HSFC_2017_01_11

XXXXX• SFChronicle.com |Wednesday,January 11, 2017|B7

CHARLOTTE,N.C. — In a
stunningdecision,NASCAR
driver CarlEdwards iswalking
away from the finalyear of his
contract withJoe Gibbs Racing
less than two months after
nearly winning his firstCup
championship, two people with
knowledge of the situation said
Tuesday.
Joe Gibbs Racing scheduled
twonews conferencesWednes-
day inwhich Edwards is ex-
pected to announce he will not
drive the No. 19 Toyota next
season.The second announce-
ment is that reigning Xfinity
Serieschampion Daniel Suarez
will replaceEdwards in the
Cup Series.The two people
spoke on condition of ano-

nymity because the team and

Edwards had not announced

the move.

Edwards, 37, informed team

owner Joe Gibbs right before

Christmas that he no longer

wanted to compete, the people

told AP, confirming adecision

first reportedby Fox Sports.

“This is comparable to Barry

Sanders’ retirement back in

1999, shocking and with loads

of ability and time left in avery

successful career,” saidTexas

Motor Speedway President

Eddie Gossage. Edwards was a

four-time winnerat Texas in

the Cup Series.

“I talked to Carlabout a

monthago and he didn’t give

any indication that hewas

considering this,” Gossage

said. “It is ashock that just

doesn’t seem real.”

Edwards might not bedone

for good: He simply could be

sitting out oneyear of competi-

tion for amyriad of reasons,

and there could be jobswaiting

for him in 2018.Tony Stewart

has retired and has a four-car

lineup that is moving thisyear

to Ford, where Edwards was

closely aligned before he spent

the past two seasons driving

for Gibbs.

Also, concernsabout Dale

EarnhardtJr.’s concussion

history, plus underperfor-

manceby Kasey Kahne, could

open seats in the futureat Hen-

drickMotorsports.Edwards,

who is married to adoctor who

specializes in neurological

rehabilitation, also could be

scaredby Earnhardt’s concus-

sion problems.

Edwards has given no in-

dicationwhathe’s thinking or

whatthe future might hold.In

a text message, he wrote: “I’m

kindahungry. Going to Sub-

way!” in reference to his long-

time sponsor.He also stated

simply: “All good.”

Neither Fox Sports or NBC

Sports has a role planned for

Edwards in 2017, although he

has done analyst work on a

semi-regular basis the past

several years.

Edwards came oh-so-close

to winning his firstCup cham-

pionship inNovember’s season

finale.He was leading all

championship contenders with

10 laps remainingat Home-

stead-Miami Speedway until a

caution setup a restart that

bunched the field.Edwards

tried to blockJoey Logano’s

attempt to take the lead, andit

caused a crash that endedEd-

wards’ title bid.

Jenna Fryer is a writer forthe

Associated Press.

AUTO RACINGCarl Edwards

Driver’s future:

retire or return?

By Jenna Fryer

SteveHelber /Associated Press 2016

It’s not clear whether CarlEdwards’ final race came in

November when he nearly won a Cupchampionship.

landscape of widespread medi-
ocrity.Imag ine a history writ-
ten without tales of BillRus-
sell’s Celtics, theMagic John-
son-Larry Bird rivalry, the
Kobe Bryant-Sha quille O’Neal
dynamic, or the intensely riv-
eting presence ofMichael
Jordan andLeBronJames
when championships arede-
cided.
At the onset of the season,
the Warriors seemeddest ined
to join that lofty company,
bound for a second title in
threeyears with theacqu isi-
tion ofKevin Durant(and by
the way, someone inform Sil-
ver and the league’s irritable
owners that theWarriorswere
honestly constructed, through
the draft, trades and freeagen-
cy). OnlyLeBron’s Cavaliers
seemed aworthy match, and
so it was written:Warriors-
Cleveland in theFinals, with
the regular season merely a
lengthy prelude.
Things have changed, dra-
matically, in recent days.
Weekly “power rankings” have

become astap le among the

league’s insiders.This week,

not one of them listed the

WarriorsNo. 1. In fact, nobody

had them higher than third.

