D6 N THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2020SCOREBOARD
After turning his high-stakes
bout with Danny Garcia into a 12-
round boxing clinic, Errol Spence
Jr., the undefeated welterweight,
held a news conference that includ-
ed reporters gathered at AT&T Sta-
dium in Arlington, Texas, and oth-
ers tuning in via Zoom.
Spence, who lives in the Dallas
area and entered the bout as the
W.B.C. and I.B.F. welterweight
champion, had just won a unani-
mous decision over Garcia, a for-
mer world champion. Spence had
depended heavily on his right jab, a
basic but effective weapon against
the counterpunching Garcia. And
when asked why he employed that
game plan, Spence replied in his
deadpan drawl that common sense
had dictated the strategy.
“I was the taller person, he had
the shorter arms,” said Spence,
who is 27-0 with 21 knockouts. “I al-
ways had a great jab, so that’s what
we was working on.”
Common sense also suggests
that Spence and Terence Crawford,
who holds the W.B.O. title, would
face each other next.
Their schedules align: Crawford
last fought on Nov. 14, steamroller-
ing Kell Brook of England in four
rounds to retain his title, and, like
Spence, he has nothing lined up for
early 2021.
Their résumés line up as well.
Both are undefeated titleholders at
welterweight in search of a career-
defining win. And they are the class
of a talent-rich 147-pound division,
versatile boxers and punchers who
are equally comfortable in a chess
match or in a brawl.
But Spence, managed by Al Hay-
mon, fights under the Premier Box-
ing Champions banner, while Craw-
ford, who watched Spence’s win
from ringside, is under contract to
Top Rank, a rival outfit run by Bob
Arum. Pairing the fighters means
bridging a stubborn divide. It’s not
impossible — witness February’s
heavyweight fight between Deon-
tay Wilder and Tyson Fury — but
it’s also not guaranteed.
When asked about a Crawford
fight, Spence told reporters that
Haymon made those decisions.
“I’m not worried about Terence
March and began heavier workouts
this summer. On Saturday, he en-
tered the ring facing questions
about his strength and durability
after the crash, and he answered
emphatically. He spent most of the
fight stalking Garcia behind a stiff
right jab, and pounding him with
lefts and rights to the body.
According to CompuBox, the
scoring system, both fighters
landed 103 power punches. But
Spence landed 84 jabs, compared
with 14 for Garcia.
“The jab is the easiest punch to
throw and the fastest punch to
throw, and the hardest punch to
block,” said Derrick James,
Spence’s trainer. “You saw that to-
night.”
Spence and Garcia headlined one
of the few major fight cards to take
place in front of a paid audience
since the coronavirus pandemic
shut down most sports in March.
The previous such card, headlined
by the lightweights Gervonta Da-
vis and Leo Santa Cruz on Oct. 31,
also was in Texas, in San Antonio.
“It’s crazy times right now in the
world, and crazy times in sport,”
Garcia said during a post-fight
news conference. He added, “It’s a
blessing to the fighters and the
fans.”
Saturday’s event sold out all
16,102 available seats at AT&T Sta-
dium, which can seat 80,000 and ac-
commodate more through standing
room. Spectators were required to
wear masks, and most actually did
so. The seating was also arranged
to enhance social distancing.
These are some of the new nor-
mals in boxing, but the old normal
includes uncertainty over where
Spence will head after his big win.
The posturing between the two
camps still may, or may not, lead to
a showdown, but fans will have to
wait and see.
After the fight, Top Rank posted a
picture of Crawford to its Insta-
gram feed, prompting the Insta-
gram account for Premier Boxing
Champions to comment.
“#ManDown,” it read, referring
to Spence’s slogan and the name of
his promotional company.
“The phone line,” Top Rank re-
plied, “is always open.”may never see.
This type of uncertainty is
unique to boxing — imagine delay-
ing or skipping the Super Bowl be-
cause the A.F.C. and N.F.C.’s cham-
pions could not agree on a venue or
a revenue split. But for boxing afi-
cionados, it’s a familiar frustration.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny
Pacquiao never fought until 2015,
six years after their pairing was
first discussed. In the 1990s, Rid-
dick Bowe tossed his title belt in the
trash rather than commit to a title
unification bout with Lennox Lew-
is.
