That is not the only notable news regarding the the 2020-21 season. Per a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the league also prefers a 72-game season — as opposed to its usual 82 games — which will end before the start of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The Games, scheduled for July 23, were postponed in 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another reason for the quick turnaround, just over two months removed from the Lakers’ NBA Finals victory over the Heat, is that it appears COVID-19 regulations regarding sporting events will not relax anytime soon....

And for all his runner-up status behind LeBron James with the Cavs in the last three years, he was clutch enough to make the biggest shot in franchise history, that off-balance 3-pointer to give Cleveland its only championship, completing a stunning comeback win over the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. There’s a lot more pros than cons there, especially for a guy who is only 25 years old. The rule of thumb in any trade is the team getting the best player involved usually wins....

The Suns, Timberwolves and Bulls are all interested in dealing for the 22-year-old guard, according to a report from the Indianapolis Star, which cites unidentified league sources. Indiana, however, says it isn’t shopping Holiday and stopped taking calls about him following the trade deadline, the report says. The Pacers selected Holiday out of UCLA with the 23rd pick in the 2018 draft. He averaged 5.9 points and 1.7 assists in 50 games as a rookie....

Dion Waiters has yet to suit up for the Heat through seven games. He was suspended for the season opener because of a “number of unacceptable incidents,” but he has remained inactive following the punishment. It’s possible this relationship has reached the point of no return, so is it time for Miami to execute a trade? NBA MOCK DRAFT 2020: Knicks pick star guard at No. 1 One problem here — there is no interest in Waiters....

Not that the Clippers have ever been a destination for any big-name talent, but this is the plan, anyway. In two summers, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler will be unrestricted free agents, but don’t forget about a guy in the tier just below those stars — Klay Thompson. According to Klay’s father, Mychal, he doesn’t see his son leaving the Warriors for the Clippers or any other team — not even if the team recruiting Stephen Curry’s backcourt mate comes after him with the promise of turning over their franchise to him, and not even with one of Thompson’s biggest backers, Jerry West, working as an advisor for Clippers owner Steve Ballmer....

What’s the most important factor at play for voters deciding if a woman is a viable candidate? Everyone wants to back the candidate (man or woman) who can win—which is why “electability” is such an important metric…and why the way gender factors into how it’s assessed is so important. Understanding the biases at play, and how they’ve manifested in recent election cycles for female candidates, is the work of this book so that we can disrupt those trends in real time going forward, leveling the playing field for candidates of both genders....

The organization announced on Wednesday it has approved a proposal to move the 3-point line back from 20 feet, 9 inches to the international distance of 22 feet, 1 3/4 inches. The rule will take effect beginning this season in Division I and in the 2020-21 season for Divisions II and III. The men’s basketball rules committee had proposed the change last month, citing three primary reasons for extending the 3-point line: “After gathering information over the last two seasons, we feel it’s time to make the change,” said Colorado coach Tad Boyle, chairman of the rules committee....

Rain forced the postponement of multiple games and affected the regionals in Baton Rouge, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, College Station, Texas, Nashville, Springfield, Mo., and Champaign, Ill. All of the games in the Dallas and Champaign regionals were pushed to Sunday. NCAA TOURNAMENT 2015: Top plays from Day 2 | 64 things to know UC-Santa Barbara, which was hosting the regional in Lake Elsinore, Calif., was the first No. 1 seed to be eliminated following a blowout loss to USC....

Their super regional foe, Notre Dame, will have something to say about that, as the Golden Domers have the power and pitching capable of making this weekend’s best-of-three series a doozy. The rest of the series figure to be competitive, high-intensity baseball, making for appointment television. Below, we’ll highlight three super regional series odds that present an opportunity to get involved from a betting standpoint. MORE CWS: Super Regional bracket, schedule...

In charge of the training? Strength and conditioning coach Irele Oderinde, whose sole credential was a 21-hour strength training course offered by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, which he reportedly attained while at South Florida in 2016. Oderinde received a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Western Kentucky and master’s degree in sport management from Kentucky, though neither of those would certify him to be a strength and conditioning coach....

