D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 , 2019
PRO BASKETBALL
7 p.m. WNBA: Phoenix at Connecticut » CBS Sports Network
7 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, quarterfinal: Carmen’s Crew vs.
Eberlein Drive » ESPN
8 p.m. WNBA: New York at Dallas » NBA TV
9 p.m. The Basketball Tournament, quarterfinal: Jackson TN vs. Golden Eagles »
ESPNU
10 p.m. WNBA: Las Vegas at Los Angeles » ESPN 2
AUTO RACING
7 p.m. NASCAR Truck Series: Eldora Dirt Derby, qualifying » Fox Sports 1
9 p.m. NASCAR Truck Series: Eldora Dirt Derby » Fox Sports 1
4:55 a.m. (Fri.)Formula One: Hungarian Grand Prix, practice session 1 » ESPN 2
CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
7 p.m. Winnipeg at Toronto » ESPN 2
EXTREME SPORTS
9 p.m. X Games Minneapolis: Day 1 » ESPN
ATHLETICS
11 a.m. Pan American Games: Day 9 » ESPNU
SOCCER
8:20 p.m. Copa Libertadores, round of 16: Gremio at Libertad » beIN SportsTELEVISION AND RADIO
MLB
1 p.m. San Francisco at Philadelphia » MLB Network
4 p.m. Milwaukee at Oakland » MLB Network
7 p.m. Toronto at Baltimore » MASN, WTEM (980 AM)
7 p.m. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis » MLB Network
10 p.m. San Diego at Los Angeles Dodgers » MLB Network
GOLF
6 a.m. Women’s British Open, first round » Golf Channel
2 p.m. PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship, first round » Golf Channel
NFL PRESEASON
8 p.m. Hall of Fame Game: Denver vs. Atlanta » WRC (Ch. 4), WBAL (Ch. 11)
TENNIS
1 p.m. ATP/WTA: Citi Open; WTA: Silicon Valley Classic, early rounds »
Tennis Channel
11:30 p.m. ATP: Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Mifel, quarterfinals » Tennis Channel
SWIMMING
8 p.m. U.S. championships: Day 2 » NBC Sports NetworkBY DES BIELERLeBron James is frequently the
subject of intense debate, but it’s often
about whether he is the greatest
basketball player of all time.
Recently, though, vehement takes
regarding the Los Angeles Lakers star
have centered on a much different
question: Is he being a good parent?
James made headlines for his
behavior at his oldest son’s games
during an AAU tournament in Las
Vegas, where he joined the youth league
team’s pregame layup line to throw
down monstrous dunks and celebrated
with exuberance. At one point, James
lost a shoe while running onto the court
in joy over a dunk by one of his son’s
teammates.
Some have seen these displays as
reflective of admirable support for his
son, 14-year-old LeBron “Bronny”
James Jr., and the other children on the
team. Others have criticized the four-
time NBA MVP for what they see as
attention-seeking tactics at the expense
of his child, and for going overboard in a
way that would appear inappropriate
for an average parent.
Among James’s sharpest critics —
and not for the first time — has been
Jason Whitlock, host of Fox Sports 1’s
“Speak for Yourself.” Describing James’s
“antics” as “inappropriate,” he created a
stir Monday by saying of the viral clips
from the AAU tournament, “Fame is a
drug more potent and dangerous than
cocaine. LeBron is a fame and social
media junkie.”
“In his mind, LeBron is making
fatherhood cool and fun again. I
disagree,” Whitlock said. “LeBron is
making a spectacle of himself, a circus
of his son’s early playing days and using
his son’s game as yet another platform
to build the LeBron social media brand.”
Whitlock recalled a 2008 playoff
game during which James’s mother,seated courtside, took exception to a
hard foul. Whitlock noted he defended
James at the time for being shown on
TV telling his mother to “sit your a--
down.”
“Gloria James needed to control
herself and conduct herself with a
dignity that placed her son in the proper
light,” Whitlock said. “That’s what
parents, no matter how famous, should
do. They should not allow their thirst
for fame to distract from or exaggerate
their child’s performance.
“LeBron needs to follow advice he
gave his mom: Sit your a-- down.”
Among those who stood up for James
was the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum,
who responded to another media figure,
Kevin Clancy of Barstool Sports.
“I gotta be honest if my son is ever
throwing down alley oops I will
probably lose my f------ mind,” Clancy
had tweeted, sharing the clip of James’s
shoe-losing celebration. “But this is
absolutely ridiculous. This is like,
bizarre childlike behavior.”
Tatum retweeted Clancy and wrote:
“With so many fathers not supporting
there [sic] kids we get upset because he
is genuinely happy for his son! I can’t
wait till my son get older and I get to
support him with whatever he wants to
do!”
An NFL player, Damon Harrison of
the Detroit Lions, also chimed in
Tuesday.
“LeBron has set the standard this era
for all fathers and even more so for
black fathers. His son sees and feels the
love and support from his dad,”
Harrison wrote on Twitter. “It’s neverbeen seen on this level. They want to
write the ‘his father wasn’t there’ story
instead of this one. THIS is goals!”