Crawford and Spence have
squared off and talked trash in per-
son, but on Saturday, Crawford’s so-
cial media feeds indicated he was-
n’t impressed with Spence as a po-
tential foe.
“Danny tired,” read the only
Crawford tweet commenting on the
action. Later, he posted a string of
upside-down smiley face emojis,
implying Spence’s performance
underwhelmed him.
Spence dominated Garcia on Sat-
urday night in his first bout since a
fiery car crash in October 2019. Vid-
eo from a security camera showed
Spence’s Ferrari flipping several
times after hitting a median at high
speed. The impact ejected Spence
from his car, and he suffered facial
injuries.
He resumed light training inCrawford,” Spence told reporters.
“I’m going to enjoy my time with
my kids and just chill out and re-
flect on this last year and a half.”
Spence’s win over Garcia (36-3,
21 knockouts), and the ambiguity
surrounding his next move, is un-
folding in the shadow of an exhibi-
tion bout between the retired 50-
something fighters Mike Tyson and
Roy Jones Jr., an event on Nov. 28
that attracted mainstream press at-
tention and heavy social media en-
gagement and that generated 1.2
million pay-per-view buys.
That a novelty bout between
fighters with a combined age of 105
could sell so many pay-per-views
could raise questions about the
boxing industry’s overall health.
Spence and Garcia probably did not
approach one million pay-per-view
buys, a troubling signal for conven-
tional, competitive bouts.
But less than a week after Tyson-
Jones, the rapper Snoop Dogg, who
performed and did commentary
during that broadcast, announced
he intended to start a televised box-
ing series in 2021. That kind of
move suggests the market for seri-
ous bouts is not dying, and that it
might even be underserved.
If Tyson-Jones was the spectacle
fight that sports fans did not realize
they wanted until it happened,
Spence-Crawford could be the fight
avid boxing fans want but fear theySpence Win Sets Up Obvious, if Elusive, Pairing
By MORGAN CAMPBELLErrol Spence Jr., left, landing a punch against Danny Garcia on
Saturday night in a world welterweight fight in Arlington, Texas.RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGESSOCCERM.L.S. PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
Eastern Conference
Sunday, Nov. 29
New England 3, Orlando City 1
Columbus 2, Nashville 0
Western Conference
Tuesday, Dec. 1
Seattle 1, Dallas 0
Thursday, Dec. 3
Minnesota United 3, Sporting Kansas City 0
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Eastern Conference
Sunday, Dec. 6
Columbus 1, New England 0
Western Conference
Monday, Dec. 7
Seattle vs. Minnesota United, 9:30 p.m.
M.L.S. CUP
Saturday, Dec. 12
Columbus vs. Minnesota/Seattle winner, 8 p.m.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Team GP W D L GF GA Pts
Tottenham ....11 7 3 1 23 9 24
Liverpool .....11 7 3 1 26 17 24
Chelsea .....11 6 4 1 25 11 22
Leicester .....11 7 0 4 21 15 21
Man United... 10 6 1 3 19 17 19
Man City .....10 5 3 2 17 11 18
West Ham ....11 5 2 4 18 14 17
Southampton.. 10 5 2 3 19 16 17
Everton ......11 5 2 4 20 18 17
Wolverhampton 11 5 2 4 11 15 17
Crystal Palace. 11 5 1 5 17 16 16
Aston Villa .....9 5 0 4 20 13 15
Newcastle ....10 4 2 4 12 15 14
Leeds....... 11 4 2 5 16 20 14
Arsenal ......11 4 1 6 10 14 13
Brighton .....10 2 4 4 14 16 10
Fulham ......11 2 1 8 11 21 7
Burnley ......10 1 3 6 5 18 6
West Brom... 11 1 3 7 8 23 6
Sheffield United 11 0 1 10 5 18 1
