Los Angeles Times - 29.08.2019

D2 THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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When the Big3

championship

game takes

place Sunday

at Staples

Center, Ice

Cube, the

co-founder of

the three-on-three basket-

ball league, will do what he

normally does whenever he

walks into the arena. He will

take a moment to look up at

the Lakers’ championship

banners and retired jerseys

and smile.

Though the Lakers are

once again championship

contenders this season, they

could have been prohibitive

favorites if they had signed

Kawhi Leonard this summer.

Leonard, like Paul George

last year, spurned the Lakers

and now both Los Angeles

natives are on the Clippers,

making them a popular

championship pick for

the first time in franchise

history.

“I wish they would have

come to the Lakers, but I

guess they picked the team

that they were more comfort-

able playing with,” Cube said

of Leonard and George. “You

got to be special to play for

the Lakers. You have to be

ready for all that comes with

that. Those championship

banners and those jerseys

are looking down at you

when you play for the Lakers,

and it’s probably easier to

play if you cover those up for

some people.”

The Clippers don’t have

any banners or retired jer-

seys at Staples Center. Many

Lakers fans joke that Taylor

Swift, who has a banner for

the most sold-out perform-

ances at the arena, has more

of a presence at their home

than the Clippers, who have

yet to advance past the

second round of the playoffs.

As good as the Clippers are

on paper this season, Cube

thinks they will never truly be

L.A.’s team.

“The Clippers are like

your cousin who moved in

and starts thinking it’s his

house because he’s been

there for so long,” Cube said.

“I really think they should

move the team. We didn’t ask

them to come here. I think

it’s unfair to so many cities in

America who don’t have a

team like Seattle that we

have two teams here in L.A.

“They should move be-

cause it’s never going to

happen for them here. They

may have a blip on the radar

every now and then, but it’s

never going to be their city.

They should just get out and

take the Chargers with

them.”

Cube, a longtime Raiders

fan, doesn’t like the fact that

the Chargers and Clippers

are trying to claim Inglewood

as their future home with the

Chargers and Rams moving

into a new stadium across

the street from the Forum

next year and the Clippers

trying to build a new arena

there by 2024. He was hoping

the Raiders could have found

a way back to L.A. but thinks

Las Vegas could be a perfect

fit.

“It makes no sense that

the Chargers are here,” Cube

said. “They must be gluttons

for punishment and abuse to

try and call L.A. their home.

It’s still a Raiders town. I

wish they would have come

here but I’m sad for the

people of Oakland. I don’t

understand why they could

never get a stadium built

there. I’m happy they’re

getting the brand new sta-

dium that they deserve. Las

Vegas and the Raiders are

like long-lost relatives.

They’re kind of made for

each other. I just hope our

team won’t have too much

fun in Vegas. It’s going to be a

terrible season if they do. I

have mixed emotions about

that move.”

When Cube looks up into

the rafters at Staples Center

on Sunday he will also see

Lisa Leslie’s No. 9 jersey,

which was retired in 2010

after winning back-to-back

WNBA titles with the

Sparks. Leslie, who was

recently named the Big3’s

coach of the year, will at-

tempt to win another cham-

pionship in L.A. as the coach

of the Triplets, led by Joe

Johnson, Al Jefferson and

Jamario Moon, who had

stints with the Clippers and

the Lakers’ G League team.

Cube hopes the success of

Leslie and Nancy Lieberman,

who won a title and was

named coach of the year last

season, will convince others

that women should be given

a chance to be head coaches

in the NBA.

“When you’re starting a

league like this you want to

start off with credibility,” he

said. “We wanted to have

some of the best minds that

ever played the game as our

coaches. We were looking at

Hall of Famers. We looked at

Nancy Lieberman with her

resume not only as a player

but as a coach and look what

she did last year. Lisa and

her husband sat next to me

at a game last season and she

was into it. When we added

four new teams this year I

wanted to see if she would be

interested in joining and she

was. Nancy and Lisa are two

of the best coaches in the

league.”

With three-on-three

basketball becoming an

Olympic sports next summer

in Tokyo, Cube would like to

see some of the league’s

players be considered by

USA Basketball but isn’t

optimistic that will happen.

Team USA won the FIBA 3x3

World Cup in June but none

of the players have NBA

experience.

“It would be irresponsible

for USA Basketball not to

look at our guys to represent

the United States,” Cube

said. “We have some of the

best players to ever play the

game and they’re showing

what they can do in this

three-on-three half-court

setting. They should be given

a shot but I don’t know if they

will. There’s a lot of politics

involved there with FIBA

and they’re not happy with

what we’re doing, but I think

they should be given a

chance.”

Cube also thinks Lakers

fans should give Dwight

Howard a second chance this

season after the center re-

cently signed a one-year deal

with the team. No one was

more critical of Howard

when he left Los Angeles in

2013 than Cube, who called

him “Dwight Coward”

among other less flattering

things, but that’s water

under the bridge in his eyes.

“I think Los Angeles

should give Dwight a clean

slate and let his game speak

for itself,” he said. “If he can

help, it’ll show and if he can’t,

it’ll show. I would love for him

to concentrate on what he

does best — rebound, de-

fense, blocked shots and lob

dunks. If he can do that,

Dwight will be all right. I’m

not even going to think about

the first go around. That’s in

the past.”

Though Cube hopes the

Lakers will hang another

championship banner at

Staples Center next year, he

doesn’t believe this is a

make-or-break season for

the team after missing the

playoffs the previous six

seasons. He thinks the Lak-

ers’ core of LeBron James,

Anthony Davis and Kyle

Kuzma will end up winning

multiple titles before they’re

done.

“I’m excited about this

season with A.D., LeBron,

Kuzma and everyone they

got,” Cube said. “I think this

could ultimately be a mesh

year where they figure out

how to play with each other. I

think we’re going to go deep

into the playoffs but if they

don’t win it this year I’m not

going to be upset. I expect to

win back-to-back champi-

onships in LeBron’s last two

years.”

Big3’s Ice Cube talks L.A. sports

ARASH MARKAZI

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic

tops the 26-player roster

called into camp for the U.S.

national team’s September

friendlies with Mexico and

Uruguay. But after that,

Gregg Berhalter’s team con-

tains a number of surprises.

Missing are Toronto team-

mates Michael Bradley, Jozy

Altidore and Omar Gonzalez,

who have 317 national team

appearances combined; add-

ed are Sergino Dest and Pax-

ton Pomykal, who have none.

LAFC center back Walker

Zimmerman and Galaxy mid-

fielder Sebastian Lletget were

also invited, meaning each

will likely miss at least one

MLS match in September.

And Berhalter, a former

MLS coach, said the league’s

decision to schedule games

during the FIFA international

window both influenced and

frustrated him in his roster se-

lections.

“With Michael, Jozy and

Omar having two games with

Toronto FC, we had to weigh

that,” Berhalter said. “Part of

it was Toronto, the position

they’re in, fighting for a playoff

spot — we know that some of

the other teams have games

as well — but we felt that tak-

ing three players from one

team would severely handicap

them.”

But, Berhalter added later

in a 30-minute conference call,

“we’re in a very difficult posi-

tion because we’re only al-

lowed to play certain times of

the year. One thing I’ve been a

little bit disappointed with is

MLS teams opting to play in

FIFA windows. It’s infringing

on the time we have with play-

ers.

“We have to make some of

those decisions that are diffi-

cult for both the player and

the club. Sometimes there’s

no perfect solution.”

That has left the national

team and the Galaxy in a tug

of war over Lletget, who

missed the Gold Cup with in-

jury and now must leave a Ga-

laxy team locked in tight bat-

tle for a Western Conference

playoff berth.

“In Sebastian’s case, un-

fortunately, he missed out on

the Gold Cup and that was a

big chunk of time with the

team. We want to get him back

into the team. It’s important if

he wants to continue to make

an impact with the national

team,” Berhalter said. “And

we understand that he will be

missing a game.”

The roster Berhalter

picked includes 15 players

from the team he took to the

Gold Cup final in July and 14

who have 10 or fewer interna-

tional caps.

Among the latter group is

Dest, an 18-year-old defender

who plays with Ajax in the

Dutch Eredivisie, and

Pomykal, a 19-year-old mid-

fielder with FC Dallas. Both

played for the U.S. in the U-20

World Cup in May; this will be

their first camp with the sen-

ior national team.

In addition to Dest and

Pomykal, Atlanta United cen-

ter back Miles Robinson, 22,

was also called up for the first

time while Alfredo Morales,

29, is coming back for the first

time since May 2016.

“It gives us an opportunity

to look at them for the first

time,” Berhalter said. “And

then we continue to have vet-

eran leadership in the group,

which I feel is important.”

Atlanta United goalkeeper

Brad Guzan, 34, one of 17 MLS

players on the roster, is one of

those veteran leaders. He has

played in 60 international

games, making him the oldest

and most experienced player

invited to camp, which begins

Sept. 1 in New Jersey.

The U.S. will play Mexico

on Sept. 6 at MetLife Stadium

in East Rutherford, N.J., be-

fore traveling to St. Louis to

meet fifth-ranked Uruguay at

Busch Stadium.

In its last game in July, the

U.S. dropped a 1-0 decision to

Mexico in the Gold Cup final.

Pulisic tops surprising U.S. men’s team roster

Coach Berhalter’s

moves influenced by

clash of MLS calendar

with FIFA window.

By Kevin Baxter

Relax, Lakers fans. All is
well between Kobe Bryant
and Shaquille O’Neal.
Bryant made an appear-
ance at a financial services
convention in late July and
made some comments about
O’Neal that surfaced online
over the weekend. He said
that he could have had 12
titles and that O’Neal would
have been the greatest of all
time if he had spent more
time in the gym.
“He’d be the greatest of all
time, for sure,” Bryant said.
“He’d be the first to tell you
that. This guy was a force like
I have never seen. It was
crazy. A guy at that size,
generally guys at that size
are a little timid and they
don’t want to be tall, they
don’t want to be big. Man,
this dude was, he did not
care. He was mean. He was

nasty. He was competitive.

He was vindictive. He was ...

yeah, I wish he was in the

gym. I would have had 12 ....

rings.”

On an Instagram post

that had the video, O’Neal

commented, “U woulda had

twelve if you passed the ball

more especially in the finals

against the Pistons #facts.”

Was the legendary feud

between the two stars, which

had laid dormant for so long,

restarting?

Nope.

Bryant tweeted Wednes-

day, “There is no beef with

@Shaq. I know most media

want to see it but it ain’t

gonna happen. Ain’t nothin

but love there and we too old

to beef anyway.”

O’Neal then responded,

“It’s all good bro, when I saw

the interview, I thought you

were talking about Dwite, is

that how u spell his name

lol.”

See, even Bryant and

O’Neal can agree on Dwight

Howard.

Won’t miss them

in Oakland

The respective homes of

the Oakland Athletics and

Golden State Warriors sat

right next to each other for

years. But as the old saying

goes, familiarity breeds

contempt. Especially if you

are A’s closer Liam Hendriks.

Hendriks is more than

thrilled that the Warriors

have moved to San Fran-

cisco.

“I don’t follow the Warri-

ors,” Hendriks told the Ath-

letic. “They treated us like ...

over here, so we don’t care for

them much. When the Warri-

ors sucked and the A’s were

good, the A’s would give

them tickets. When the

Warriors became good they

decided to cut all ties. So, no

love lost for them leaving.”

The two stadiums shared

a parking lot, and Hendriks

recalled one incident.

“I got told I’m not as

important as a player for the

A’s as a fan for the Warriors is

by a Warriors security

guard,” Hendriks said. “He

wouldn’t let us out of the lot.

We were trying to get out and

he wouldn’t let us out.”

Your favorite sports

moment

What is your favorite L.A.

sports moment? Email me at

houston.mitchell

@latimes.com and I might

run it in a future Morning

Briefing. And yes, if your

favorite moment is about a

team just outside of L.A., I’ll

count that too.

Today’s moment comes

from Brian Adams:

“Back about 10 or so years

ago, my father-in-law was

dying from a heart defi-

ciency. His dying wish was to

meet coach John Wooden, his

hero! Jamaal Wilkes was a

client of mine and a dear

friend. I asked Jamaal if he

could get a brief introduction

with the Wizard of Westwood

for my father-in-law to meet

the coach.

“Jamaal was incredible,

setting up a meeting at coach

Wooden’s Encino apartment

for my father-in-law, wife,

Jamaal and me. Coach

Wooden couldn’t have been

more gracious, regaling us in

stories about players he

coached, games, Abraham

Lincoln and Mother Teresa,

his recently departed Nell,

etc. He also let us see all of his

memorabilia (which surpris-

ingly was not very much!)

“My favorite story was

about how Jamaal (previ-

ously known as Keith, which

is what coach Wooden con-

tinued to refer to him as)

almost wound up at my alma

mater, USC, and not UCLA.

Coach Wooden had sent out

a few of his assistants to

scout Keith/Jamaal while at

Santa Barbara High School.

The scouts came back with a

report of Keith’s strange

awkward shot and recom-

mended a pass! Coach Wood-

en wasn’t satisfied and went

to Santa Barbara to scout

Keith/Jamaal himself. Coach

Wooden loved what he saw,

and the rest is history!

“We were with the coach

for over three hours. So

polite, soft-spoken, gracious,

warm and inviting.”

MORNING BRIEFING

Bryant, O’Neal put end to new feud rumors

Bryant O’Neal

By Houston Mitchell

PRO CALENDAR

THU. FRI. SAT. SUN. MON.

29 30 31 1 2

DODGERS

at Arizona

6:30

SNLA

at Arizona

6:30

SNLA

at Arizona

5

SNLA, Ch. 5

at Arizona

1

SNLA

COLORADO

5

SNLA

ANGELS

BOSTON

7

FSW

BOSTON

6

FSW

BOSTON

1

FSW

GALAXY

at Seattle

3:30

FS1

LAFC

MINN.

7:30

YouTube TV

SPARKS

at Indiana

4

at Las

Vegas

7:30

NBATV

Shade denotes home game

RAMS:Thursday at Houston (exhibition) 5 p.m., Ch. 2
CHARGERS:Thursday at San Francisco (exhibition), 7 p.m., Ch. 7, NFL Network

TIME EVENT ON THE AIR

BASEBALL

11 a.m. Tampa Bay at Houston TV:MLB

4 p.m. Chicago Cubs at New York Mets TV:MLB

6:30 p.m. Dodgers at Arizona TV:SNLA, MLB

R:570, 1020

BASKETBALL

4 p.m. WNBA, Phoenix at Atlanta TV:NBATV

BOWLING

Noon World Championships, women’s singles TV:CBSSN

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

4 p.m. UCLA at Cincinnati TV:ESPN R: 570

4:30 p.m. Florida A&M at Central Florida TV:CBSSN

5:30 p.m. Texas State at Texas A&M TV:SEC

6 p.m. South Dakota State at Minnesota TV:FS1

7 p.m. Kent State at Arizona State TV:Pac-12

7:15 p.m. Utah at Brigham Young TV:ESPN

COLLEGE SOCCER

5:30 p.m. Women, Florida State vs. UCLA TV:Pac-12LA

8 p.m. Women, Florida vs. USC TV:Pac-12LA

GOLF

6:30 a.m. PGA Tour, Omega European Masters, first round TV:Golf

2:30 p.m. LPGA Tour, Cambria Portland Classic, first round TV:Golf

HORSE RACING

10 a.m. Saratoga Live TV:FS2

Noon Saratoga Live TV:Prime

1 p.m. Trackside Live! Del Mar TV:TVG

6 p.m. Race Night featuring Charles Town TV:TVG

PRO FOOTBALL

4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Carolina TV:NFL

5 p.m. Rams at Houston TV: 2

R:710, 1330

7 p.m. Oakland at Seattle TV: 5

7 p.m. Chargers at San Francisco TV:7, NFL

R:640, 980

SOCCER

4 p.m. Women, Portugal vs. United States TV:FS1

4:45 p.m. Mexico, Puebla vs. Juarez TV:UDN

6:45 p.m. Mexico, Monterrey vs. UNAM TV:FS2, FOXD

TENNIS

9 a.m. U.S. Open, second round TV:ESPN

3 p.m. U.S. Open, second round TV:ESPN2

TRACK AND FIELD

11 a.m. IAAF Diamond League, Zurich TV:NBCSN

TODAY ON THE AIR

NFL
TODAY
Favorite Line (O/U) Underdog
Pittsburgh 31 ⁄ 2 (33) at Carolina
Minnesota 3 (35) at Buffalo
at Cincinnati 3 (34) Indianapolis
at New York Jets 4 (34^1 ⁄ 2 ) Philadelphia
at Jacksonville 4 (32^1 ⁄ 2 ) Atlanta
Baltimore 6 (33^1 ⁄ 2 ) at Washington
at New England 21 ⁄ 2 (35) New York Giants
at Cleveland 41 ⁄ 2 (33^1 ⁄ 2 ) Detroit
at Green Bay 2 (35) Kansas City
at Dallas 5 (33^1 ⁄ 2 ) Tampa Bay
at Chicago 21 ⁄ 2 (33) Tennessee
at Houston 21 ⁄ 2 (33) RAMS
at New Orleans 31 ⁄ 2 (36^1 ⁄ 2 ) Miami
at Denver 2 (33) Arizona
at San Francisco 4 (34) CHARGERS

at Seattle 21 ⁄ 2 (33^1 ⁄ 2 ) Oakland

FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL ODDS, SEED6

Major League Baseball

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Favorite Underdog

at Miami OFF Cincinnati OFF

at New York -177 Chicago +165

at Colorado -105 Pittsburgh -105

DODGERS -200 at Arizona +180

San Diego -121 at San Francisco +111

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Favorite Underdog

Cleveland -235 at Detroit +205

Oakland -180 at Kansas City +165

at Houston OFF Tampa Bay OFF

Minnesota -170 at Chicago +158

at Texas -165 Seattle +155

ODDS

U.S. soccer roster

Men’s national soccer team players called into camp for

friendlies against Mexico and Uruguay in September:

Goalkeepers:Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas), Brad Guzan

(Atlanta United FC), Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Zack

Steffen (Fortuna Dusseldorf ).

Defenders:John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (FC

Dallas), Sergino Dest (Ajax), Nick Lima (San Jose

Earthquakes), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Daniel

Lovitz (Montreal Impact), Tim Ream (Fulham), Miles

Robinson (Atlanta United FC), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC).

Midfielders:Sebastian Lletget (Galaxy), Weston McKennie

(Schalke), Alfredo Morales (Fortuna Dusseldorf ), Paxton

Pomykal (FC Dallas), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC),

Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC), Jackson Yueill (San Jose

Earthquakes).

Forwards:Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake), Tyler Boyd

(Besiktas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Christian

Pulisic (Chelsea), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen), Gyasi

Zardes (Columbus Crew SC).