod home. A Darwin Nunez goal and assist either side of a Mitrovic penalty eventually saw the spoils shared on the opening day of the Premier League season....