Saturday, Dec. 5
Burnley 1, Everton 1
Man City 2, Fulham 0
West Ham 1, Man United 3
Chelsea 3, Leeds 1
Sunday, Dec. 6
West Brom 1, Crystal Palace 5
Sheffield United 1, Leicester 2
Tottenham 2, Arsenal 0
Liverpool 4, Wolverhampton 0
Monday, Dec. 7
Brighton vs. Southampton
Friday, Dec. 11
Leeds vs. West Ham
Saturday, Dec. 12
Wolverhampton vs. Aston Villa
Newcastle vs. West Brom
Man United vs. Man City
Everton vs. ChelseaFOOTBALLN.F.L. STANDINGSAMERICAN CONFERENCEEast W L T Pct PF PA
Buffalo 8 3 0 .727 299 282
Miami 8 4 0 .667 303 212
N. England 6 6 0 .500 274 255
Jets 0 12 0 .000 180 353
South W L T Pct PF PA
Indianapolis 8 4 0 .667 328 273
Tennessee 8 4 0 .667 359 326
Houston 4 8 0 .333 288 323
Jacksonville 1 11 0 .083 251 352
North W L T Pct PF PA
Pittsburgh 11 0 0 1.000 317 188
Cleveland 9 3 0 .750 306 321
Baltimore 6 5 0 .545 282 214
Cincinnati 2 9 1 .208 237 308
West W L T Pct PF PA
Kansas City 10 1 0 .909 348 238
Las Vegas 7 5 0 .583 323 347
Denver 4 7 0 .364 209 298
L.A. Chargers 3 9 0 .250 277 345NATIONAL CONFERENCEEast W L T Pct PF PA
Giants 5 7 0 .417 231 265
Washington 4 7 0 .364 241 243
Phila. 3 8 1 .292 253 307
Dallas 3 8 0 .273 251 359
South W L T Pct PF PA
New Orleans 10 2 0 .833 347 241
Tampa Bay 7 5 0 .583 344 280
Atlanta 4 8 0 .333 311 302
Carolina 4 8 0 .333 280 300
North W L T Pct PF PA
Green Bay 9 3 0 .750 379 299
Minnesota 6 6 0 .500 319 329
Chicago 5 7 0 .417 246 284
Detroit 5 7 0 .417 286 358
West W L T Pct PF PA
L.A. Rams 8 4 0 .667 301 243
Seattle 8 4 0 .667 353 321
Arizona 6 6 0 .500 332 296
San Fran. 5 6 0 .455 261 254
SUNDAY, DEC. 6
Las Vegas 31, Jets 28
Giants 17, Seattle 12
Cleveland 41, Tennessee 35
Detroit 34, Chicago 30
Indianapolis 26, Houston 20
Miami 19, Cincinnati 7
Minnesota 27, Jacksonville 24, OT
New Orleans 21, Atlanta 16
L.A. Rams 38, Arizona 28
Green Bay 30, Philadelphia 16
New England 45, L.A. Chargers 0
Denver at Kansas City
Open: Carolina, Tampa Bay
MONDAY, DEC. 7
Washington at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m.
Buffalo at San Francisco, 8:15 p.m.
TUESDAY, DEC. 8
Dallas at Baltimore, 8:05 p.m.
THURSDAY, DEC. 10
New England at L.A. Rams, 8:20 p.m.COLLEGE FOOTBALLA.P. TOP 25 POLL
The top 25 teams in the Associated Press
college football poll, with first-place votes
in parentheses, records through Dec. 5,
total points based on 25 points for a first-
place vote through one point for a 25th-
place vote, and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs- Alabama (62) ......9-0 1,550 1
- Notre Dame ......10-0 1,482 2
- Ohio St. ..........5-0 1,407 3
- Clemson .........9-1 1,387 4
- Texas A&M ........7-1 1,274 5
- Florida ...........8-1 1,233 6
- Cincinnati .........8-0 1,204 7
- Indiana ..........6-1 1,047 10
- Miami ...........8-1 1,039 9
- Iowa St. ..........8-2 947 12
- Coastal Carolina... 10-0 923 14
- Georgia ..........6-2 914 11
- Oklahoma ........7-2 837 13
- B.Y.U. ...........9-1 713 8
- Northwestern ......5-1 647 16
- Southern Cal ......3-0 624 17
- Louisiana-Lafayette.. .9-1 560 20
- Tulsa ............6-1 444 22
- Iowa ............5-2 424 24
- North Carolina ......7-3 306 -
- Colorado .........4-0 253 -
- Liberty ...........9-1 191 25
- Texas ...........6-3 164 -
- Buffalo ..........4-0 145 -
- Wisconsin........ .2-2 115 18
Others receiving votes: N.C. State 98,
Marshall 66, San Jose St. 66, Oklahoma St.
33, U.C.F. 11, Boise St. 10, Washington 10,
Auburn 9, Missouri 8, Nevada 5, Army 2,
U.C.L.A. 1, T.C.U. 1.
