Sports briefs 7/23
Basketball
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever and former NBA MVP Derrick Rose were revealed Wednesday as the cover athletes for NBA 2K27.
Wembanyama is on the cover of the Standard Edition, Clark is on the Deluxe Edition and Rose will appear on the limited-time Ultra Edition.
The Standard Edition launches widely on Sept. 4. Deluxe and Ultra editions launch with early access on Aug. 28.
NFL
Carolina Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton will miss the start of the regular season after being diagnosed last month with a blood clot in his lung.
The Panthers announced that Moton and cornerback Jaycee Horn will be placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. Horn is sidelined after cutting his foot while running and requiring stitches. The Panthers anticipate Horn returning early in camp.
Moton was placed on blood thinners after his diagnosis and is being monitored by the team’s medical staff. He’s expected to return at some point during the regular season.
The 31-year-old Moton has played in 145 games — 128 starts — since being selected in the second round by the Panthers in 2017.
College football
Tom Osborne, who coached Nebraska to three national championships in the 1990s and ended his career with one of the highest winning percentages in college football history, on Wednesday became the first living person voted into the state historical society’s Nebraska Hall of Fame.
The state legislature in April passed a law paving the way for the 89-year-old Osborne’s entry. The law set aside the stipulation that a person must be deceased at least 35 years before he or she can be considered. The hall of fame commission voted 7-0 in favor of Osborne’s induction.
“His love of Nebraska and the people in Nebraska, what he’s done for Nebraska, is just absolutely second to none,” Gov. Jim Pillen said. “That we’re able to recognize him is a really, really special day.”
After retiring from coaching after the 1997 season, Osborne was a three-term congressman representing Nebraska’s 3rd District from 2001-07. He and his wife, Nancy, founded the Teammates youth mentoring program in 1991.
Osborne grew up in Hastings, played football at Hastings College and was an assistant at Nebraska under Bob Devaney before he took over as head coach in 1973. Osborne had a 255-49-3 record over 25 seasons, and his .836 winning percentage ranks seventh all time in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
His teams in 1994 and ’95 were consensus national champions and his 1997 team shared the title with Michigan.
WNBA
The WNBA is going with a shooting stars competition instead of its skills challenge, pairing one former great with a current player in the league on Friday night as part of All-Star weekend.
Seattle will be represented by Lauren Jackson and Flau’jae Johnson. Washington will have Elena Delle Donne partnered with Shakira Austin. Dallas, which started out as a franchise in Detroit, will pair Jessica Shepard with Deanna Nolan. Minnesota will have Rebekkah Brunson playing with Courtney Williams.
Each team will also include a standout high school player from Nike EYBL, bringing together three generations of women’s basketball in one competition.
The format is a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams have 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition features shots ranging from a layup to a 3-pointer, with the two teams posting the highest scores in the opening round advancing to the championship round.