If that same circumstance were to develop in college basketball because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the selection committee would face a far more daunting predicament than deciding between two terrific teams for that final No. 1 seed. BENDER: Big Ten made right call with conference-only season NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt told Sporting News that scenario would present “pretty significant” challenges for the committee, including the possibility of “compromising the integrity” of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), the primary metric used to sort the teams and gauge accomplishment....

He came about as close to a title as one can get without actually winning it, as Texas Tech lost in overtime to Virginia in the championship game. That’s not to say he was beaten on all counts: Friday, the NCAA announced that a proposal, which would have made it punitive to accept graduate transfers, had been defeated its Division I Council. So if there’s another Matt Mooney out there, with a degree in sight and designs on a college basketball experience different than previously experienced, they will not have to be concerned about dwindling or disappearing opportunity....

Best storyline: Can Villanova avoid a third consecutive early exit? Although the Wildcats have been dominating the Big East since it reformed as a basketball-first outfit, they’ve lost twice as high seeds in the Round of 32: in 2014 as a No. 2 seed to eventual champion Connecticut and in 2015 as a No. 1 seed to N.C. State. Although coach Jay Wright has been to the Final Four as recently as 2009, those two defeats have conjured a reputation as an NCAA Tournament choker....

Now, four years later, Ayegba is serving a one-game suspension during Monday night's matchup against the ninth-ranked Villanova Wildcats, yet again, for "pre-enrollment reconciliation issues." The source of those issues can be traced back to before his time with the Hoyas when Ayegba accepted a plane ticket to the United States from his home country, Nigeria, a Georgetown spokesman said Monday. The ticket was purchased by Joseph Bancore, a high school basketball coach at Good Counsel in Olney, Md....

MORE: Famous alumni of all 68 NCAA teams Nov. 16: Beat Seton Hall 77-74 in 2 OTs. Langston Hall led the way with 24 points. Nov. 29: Won at Valparaiso 117-108 in 3 OTs. Jakob Gollon scored 37 points in that thriller. Dec. 7: Beat Denver, 64-63, OT. Daniel Coursey had the best overall game with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Jan. 4: Beat S.C. Upstate 62-60. Coursey was again the biggest force, with 16 points and 10 boards....

He sent me 2,400 words. Indeed, that Final Four breakthrough meant a great deal. For so much of the past two decades, Gonzaga has been dismissed by many as a novelty, a pretender, a wannabe and, ultimately, a fraud. It was because I was guilty of none of this that he first started sending me e-mails in the early 2000s. Over the years, we’ve exchanged too many to count. D regularly has sent me articles, comments, questions about the program....

For a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, a team of scientists explored a cave known as Grotta dei Moscerini—one of two Italian Neandertal archaeological sites which feature a number of modified shells belonging to the clam species Callista chione that date back to around 100,000 years ago. Many of the shells found at this site had been modified to be used as scraper tools. The team—led by Paola Villa from the University of Colorado—examined 171 of these modified shells in order to understand more about these objects....

Zelensky said in a national speech on Tuesday that nearly 40,000 Russian service members have been killed since its invasion of Ukraine was launched in February. Precise figures on casualties have been nebulous throughout the conflict that’s been marked by propaganda campaigns on either side. Zelensky’s speech comes as Ukrainian forces press ahead with a counterattack that he hopes will change the tide of the war. “For four months, the Russian state has not provided to its citizens any information—even censored—about the losses of the occupation contingent,” Zelensky said in the speech, according to an official transcript....

The report also found that Cyprus’ government unlawfully issued 3,500 passports to the relatives of wealthy investors in an attempt to generate billions of euros for the east Mediterranean island nation, which belongs to the European Union. The program, which is now defunct, was first set up in Cyprus in 2007 but was ramped up in 2013 following a national financial crisis, The Associated Press reported. The investment scheme was initially appealing to foreign investors because a passport from Cyprus allowed for free travel within the EU’s 27 member nations....

Major GOP donors, conservative political action committees (PACs) and even some Democrats have given the 10 House Republicans an influx of campaign cash since the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Despite an angry Trump vowing to “get rid of them all” at February’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), seven of the 10 set personal first-quarter fundraising records, a Bloomberg analysis revealed Friday. The 10 House incumbents include some of the former president’s most vocal GOP critics, including Illinois’ Adam Kinzinger and Wyoming’s Liz Cheney, who Trump has personally singled out as “hacks” and “warmongers....