Sports briefs
NBA to present plan for restart
The NBA has told the National Basketball Players Association that it will present a 22-team plan for restarting the season to the league’s board of governors Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation said.
The teams that will be going to the ESPN Wide World Of Sports complex on the Disney campus near Orlando would play eight games to determine playoff seeding starting around July 31 before the postseason begins, according to the person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday.
The plan, once approved, will have 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams going to Disney and the cutoff being that teams must be within six games of a playoff spot at this point. Playoffs would start in August, and the NBA Finals will likely stretch into October.
The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics already have clinched playoff spots – and, if only eight games are left, that would mean the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets would theoretically have clinched spots as well.
The Dallas Mavericks would be virtually assured of clinching a West spot, holding a seven-game lead over eighth-place Memphis. The Grizzlies, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix all would be in the running for the No. 8 seed out West.
NBA great Unseld dies
Wes Unseld was an undersized NBA center known more for his bruising picks, tenacious rebounding and perfectly placed outlet passes than any points he produced.
“I never played pretty,” Unseld said when elected to the Hall of Fame in 1988. “I wasn’t flashy. My contributions were in the things most people don’t notice.”
Unseld, who began his pro career as a rookie MVP, led Washington to its only NBA championship and was chosen one of the 50 greatest players in league history, died Tuesday after “lengthy health battles, most recently with pneumonia,” his family said in a statement. He was 74. Unseld spent his entire 13-season playing career with the Bullets-Wizards franchise, then was its coach and general manager.
OSU players test positive
Two more Oklahoma State football players have tested positive for COVID-19 since returning to campus for voluntary workouts, bringing the total to three. Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga announced Tuesday he tested positive after he attended a protest in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The other two players were not identified.
Marshall University announced Monday two of its football players and one staff member tested positive. Iowa State said Wednesday that four athletes were showing symptoms.
Bowling Green saves baseball
Called out, Bowling Green has saved its baseball program, which had been cut because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Athletic department spokesman Jason Knavel said that baseball is back immediately after “our passionate baseball alumni and donors have committed $1.5 million over the next three years.”
The Ohio school announced last month it was dropping baseball because of a projected $2 million athletic budget shortfall. Former players began a “Save BGSU Baseball” campaign and managed to raise funds to rescue a program that produced former All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser.