Los Angeles Time - 08.08.2019

LATIMES.COM/SPORTS S THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019D3

LeBron James, in an effort to get

his teammates to jell quickly for an

NBA championship run, has organ-

ized workouts for the Lakers next

month in Las Vegas that every player

plans on attending, according to sev-

eral people who were not authorized

to speak publicly on the matter.

The sessions will be at Impact

Basketball and are scheduled for

Sept. 22-26. Each training session

will last about 2^1 ⁄ 2 hours. The players

will stay at the Wynn, and each is

paying his own way.

With eight new players on the

Lakers’ roster, James wanted to get

together early because of a con-

densed training camp that includes

a trip to China. James hopes they get

to know one another’s games in a

closed environment in preparation

for training camp and a rigorous 82-

game schedule. After the practices,

they will have team dinners.

The Lakers begin training camp

Sept. 28 and play their first exhib-

ition game on Oct. 5 against Golden

State in the Warriors’ new arena, the

Chase Center, in San Francisco.

— Broderick Turner

When the Sparks take the court

Thursday night to play the Phoenix

Mercury, they will honor legendary

women’s college basketball coach

Pat Summitt at Staples Center.

Summitt was a pioneer during

her 38 seasons at Tennessee. She

won 1,098 games, the most in wom-

en’s college basketball, and is ranked

third overall in NCAA history with

eight national championships. Sum-

mitt retired in 2012 after being diag-

nosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s

disease, to which she succumbed in

2 016.

“It means a lot to me. This is

something that’s been in my mind for

the last three years in honoring

Coach Summitt’s legacy [and] con-

tinuing it on,” said Sparks star Can-

dace Parker, who played at Tennes-

see from 2004 to 2008.

Those in attendance at the inau-

gural Pat Summitt Leadership

Night will receive a commemorative

poster featuring Parker and Sum-

mitt.

— Mia Berry

The Lakers promoted Nina

Hsieh to head athletic trainer.

ETC.

Bears to honor

Payton, Halas

The Chicago Bears will unveil

statues of Hall of Famers Walter

Paytonand George S. Halasout-

side of Soldier Field on Sept. 3.

The 12-foot, 3,000-pound bronze

statues honoring the great running

back and the franchise founder and

coach will be made public two days

before Chicago hosts Green Bay to

kick off the NFL’s 100th season.

Payton entered the Hall of Fame

in 1993. He held 16 NFL records when

he retired.

Halas, who led the team for 40

years, entered the Hall in its first

class in 1963.

The Pro Bowl will return to Or-

lando, Fla., for the fourth straight

year and be held one week before the

Super Bowl. The NFL’s All-Star

game will be an afternoon match on

Jan. 26. ... Jack Dolbin Jr., a wide re-

ceiver who was on the Denver Bron-

cos’ first Super Bowl team in 1977,

died Aug. 1 at age 70. ... The Dallas

Cowboys are donating $50,000 to a

fund for victims of the mass shooting

that killed 22 people and left about

two dozen others injured in El Paso.

The team said the NFL Foundation

was planning a matching donation

to the El Paso Community Founda-

tion Victims’ Fund. ... The Cincinnati

Bengals and NFL Foundation are

donating $75,000 to help those di-

rectly affected by a shooting ram-

page in Dayton, Ohio, that left 10 peo-

ple dead.

Clemson’s national champi-

onship football program was flagged

for eight secondary NCAA violations

during a yearlong period from July

2018 through this past June. None of

the violations were considered major

and all issues about the penalties

have been resolved, the school said.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal

opened his Rogers Cup title defense,

beating England’s Daniel Evans 7- 6

(6), 6-4 in a second-round match de-

layed by rain three times in Montreal.

The 33-year-old Spanish star, a four-

time Rogers Cup champion, will face

Argentina’s Guido Pellain the third

round. ... Serena Williams won her

first match since losing the Wimble-

don final, beating Elise Mertensof

Belgium 6-3, 6-3 in the second round

of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. She

will face Russia’s Ekaterina Al-

exandrovain the third round. Wim-

bledon champion Simona Halepof

Romania beat American qualifier

Jennifer Brady4 - 6, 7- 5, 7- 6 ( 5 ).

