Briefs
Cavs sign Love
to extension
All-Star forward Kevin Love has signed a new four-year, $120 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are beginning anew following LeBron James’ departure.
Love signed the extension Tuesday.
The 29-year-old just completed his fourth season with Cleveland, which was swept by Golden State in the NBA Finals. That loss was followed by James leaving in free agency to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Love, who has been mentioned in trade speculation since arriving in Cleveland, now becomes the centerpiece of the franchise. He averaged 17.6 points and 9.3 rebounds last season when he made his fifth All-Star team.
Love said he is “super excited and I couldn’t be happier. It’s a big commitment for me and it’s a big commitment from the Cavaliers.”
Last season, Love revealed he has battled anxiety throughout his life.
Mora to join ESPN
Former UCLA coach Jim Mora is joining ESPN as a college football analyst. He will fill the role Chip Kelly held last season before replacing Mora with the Bruins.
Mora was head coach at UCLA from 2012-17. He was fired after 11 games last season. He worked for the NFL Network during the lead-up this year’s draft. For ESPN, he will be part of ESPN2’s Saturday studio show, hosted by Chris Cotter. Former Texas star Emmanuel Acho will join Mora as an analyst on the show.
Kelly spent last season with ESPN, taking a year off from coaching after being fired by the San Francisco 49ers at the end of the 2016 season.
Mora has coached in the NFL with Atlanta and Seattle. He was 46-30 at UCLA.
All-Star viewership hits record low
The Major League Baseball All-Star game edged down to a record low in viewership as it reversed last year’s increase.
According to Nielsen ratings released Tuesday, Major League Baseball’s exhibition game last week drew 8.7 million viewers on Fox.
That’s just under the previous record low of 8.71 million viewers in 2016, and about 6 percent less than 2017’s audience of 9.28 million.
Although the game ranked as the week’s No. 2 program, it was topped by NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which drew 11.3 million.
Maybe predictability is part of the problem: The American League beat the National League 8-6 for its sixth straight win. Those who skipped the game missed seeing a record 10 home runs, nearly double the previous high.