COLLEGE BASKETBALLMEN'S SCORES
EAST
Army 63 ............... La Salle 59
Bellarmine 84 ............ Howard 63
Drexel 69 ............ Coppin St. 54
Marist 64 ........... Binghamton 60
Quinnipiac 64...... New Hampshire 58
St. John’s 89 ......... Stony Brook 66
West Virginia 80 ....... Georgetown 71
SOUTH
Appalachian St. 81 .... NC Wesleyan 57
Florida 86 .............. Stetson 40
Georgia Tech 79 ........ Kentucky 62
Greensboro 67 ......... Longwood 64
LSU 86 ........... Louisiana Tech 55
Louisiana-Monroe 92 Northwestern St. 83, OT
Mercer 96 ...... Southern Wesleyan 85
North Alabama 107 ......... Carver 40
Stanford 78 ............. NC A&T 46
UAB 77 .................. Troy 55
W. Carolina 76 ..... Tennessee Tech 75
W. Kentucky 96 ........... MVSU 69
MIDWEST
Bowling Green 86 ......... Buffalo 78
Cent. Michigan 79 ....... W. Illinois 73
Drake 97 ............ St. Ambrose 53
Michigan 80 ............... UCF 58
Michigan St. 79 ....... W. Michigan 61
Missouri 72 ........... Wichita St. 62
Ohio 101 ........... Cleveland St. 46
S. Illinois 102 ............ Quincy 61
Valparaiso 85 ............ Judson 45
Xavier 77 ............ Cincinnati 69
SOUTHWEST
Oklahoma 82 .............. TCU 78
Sam Houston St. 117. Howard Payne 54
Stephen F. Austin 97.. LSU-Alexandria 79
Texas A&M 81 Texas Rio Grande Valley 68
Texas Tech 81 ....... Grambling St. 40
UALR 86 .......... Cent. Arkansas 83
Villanova 68 .............. Texas 64
FAR WEST
Long Beach St. 80 ........ Seattle 75
San Diego St. 65 ...... Pepperdine 60
UC Riverside 83 .......... Denver 63
Wyoming 76 .......... Oregon St. 73
WOMEN'S SCORES
EAST
Boston College 88 ..... Mass.-Lowell 38
Buffalo 87 ............. Canisius 45
Delaware 85 .......... Pittsburgh 79
Fairfield 75 ............. Hofstra 55
Marshall 69 ............. Radford 58
New Hampshire 59 .......... NJIT 53
Syracuse 82 ........... Penn St. 72
West Virginia 79 ..... Tennessee 73, OT
SOUTH
Clemson 87 ...... Coll. of Charleston 65
Florida Gulf Coast 78 ...... Temple 69
Georgia 93 ........... Oklahoma 80
Georgia St. 78 ........... Furman 59
James Madison 89... George Mason 70
Kentucky 72 ............ Indiana 68
Louisville 85........... UT Martin 67
Memphis 72 ............ Liberty 67
NC State 98 ...... Coastal Carolina 46
North Carolina 81 ........ Charlotte 75
Old Dominion 81 ........ VCU 76, OT
Richmond 72 ....... William & Mary 55
UAB 78 ............ Chattanooga 58
Virginia Tech 73 ..... Gardner-Webb 39
Wofford 76 ......... UNC-Asheville 50
MIDWEST
Akron 77 ............... Dayton 74
Bowling Green 64 ....... Milwaukee 62
Creighton 88 ............. Butler 41
Drake 99 ............. Minnesota 66
E. Illinois 88 ............ W. Illinois 74
E. Michigan 63 ........ SE Missouri 49
Illinois 53 ........ Nebraska-Omaha 50