Four-time World Series champi-

on Joe Girardiwill manage Team

USA at an Olympic qualifying base-

ball tournament in November, hop-

ing to guide the squad to a spot at the

2020 Games in Tokyo.

THE DAY IN SPORTS

James

organizes

workouts

staff and wire reports

Russell Hansbrough had a
12-yard run, Nic Shimonek com-
pleted eight passes and Nelson
Spruce caught one ball.
Looking back a year later and
knowing what the 2018 Chargers be-
came, nothing too memorable hap-
pened in their preseason opener.
The 2019 version of the team ar-
rives at the start of another pre-
season Thursday in Arizona for an
affair that will explore depth more
than display potential.
“You’re going to learn a lot about
some of these guys,” coach An-
thony Lynn said. “You see them all
OTAs, minicamps, two weeks of
training camp. Now you get to see
them in a live game. This is the real
evaluation. We’ve had a lot of expo-
sures, but this is the big one right
here.”
Last August, in that first game
— also played on the road against
the Cardinals — the Chargers’ final
touchdown in a 24-17 loss was

scored by an undrafted rookie

named Detrez Newsome.

Four months later, Newsome

rushed for 34 yards and caught two

passes to help the Chargers to a sig-

nificant 29-28 victory at Kansas

City.

So important glimpses can be

flashed in these games that other-

wise don’t count. Lynn and his staff

are about to see who, particularly

among the newcomers, might look

best in a Chargers uniform in

Week 1 against Indianapolis.

“We’ll learn a lot about the depth

that we have,” Lynn said. “We ex-

pect that depth to continue to get

better. [We have] a lot of young guys

right now, and they’re going to play.

I don’t want to put too much into

Thursday, but it will be the first

time we get a chance to see these

guys in a live game.”

Most of the Chargers veterans

will play little, if at all. Quarterback

Philip Rivers will be held out. Veter-

an Tyrod Taylor, signed as a free

agent in the offseason, should start.

Cardale Jones, a backup last sea-

son, and fifth-round draft choice

Easton Stick should receive

playing time.

Melvin Gordon also won’t play

but for an entirely different reason.

The team’s Pro Bowl running back

hasn’t reported because of a con-

tract disagreement, leaving the

team no option but to proceed

without him.

The NFL’s collective bargaining

agreement allows for the Chargers

to fine Gordon a regular-season

game check for sitting out a pre-

season game, something the team

probably will do, though such fines

can be waived when a dispute is set-

tled.

Gordon’s agent also has re-

quested a trade, which appears un-

likely. To date, general manager

Tom Telesco has dismissed the no-

tion of dealing Gordon, noting how

much he aids their chances of win-

ning a Super Bowl.

Along with the gaping hole left

by Gordon’s absence, the Chargers

are trying to mitigate the loss of left

tackle Russell Okung, who remains

out after suffering a pulmonary em-

bolism in June.

Okung won’t be reevaluated

again until the end of August,

meaning the Chargers are prepar-

ing to go into the regular season

without him. Second-year un-

drafted free agent Trent Scott is oc-

cupying Okung’s spot.

The environment offered by a

preseason game should help in the

development of the Chargers’

young tackle, and likewise in the

development of third-year guard

Forrest Lamp.

“It’s loud and you gotta commu-

nicate,” Lynn said. “That’s what

we’re lacking. As far as physical tal-

ent, those guys are pretty talented.

But they just need more experi-

ence.”

From a national perspective,

the game will mark the debut of

Kyler Murray, Arizona’s quarter-

back and the No. 1 overall pick in

the 2019 draft. Though he isn’t ex-

pected to play long, Murray’s per-

formance will be dissected in the

coming days.

“It will be exciting to watch him

play,” Lynn said. “I think he’s a heck

of a football player. That’s why he

was the first pick in the draft.”

Murray and Lynn are from the

same part of Texas and the Char-

gers coach said he knows Murray’s

father, Kevin, a former quarterback

at Texas A&M. Lynn played run-

ning back at Texas Tech.

“I know he’s raised right,” Lynn

said of Murray. “He’s a solid young

man. He’s been a winner on every

level, you know, high school, col-

lege. I don’t see that stopping in the

pros. He’s just a winner.”

The winner in the game Thurs-

day will be irrelevant. But, for a lot

of the younger players, what hap-

pens en route to that final score

could matter plenty.

AFTER STANDING OUTin a preseason game last year, Detrez Newsome helped the Chargers beat Kansas City four months later.

Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times

Chargers to size up roster depth

Rivers will be among the

regulars sitting out the

preseason opener against

the Arizona Cardinals.