These aren’t do wn-the-line

forecasts or big-picture as-

sessments, rather how the

teamsstand right now — and

among five outlets, therewere

two first-placevotes for Cleve-

land, two for theHouston

Rockets and one for the San

Antonio Spurs.

It’s really nothing more than

sports-bar talk, but aswe near

the season’s halfway point, the

Western Conferencestandings

are very real — and somewhat

ominous, from theWarriors’

standpoint.

This team hasn’t run away

from anyone. San Antonio and

Houston are just 2½ games

back. And here’s why it mat-

ters: If the Warriors top the

West, they’ll draw theNo. 8

seed and anautomatic first-

round breezeagainstPortland,

Sacramento,New Orleans,

Denver or whoever else emerg-

es from that paltry mess.

Should theWarriors finish

No. 2 or 3, thus drawing the

seventh or sixth seed, that

could beOklahoma City,Utah,

Memphis or the Clippers.

You’d ha ve to pick theWar-

riorsagainst any of those

teams, butwho needs the

aggravation of a tense, energy-

sapping series right off the

bat? Facing the Grizzlies of

Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph

and Mike Conley isabout the

last matchup theWarriors

want at the moment.

The Rockets really bear

watching in the second half.

Very quickl y, they’ve gone

fromJames Harden ’s ball-

hogging tedium to a legitimate

powerhouse that illuminates

all the current trends: speed,

ball movement, three-point

shooting and pick-and-roll

mastery. Harden is the center-

piece, now the most dangerous

point guard in the league, and

his teammates’ long-range

shooting (notably fromRyan

Anderson and Eric Gordon)

creates a brand of spacing that

allows Harden to thrive.

(RussellWestbrook might

be superior toHarden as an

individual, and people un-

derestimateStephenCurry’s

ongoing brilliance as he be-

comes more of a true point

guard, butHarden is theNo. 1

MVP candidate right now,

from a teamwork standpoint.

He can shoot from anywhere,

he’s a brilliant passer and he

lives at the free-throw line.)

San Antonio, meanwhile,

lookssweetlyfamiliar for

anyone who appreciates the

game’s finer points.While the

Warriorsstruggle to find a

halfcourt set that functions

properly under pressure, the

Spurs haven’t missed a beat in

Tim Duncan’s absence — and

they have risen toNo. 1 in

defensive efficiency.It seems a

mirage that Tony Park er and

Manu Ginobili remain so influ-

ential, but the two of them

carry anageless lookat the

moment — and coach Gregg

Popovich, always go od for an

under-the-radar discovery,

might have found another one

in Latvian rookie Davis Ber-

tans, the backup power for-

ward who scored 21 points

(including four three-pointers)

against Charlotte on Saturday

night.

This is a relatively qu iet

stretch for theWarriors, with

Miami and Detroit spacedover

asix-day period, butMonday

brings Cleveland to Oracle

Arena.People will offerup the

usual“meaningless” nonsense,

but thatdoesn’t ap plyto the big

regular-season matchups. The

Warriors need to see the Cleve-

land offense with newacqu isi-

tion Kyle Korver in volved. They

need to give LeBron and his

buddies a few fresh concerns.

An unhappy ending — espe-

cially ifit means confusion

during a tight finish — will

bring only more scrutiny.

And the big picture? Bright

as could be. Superiority,star

power and widespreadfan

appeal at the NBAsummit.

Fortunately, there are things

that the commissioner and his

ownership cronies cannot

control.

BruceJenkin s is a SanFrancisco

Chronicle columnist. Email:

[email protected]

Twitter:@Bruce_Jenkins1

Spurs, Rockets are worthy West foes

Jenkin sfrom page B1

SPORTS

Baylor’s euphoriaoverits

ascenttotheNo. 1rankinglast-

edoneday.