Illinois St. 98 ......... Saint Xavier 53
Kansas 100 ......... Oral Roberts 59
N. Dakota St. 82 ....... Green Bay 66
Nebraska 64 ........... Idaho St. 51
Notre Dame 65 ........... IUPUI 58
Ohio St. 96 .......... N. Kentucky 63
S. Dakota St. 75 ...... Gonzaga 72, OT
Saint Louis 69 ........... Bradley 54
South Carolina 83 ........ Iowa St. 65
South Dakota 89 ....... Lipscomb 52
Valparaiso 52 ............ Purdue 47
SOUTHWEST
Arkansas 83 ............. Baylor 78
New Mexico 98 .... Sam Houston St. 89
FAR WEST
Arizona 78 .......... Southern Cal 77
Boise St. 84 .......... Weber St. 58
Montana St. 84 ...... North Dakota 72
N. Arizona 69 ....... E. Washington 55
Oregon 85 ................ Utah 43
Portland 80 ............. Seattle 68
Stanford 83 .......... Washington 50
UCLA 63 ............. Arizona St. 59VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
CLASSIC
At Old America Golf Club
The Colony, Texas
Purse: $1.75 million
Yardage: 6,475; Par: 72
Final Round
A. Stanford, $262,500 ....71-69-70-67—277 -7
S. Yeon Ryu, $120,709... 72-72-65-70—279 -7
I. Park, $120,709........72-68-69-70—279 -6
Y. Noh, $120,709 .......72-66-71-70—279 -5
J. Young Ko, $71,533 ....71-69-70-70—280 -5
A. Nordqvist, $53,758 ....70-68-73-70—281 -5
C. Hull, $73,758 ........68-74-68-71—281 -5
L. Weaver, $40,752......71-68-73-70—282 -4
K. Gillman, $40,752......73-71-66-72—282 -4
M. Sagstrom, $35,116....71-69-71-72—283 -4
S. Oh, $28,630.........73-70-72-69—284 -4
J. Kupcho, $28,630......69-73-70-72—284 -4
K. Tan, $28,630 ........73-68-71-72—284 -4
B. Lang, $28,630 .......70-71-71-72—284 -4
N. Hataoka, $28,630.....72-69-69-74—284 -4
X. Lin, $22,601.........78-67-70-70—285 -3
M. Jutanugarn, $22,601... 73-70-71-71—285 -3
J. Lee $22,601.........73-73-66-73—285 -3
A. Ernst, $19,249 .......72-72-73-69—286 -3
M. Lee, $19,249........75-70-71-70—286 -3
S. Kemp, $19,249.......75-69-70-72—286 -3
L. Strom, $19,249.......71-70-71-74—286 -3
J. Korda, $19,249.......69-69-72-76—286 -3
H. Green, $17,168.......75-67-72-73—287 -3
C. Masson, $14,502 .....78-71-71-68—288 -3
K. Kirk, $14,502 ........74-76-67-71—288 -3
L. Maguire, $14,502 .....72-74-70-72—288 -3
Y. Liu, $14,502.........73-70-73-72—288 -2
C. Knight, $14,502 ......71-73-71-73—288 -2
T. Chan, $14,502 .......72-76-66-74—288 -2
J. Suwannapura, $14,502.. 73-72-68-75—288 -2
P. Phatlum, $14,502 .....69-71-70-78—288 -2
S. Hyun Park, $11,116....72-70-75-72—289 -2
R. O'Toole, $11,116......74-74-68-73—289 -2
N. Koerstz Madsen, $11,116 81-67-67-74—289 -2
L. Duncan, $11,116......76-71-68-74—289 -2
S. Popov, $11,116 ......71-73-71-74—289 -2
C. Boutier, $9,035.......79-69-70-72—290 -2
A. Park, $9,035.........72-71-75-72—290 -2
A. Uriell, $9,035 ........76-71-70-73—290 -2
M. Khang, $9,035.......70-74-73-73—290 -2TRANSACTIONSFOOTBALL
N.F.L.