James has spoken in the past about
growing up without a father and
wanting to be heavily involved in
helping shape the lives of his children.
He also has a 12-year-old son, Bryce
Maximus, and a 4-year-old daughter,
Zhuri.
“What really helped me out,
becoming a parent, is what I went
through as a kid, not having a dad.... I
wanted to have kids early, to prove to my
father that the way you did it was the
absolute wrong way to do it, and I
wanted to break the mold to where I
want to be there and give them all the
life skills,” James said in a 2018
discussion with Kevin Durant.
On his HBO show, “The Shop,” James
said in 2018 he regretted giving Bronny,
a highly regarded basketball prospect,
his name because of pressure his child
might feel to live up to his standard.
“When I was younger, I didn’t have a
dad,” James said. “So my whole thing
was like, ‘Whenever I have a kid, not
only is he going to be a junior, I’m going
to do everything that this man didn’t
do.’ They’re going to experience things
that I didn’t experience — the only thing
that I can do is give them the blueprint,
and it’s up to them to take their own
course, whenever that time comes.”
One of Bronny’s AAU teammates,
Dior Johnson, also joined the
discussion on Twitter on Monday.
“You guys take what this man does off
the court for granted.... My Dad has
never been to ONE of my basketball
Games,” he wrote, “In fact I haven’t even
seen my father in 4 Years.”
In another post, Johnson praised
James by saying, “They will never know
how much you impact my life On and
most importantly OFF this basketball
court!!!”
[email protected]QUOTABLE“I look like I’m on
‘The Walking Dead.’
So I apologize to any of
those players who I
thought, ‘It’s just a
video game, why are
you upset?’ ”
KLIFF KINGSBURY,
Cardinals coach, who is not pleased
with his likeness in Madden NFL 20PRO BASKETBALLJames caught in another debate
COLLEGESBY MATT BONESTEELMichigan State University an-
nounced Tuesday that former
president Lou Anna Simon, who
has been accused of lying about
her knowledge of a sexual abuse
allegation against former sports
physician Larry Nassar, will retire
from the school Aug. 31 and re-
ceive a $2.45 million buyout. Si-
mon resigned as Michigan State’s
president in January 2018 and
returned to a faculty position but
has been on unpaid leave since
November, when Michigan State
Police charged her with two felo-
ny and two misdemeanor counts
of lying to an officer during the
Nassar investigation.
The school said Simon also will
retain her titles of president
emeritus and professor emeritus,
though her retirement agreement
stipulates “public recognition of
Dr. Simon’s emeritus status may
be withheld if the pending crimi-
nal charges result in a felony con-
viction that is upheld after all
post-trial motions and appellate
issues are finally adjudicated.”
Last week, attorneys for the
state and for Simon gave closing
statements in a preliminary court
hearing over whether Simon will
stand trial. A final decision likely
won’t happen until the fall.
In May 2018, Michigan State
announced it had agreed to pay
out $425 million to settle lawsuits
filed by 332 alleged Nassar vic-
tims and would set aside another
$75 million in a trust fund for any
victims who come forward in the
future. Nassar is serving what
amounts to a lifetime prison sen-
tence for possessing child pornog-
raphy and molesting young ath-
letes.
Simon is at least the third offi-
cial to lose his or her job in the
wake of the Nassar scandal yet
receive a significant buyout. Scott
Blackmun, who resigned as chief
executive of the U.S. Olympic
Committee in February 2018
amid criticism of his perceived
reluctance to intervene in a series
of sex abuse scandals, including
the one involving Nassar, received
a $2.4 million severance package.
Blackmun also has been accused
by two U.S. senators of lying to
Congress in written testimony
given to a Senate subcommittee
during a June 2018 hearing on
sexual abuse within American
Olympic sports.
Steve Penny, who resigned as
president and chief executive of
USA Gymnastics in March 2017
over that organization’s mishan-
dling of multiple sexual abuse
allegations, received a $1 million
severance package. Last year, a
grand jury in Walker County, Tex.,
indicted Penny on a felony charge
of tampering with evidence, alleg-
ing he ordered the removal of
documents relating to Nassar’s
treatment of gymnasts from a
Texas facility to hinder the inves-
tigation and destroy or hide the
documents.
Penny pleaded not guilty.
[email protected]Another
big buyout
stems from
Nassar case
BY CINDY BORENDez Bryant, the free agent wide
receiver who hasn’t played in the
NFL since the end of the 2017
season, hasn’t changed his mind
about playing any time soon, al-
though he adds that he has not
retired.
Bryant, who played eight sea-
sons for the Dallas Cowboys, has
remained in great physical shape
but tweeted that a lawsuit alleg-
ing the Cowboys and Ezekiel El-
liott conspired with Frisco, Tex.,
police “to cover up the details” of
a 2017 auto accident has discour-
aged him from returning.
“This exactly why I don’t have
no interest in playing football
right now,” Bryant tweeted. “I
have not reached out to no or-
ganization trying to play. People
forget real quick we are still hu-
man. My anxiety and depression
came from this type of stuff. What
I realized [is] nobody care but
me.”