By Jeff Miller

NAPA, Calif. — Most of the
passes were crisply delivered on de-
signed plays, others in situations
that required improvisation.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff
looked comfortable making nearly
all of his throws Wednesday during
an energetic joint practice with the
Oakland Raiders.
Four days after the offense irked
and disappointed coach Sean Mc-
Vay with a sluggish performance in
a joint practice with the Chargers,
Goff and the rest of the unit ex-
ecuted well in nearly all drills.
As his parents and grandfather
watched from the sideline, Goff
connected with receivers Robert
Woods, Brandin Cooks, Cooper
Kupp and Josh Reynolds. He was
particularly sharp on passes to
tight ends Gerald Everett and Ty-
ler Higbee.
“Just raised the intensity and
the standard a little bit and I think it
showed,” Goff said. “All across the
board, I thought we were pretty
good.”
McVay was noticeably pleased.
“It was a much sharper day just
in terms of the communication, the
urgency that is expected,” McVay
said.
The Rams are preparing for
their Sept. 8 opener against the
Carolina Panthers in Charlotte,
N.C. Joint practices with the Char-
gers and Raiders are designed to
give starters opportunities to
sharpen their skills without risking
injuries in meaningless preseason
games.
McVay spends most of his time
on the field with the offense, but the
Rams defense also made some im-
pressive plays on an adjoining field.
Cornerback Aqib Talib intercepted
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr’s
first pass in a seven-on-seven drill
and returned it down the field with
bleachers full of Raiders fans boo-
ing his every stride.
But the offense’s rebound per-
formance was the most noteworthy.
Two of Goff ’s standout plays came
on passes to tight ends, one he com-
pleted and one that just missed. On

one pass, Goff found Everett in the

back of a crowded end zone.

“A lot of traffic in there,” McVay

said. “Had to be a perfect throw.”

Goff ’s best pass of the day might

have been one that fell just out of

reach of a diving Higbee on a side-

line route. It was a near perfectly

placed ball in tight coverage that

could not be intercepted. Goff had

spoken early in training camp

about using the workouts to take

chances and try different ap-

proaches to situations.

“That was one of them,” Goff

said of the pass to Higbee. “You try

to put it where only your guy can

catch it and unfortunately we didn’t

connect, but it’s part of the game.”

Running back Todd Gurley was

a full participant and continued

showing no sign that his left knee

will be an issue as the Rams prepare

for their opener.

“Just another day,” Gurley said.

Gurley is expected to sit out

Thursday when the Rams and

Raiders practice again. The plan to

manage Gurley’s training camp

workload includes not having him

practice on consecutive days.

“It’s been a progressive build,”

McVay said. “It’s all still geared

towards that opener against the

Panthers, but he hasn’t had any

sort of setbacks.”

McVay’s most outwardly emo-

tional response of the day came af-

ter Gurley stayed in the backfield

on a third-down play and blocked a

blitzing safety, enabling Goff to

complete a long pass to Kupp.

Asked if pass-protection skills

were an unsung part of Gurley’s

game, Goff politely interrupted.

“I try to sing about it,” he said. “I

try to talk about Todd in that way a

lot. How smart he is, his ability to

pick up protections and it’s just

part of what makes him — in my

opinion — the best back in the

league.”

Said McVay: “What really puts

him in that upper echelon in that

top-tier level is the ability to play

without the ball. Those are things

that might go unnoticed outside,

but certainly don’t go unnoticed in

our building.”

Etc.

Kupp continued his comeback

from knee surgery with several diffi-

cult catches, including one that

featured after-catch contact by

Raiders cornerback Gareon

Conley and safety Johnathan

Abram that knocked Kupp to the

ground. ... The Raiders are the sub-

ject of the HBO series “Hard

Knocks,” which featured the Rams

in 2016. Asked if he had any advice

for Raiders players, Goff joked,

“Don’t talk to anybody. Keep your

mouth shut.”... Goff looked across

the line of scrimmage and saw for-

mer Rams safety Lamarcus

Joyner, who signed a four-year, $42-

million contract with the Raiders

that included $21.3 million in guar-

antees. “I said hi to him real quick,”

Goff said. “I have so much respect

for him. Great teammate, great

dude, great player and it was fun

competing against him.”... The

Rams did not get to practice

against Raiders receiver Antonio

Brown, who has been sidelined be-

cause of foot injuries. “He’s a special

player and a guy I’ve always loved

watching compete from afar,” Mc-

Vay said. “I hope that he’s able to

heal as quickly as possible. But

yeah, I would’ve loved to have got-

ten some work against him and

that’s a bummer for us all.”

RAMS REPORT

Goff gets into rhythm, pleasing McVay

By Gary Klein

JARED GOFF was happy with his play in a joint practice with

the Raiders in Napa, especially on one pass that was incomplete.

Eric RisbergAssociated Press