CINCINNATI BENGALS — Placed DE Amani
Bledsoe on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Promoted DT Kahill McKenzie to the active
roster.GOLFMAYAKOBA CLASSIC
At El Camaleon Golf Club
Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Purse: $7.2 million
Yardage: 7,024; Par: 72
Final Round
Viktor Hovland, $1,296,000 67-69-63-65—264
Aaron Wise, $784,800.. 67-68-67-63—265
Tom Hoge, $424,800... 66-67-65-69—267
Adam Long, $424,800.. 70-67-63-67—267
Harris English, $266,400. 69-70-66-63—268
Lucas Glover, $266,400. 71-65-66-66—268
Billy Horschel, $266,400. 70-69-65-64—268
Tony Finau, $203,400... 67-66-69-67—269
Emiliano Grillo, $203,400 66-63-68-72—269
Carlos Ortiz, $203,400.. 67-69-67-66—269
Brendon Todd, $203,400 67-69-67-66—269
Abraham Ancer, $147,600 72-67-65-66—270
Max Homa, $147,600... 73-67-65-65—270
M.McNealy, $147,600... 70-71-63-66—270
Justin Thomas, $147,600 72-67-62-69—270
Austin Eckroat (amateur) 69-69-67-65—270
Corey Conners, $117,000 71-66-68-66—271
Patrick Rodgers, $117,000 .70-66-65-70—271
Steve Stricker, $117,000. 69-70-65-67—271
Joel Dahmen, $95,400.. 68-67-68-69—272
John Huh, $95,400 .... 70-67-70-65—272
Jhonattan Vegas, $95,400 69-70-67-66—272
Daniel Berger, $65,263.. 69-70-67-67—273
Tyler Duncan, $65,263.. 70-67-68-68—273
Bo Hoag, $65,263 ..... 68-70-66-69—273
C.Howell III, $65,263... 72-69-67-65—273
Vincent Whaley, $65,263 71-66-69-67—273
Russell Knox, $65,263.. 65-69-68-71—273
Joaquin Niemann, $65,263 66-70-67-70—273
Chris Baker, $50,400... 68-68-72-66—274
Brian Harman, $50,400.. 70-69-66-69—274
Keegan Bradley, $43,056 69-72-68-66—275
Brice Garnett, $43,056.. 74-65-66-70—275
Patton Kizzire, $43,056.. 72-68-71-64—275
Kevin Streelman, $43,056 69-71-71-64—275
Camilo Villegas, $43,056 70-66-69-70—275
Sung Kang, $37,440... 70-70-69-67—276
Nate Lashley, $34,920.. 67-69-74-67—277
Hank Lebioda, $34,920. 71-69-70-67—277
Branden Grace, $29,160. 71-68-69-70—278
Brandon Hagy, $29,160. 69-70-69-70—278
Satoshi Kodaira, $29,160 70-70-66-72—278
Troy Merritt, $29,160... 70-68-73-67—278
Scott Piercy, $29,160... 70-70-68-70—278
Rory Sabbatini, $29,160. 69-70-70-69—278
K.J. Choi, $20,952 ..... 70-70-69-70—279
Doug Ghim, $20,952... 71-69-71-68—279
Charley Hoffman, $20,952 72-66-70-71—279
Chris Kirk, $20,952 .... 69-70-68-72—279
Andy Ogletree, $20,952. 69-67-70-73—279
Kyle Stanley, $20,952.. 68-67-72-72—279
Akshay Bhatia, $17,208. 67-69-70-74—280
Rafael Campos, $17,208 72-68-69-71—280
Jason Dufner, $17,208.. 69-68-70-73—280
Kelly Kraft, $17,208 .... 70-71-71-68—280
Pat Perez, $17,208 .... 68-72-68-72—280
Sepp Straka, $17,208.. 73-68-67-72—280
Will Zalatoris, $17,208.. 72-68-67-73—280
Ryan Brehm, $16,272.. 69-67-70-75—281
Mark Hubbard, $16,272. 71-67-69-74—281
K.Hoon Lee, $16,272... 69-70-67-75—281
Chase Seiffert, $16,272. 69-69-69-74—281
Austin Cook, $15,840... 70-70-70-72—282
Xinjun Zhang, $15,840.. 72-69-73-68—282
J.J. Spaun, $15,552 .... 70-69-73-71—283
Ben Taylor, $15,552.... 72-69-72-70—283
Hunter Mahan, $15,336. 68-69-73-74—284
Quade Cummins (amateur) 71-70-74-69—284
M.Gellerman, $15,192.. 70-70-71-75—286
Keith Mitchell, $15,048.. 70-70-71-76—287
Harold Varner III, $14,904 70-71-75-73—289BOXING
PRO BASKETBALL
“A lot of athletes that do this will
stay on what we call the consumer
side, the well-known brands, Apple,
Instagram,” said Tien Tzuo, Zuora’s
chief executive. “I work in more of a
space of business applications,
business software. It’s not as well
known. And he just showed an in-
credibly strong interest in that. It’s
not something that you might ap-
proach as a layman.”
The Heat acquired Iguodala in a
three-team trade in February, and
as he regained his footing, the co-
ronavirus pandemic suspended the
season indefinitely.
Iguodala, the first vice president
of the National Basketball Players
Association, helped coordinate the
season’s restart in a bubble envi-
ronment at Walt Disney World near
Orlando, Fla., collaborating on pro-
tocols for a return and fielding
phone calls from concerned play-
ers.