Bryant, 30, who caught 531
passes for 7,459 yards and 73
touchdowns with the Cowboys,
told one user, “I’m not retiring bro
... I’m just taking care of myself
... that’s a promise,” and added
he is “in good spirits with the
project that I’m working on for all
athletes and influencers.”
Although the record-setting
contract the New Orleans Saints
gave Michael Thomas (a
$100 million extension for five
years with $60 million guaran-
teed, ESPN reported Wednesday)
might tempt Bryant to try a come-
back, his best days may well be
behind him. Being in shape
doesn’t mean he is in football
shape, and his previous attempt
to play ended in November when
he tore his Achilles’ tendon in his
second practice after signing with
the Saints.
Elliott, Bryant’s former team-
mate, and the Cowboys are being
sued for $20 million by Ronnie
Hill, whose car was sideswiped by
Elliott’s SUV. The lawsuit alleges
Cowboys running backs coach
Gary Brown rushed to the scene
and told him the team “would
take care of everything.” The team
and Elliott, who has not reported
to training camp, have not com-
mented on the matter.
[email protected]
PRO FOOTBALL
Ex-Cowboy
Bryant has
no interest
in a return
JAYNE KAMIN-ONCEA/GETTY IMAGES
LeBron James, who grew up without a father, has spoken about how important it is for him to support his three children.Oft-analyzed star’s actions
at son’s AAU game draw
both backlash and supportwashingtonpost.com/sports
SOCCER
United’s Canouse out
after collapsed lung
Russell Canouse, a starting
defensive midfielder for D.C.
United, will miss three to six
weeks after suffering a collapsed
lung during a 0-0 draw against
the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Canouse, 24, was hospitalized
for two days in the Chicago area.
The injury occurred in a second-
half collision with C.J. Sapong.
He initially remained in the game
but departed in the 64th minute.
In the locker room afterward,
Canouse said in a brief interview
that he was having trouble
breathing. He was examined by
the team’s medical staff before
being transported to Rush
University Medical Center.
The timetable would sideline
Canouse for at least four of
United’s 10 remaining matches,
starting Sunday against first-
place Philadelphia at Audi Field.
D.C. (9-6-9, 36 points) is third in
MLS’s Eastern Conference, three
points behind the Union but also
three points above the playoff
threshold.
Canouse has started 20 of 24
matches and appeared in one as a
substitute. He and Junior
Moreno form Coach Ben Olsen’s
top tandem in defensive midfield.
— Steven Goff
For the third straight year,
NBC’s Premier League broadcast
crew will be in England for the
start of the season.
The network announced plans
for the opening weekend for its
seventh season, featuring on-site
coverage from three stadiums
from Aug. 9 to 11.
The studio crew of Rebecca
Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle
Martino and Robbie Mustoe will
visit training sites for two teams,
including Champions League
winner Liverpool, and visit the
Premier League’s VAR match
center in London. NBC’s coverage
begins Aug. 8 with a transfer day
deadline show in London before
heading to Liverpool for the Aug.
9 opener against Norwich City.
The coverage on Aug. 10 will
come from Tottenham’s new
stadium in London and wrap up
the following day from Old
Trafford in Manchester....
Five-time winners Cristiano
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were
among the 10 candidates for the
FIFA best player award.
American forward Megan
Rapinoe is the favorite for the
women’s award....
American midfielderChristian Pulisic scored his first
two goals in a Chelsea uniform
and drew a foul that led to a
penalty kick in a 5-3 exhibition
victory at Red Bull Salzburg in
Austria.PRO BASKETBALL
Erica Wheeler made a go-
ahead layup with 11.9 seconds
left, rookie Teaira McCowan
blocked two shots at the other
end, and the Indiana Fever beat
the Atlanta Dream, 61-59.
Indiana snapped a six-game
losing streak and an eight-game
home skid that matched the club
record for a single season.Atlanta is tied with Dallas for the
worst record in the WNBA after a
season-high sixth consecutive
defeat.COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Alando Tucker, Wisconsin’s
all-time leading scorer, will be an
interim assistant coach this
season, replacing Howard
Moore while he is on medical
leave.
Moore suffered third-degree
burns in a car crash in May that
killed his wife and 9-year-old
daughter. He recently suffered a
medical issue and went into
cardiac arrest. He will not coachthis season.HOCKEY
The Colorado Avalanche
locked up defenseman Samuel
Girard with a seven-year
extension that runs through the
2026-27 season.
The 21-year-old Girard played
in all 82 games last season. He
finished with four goals and 23
assists for a Colorado team that
has made back-to-back playoff
appearances.
It was Girard’s second season
with Colorado after beingacquired from Nashville as part
of a three-team deal with Ottawa
in 2017. He was originally a
second-round pick in 2016 by the
Predators....
The New Jersey Devils re-
signed defenseman Will Butcher
to a three-year, $11.2 million
contract.
General Manager Ray Shero
announced Wednesday the 24-
year-old Butcher will earn
$3.5 million this season,
$3.6 million the following season
and $4.1 million in 2021-22.
— From news servicesDIGEST