NathanAdrianbrokeoutofa

shootingslumpwithacareer-

high22points,andNo. 10West

Virginiaoverwhelmedthe

visitingBears89-68onTuesday

night intheBaylorprogram’s

firstgamewiththetopranking.

Baylor(15-1,3-1Big12)com-

mittedaseason-high29turn-

overs;theschoolrecordis31.

ThelossmeansNo. 5Gonzaga

istheonlyremainingunbeaten

teaminDivisionI.

“Theyjusttookusoutof

everything,”Baylorheadcoach

ScottDrewsaid.“Weweren’t

overconfident.Theyjustkicked

ourbutt.”

West Virginia(14-2,3-1)start-

edthesecondhalfwithan11-3

runandkeptpouringit on,

leadingby asmanyas26points.

At theend,fansrushedthe

courtat theendandsangJohn

Denver’s“CountryRoads.”

“Fromtheplayerstothe

managers,therewasnobodyin

ourlockerroomthatdidn’t

thinkwe shouldwin,”West

Virginiaheadcoach Bob Hug-

ginssaid.“Myhopeiswe getto

thepointwhereit’s expected

ratherthancelebrating.”

San Diego St. 76,San JoseSt. 61:

Brandon Clarke had 25 points, seven

rebounds andfourassistsfor the

visitingSpartans (8-7, 1-3 Mountain

West), but itwasn’t nearly enough

against the Aztecs (9-7, 1-3), who

opened a 42 -23 leadin the firsthalf.

#2Kansas 81, Oklahoma 70 :Frank

Mason scored 19of his 28 points in the

second halffor the visiting Jayhawks

(15-1, 4-0 Big 12), who have won 15

straight.The Sooners(6-9, 0-4)lost

their seventh in arow.

#3Villanova 79, #15Xavier 54:Kris

Jenkins and Josh Harteach scored 20

pointsfor the hostWildcats(16-1, 4-1

BigEast) against the Musketeers

(13-3, 3-1).

#6Kentucky 87,Vanderbilt 81:

Malik Monk scoredsix points in the

final 32 secondsfor theWildcats

(14-2, 4-0 SEC), whoovercame the

hostCommodores(8-8,2-2).

#9 FloridaState 88, #7 Duke 72:

XavierRathan-Mayes scored18 of his

21 points in the second halffor the

hostSeminoles(16-1, 4-0ACC), who

broke a 46-year-old schoolrecord

with their 12thstraight win.Luke

Kennardled the Blue Devils (14-3,2-2)

with 23 points.

#23 Florida 80,Alabama 67 :The

visiting Gators(13-3, 4-0 SEC)over-

came 24 points from Braxton Key for

the hostCrimsonTide(9-6,2-1), who

led bysix pointsearly in the second

halfafter trailingby18 in the first.

TexasTech 66, #25KansasSt. 65:

KeenanEvans made ago-aheadlayup

with 15 secondslefttohelp theRed

Raiders (13-3,2-2Big 12) knock off the

Wildcats(13-3,2-2) and improve to

11-0athome.

Off theteam:Tennessee dismissed

guard Detrick Mostella, its second-

leading scorer,saying he had not lived

uptothe program’sstandards.

WOMEN

UConn’s 90th

inrowtiesrecord

Top-rankedConnecticut (15-0,2-0

American) tied itsown NCAArecord

with its 90thconsecutive win, a

102 -37 rout of No. 20South Florida

(13-2,2-1).Saniya Chong scored 20

pointstoleadthe host Huskies.

Player’s death:The CookCounty

(Ill.) medicalexaminersaid the death

Monday of Northwestern player

Jordan Hankinswas a suicide.

Ray Thompson /Associated Press

West Virginia’s Sagaba Konate (50) and LamontWest join the crowd in celebrating the
Mountaineers’ victoryover top-ranked Baylor, inspiring aflurry of smartphone photos.

COLLEGEBASKETBALL

Just voted No. 1,

Baylor crushed

by West Virginia

ASSOCIATED PRESS