Some voiced hesitation, worried
that resuming play would distract
from calls for social justice after the
police killing of George Floyd in
Minnesota.
The N.B.A.’s return featured
Black Lives Matter wording near
center court, and many players
wore league-sanctioned messaging
on the back of their jerseys.
“You do see the sports leagues
taking more of a stance,” said Iguo-
dala, who chose to have “Group
Economics” on the back of his jer-
sey instead of his last name. Iguo-
dala added that for leagues with a
majority-Black work force, like the
N.B.A.: “I think there’s a moral
compass there. And so you have to
take some type of stance. And it’s
not really a political stance — it’s a
human stance.”
Then, in August, Iguodala be-
came one of the most vocal players
during a series of meetings after
the police shooting of Jacob Blake
in Kenosha, Wis.
The players initiated a work
stoppage of playoff games until the
league’s franchise owners agreed
to specific commitments, including
searching for ways to provide vot-
ing access to underrepresented
communities.
“How you get so many African-
American athletes of that wealth to
be able to come out stronger as a
whole, as a union, that was a beauti-
ful thing, regardless of what people
may have thought would happen,”
Iguodala said. “Just seeing all of us
being able to have dialogue,
whether we agreed or we dis-
agreed with one another, that was
huge.”
Iguodala ended the season in his
sixth consecutive finals, where Mi-
ami lost to the Los Angeles Lakers
in six games.
“The bubble was the perfect en-vironment for us, because of how
they mentally train the guys to take
on any challenge,” Iguodala said.
“We were just ready for it, and we
made the most of it.”
Iguodala is also making the most
of his off-court pursuits. He was an
early investor in Zoom, the plat-
form he used to conduct the inter-
view for this article. He joined Com-
cast Ventures’ Catalyst Fund as a
venture partner.
His goal is to continue educating,
creating access for and investing in
minorities and marginalized com-
munities. In other words, backing
up the message he wore on the back
of his jersey.
“Professional athletes have too
much down time,” Iguodala said.
“That’s how they get in trouble.
What I’ve been able to do is take
that time and find something that’s
purposeful and it’s a passion, some-
thing I really enjoy, and not just
monetize it, but also help bring my
cohorts into the space with me and
help them learn as well.”
Iguodala and Stephen Curry
teamed with Bloomberg L.P. in 2017
to create the annual Players Tech-
nology Summit, a forum to link ath-
letes with executives in technology
and venture capitalism.
“People don’t realize the poten-
tial athletes have to learn, given the
fact that they’ve been professionals
in this one discipline for such a long
time, from basically childhood,”
said Rudy-Cline Thomas, the
founder of the venture capital firm
Mastry and Iguodala’s longtime
business partner. “The potential for
learning something outside of that
is extremely high.”
As Iguodala’s basketball career
winds down — “sooner rather thanlater,” he’ll be able to focus on other
things, he said — he wants to make
sure other players recognize their
value on and off the court.
“We always talk about player
health physically and mentally, but
ultimately, that No. 1 agenda is the
dollars and how much can we bring
in,” Iguodala said.
Iguodala pointed to the recent
sale of the Utah Jazz to Ryan Smith,
the chief executive of Qualtrics, for
$1.66 billion. The franchise’s previ-
ous sale was for $8 million in 1985,
when the auto dealer Larry H.
Miller bought 50 percent. He later
bought the rest of the franchise for
$14 million.
“Any player in the history of
playing for the Jazz organization —
John Stockton, Karl Malone — did
any of them benefit from that value
increase?” Iguodala asked. “Did
any of them have skin in the game?
No.”
Just 50 days separated the end of
the N.B.A. finals from the start of
training camp last week. The
N.B.A. faced a significant financial
loss if it waited until the next calen-
dar year.
“I think players are realizing that
we have to stand a little bit more
firm with our negotiations, in terms
of who’s bearing the brunt of the
risk when we’re put in these tough
situations,” Iguodala said. “You’re
asking us to put our bodies on the
line and take more of a financial
risk.”
Iguodala hopes that players col-
lectively and individually realize
their worth.
Careers do not last forever.
For now, Iguodala’s continues,
the data stored from last season’s
winding road taken into a new one.Iguodala Is Ever Prepared to Make His Next Move
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