PRO BASKETBALL

PHOENIX (AP)Kevin Durant’s home debut with the Phoenix Suns will have to wait a little longer.

The 13-time All-Star slipped on the floor during pregame warmups and was ruled out against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of left ankle soreness. The game was supposed to be Durant’s home debut with his new team. He has played in three games since being traded to the Suns, but all were on the road.

“We’ll get more testing done tomorrow,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “Right now, it’s just an ankle sprain and we don’t have anything official to report.”

Video showed Durant driving to the basket during warmups when he rolled his left ankle as he jumped. He immediately hopped up and continued his pregame work, but several minutes later, the Suns confirmed Durant would miss the game.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Luka Doncic only knew that his left thigh was in too much pain for him to be effective. He did not understand why he was hurting or how he injured himself.

Doncis said he could barely run after the Dallas Mavericks’ 113-106 loss in New Orleans. He left in the third quarter after missing a step-back jumper. At that point, he’d scored 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting.

The injury has bothered Doncic for more than a week, he said. He could not pinpoint when it happened, only that he noticed it when he woke up the day after a game. Doncic said he hoped to have an MRI as early as Thursday.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant will be away from the team for at least four more games, the team said shortly after police announced that he will not face charges in Colorado related to the livestreamed video is which he appeared to be displaying a gun in a strip club.

That means Morant will miss games against Golden State on Thursday, home against Dallas on Saturday, at Dallas on Monday and at Miami on March 15. The earliest he could play is March 17 at San Antonio, and there’s no guarantee of that.

NEW YORK (AP) – Brittney Griner’s return to the WNBA will tip off ESPN’s coverage of the league’s 27th season when the Phoenix Mercury visit the Los Angeles Sparks on May 19 – opening night.

Griner missed all of last season after being arrested at an airport just outside of Moscow on drug possession charges in February 2022. She was brought home in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange in December.

The Mercury’s home opener two days after the opener will also be broadcast nationally as one of 25 regular-season games to be shown on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Basketball Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim’s 47-year tenure as coach at Syracuse came to an awkward end, with the university saying Orange assistant Adrian Autry has been promoted to the job.

The move came less than three hours after Syracuse lost to Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, after which Boeheim hinted at retirement but said it would ultimately be the university’s decision.

Then came the news from the school: “Today, as his 47th season coaching his alma mater comes to an end, so too does his storied career at Syracuse University. Associate Head Coach Adrian Autry ’94, one of Boeheim’s former players and longtime assistant, has been named the program’s next head coach.” Autry has been on Boeheim’s staff since 2011, and held the title of associate head coach since March 2017.

The 78-year-old Boeheim’s record in his 47 seasons, officially, was 1,015-441. That reflects 101 wins taken away by the NCAA for violations between the 2004-07 and 2010-12 seasons.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Texas Tech coach Mark Adams, who had been suspended recently for racially insensitive comments made toward one of his players, resigned shortly after the Red Raiders were eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament.

Second-year assistant Corey Williams had led the Red Raiders in their 78-62 loss to West Virginia.

The incident involving Adams occurred in a meeting with a player, who wasn’t identified, Texas Tech said Sunday in announcing his suspension. The school said Adams “was encouraging the student-athlete to be more receptive to coaching and referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters.”

GOLF

STUART, Fla. (AP) – Tiger Woods’ girlfriend wants to nullify a nondisclosure agreement following a six-year relationship with the professional golfer.

Attorneys for Erica Herman filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment on Monday in Martin County, Florida, circuit court, according to online court records. The couple had been living together in the area, according to the complaint. Martin County is located directly north of Palm Beach County.

Woods and Herman have not publicly announced the end of their relationship, which began in 2017. But she was not at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week in December, or at the Genesis Invitational he hosted at Riviera three weeks ago.

According to the complaint, a trust controlled by Woods is attempting to silence Herman with a nondisclosure agreement that she signed while involved in a personal and professional relationship with Woods. The complaint argues that the NDA should be nullified under a federal law that prohibits an NDA from being enforced when sexual assault or sexual harassment is involved.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the late Tom Weiskopf and the remaining founders of the LPGA Tour were among those elected for the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The induction will be June 10, 2024, the Monday ahead of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina. The six inductees – the LPGA founders were voted as one – is the largest class since six were inducted in 2008.

Others to be elected by a 20-member panel of golf leaders, media and four Hall of Fame members were Sandra Palmer, whose 19 career wins on the LPGA Tour included two majors; three-time major champion Beverly Hanson; and former U.S. Open champion Johnny Farrell. Harrington and Palmer are the only two living players who were elected.

OLYMPICS

A group of 42 retired Canadian Olympians urged the Canadian Olympic Committee to reject the idea of allowing Russians to participate in next year’s Paris Games unless Russia withdraws from Ukraine.

“We condemn recent public statements issued by the COC supporting the ‘exploration of a pathway’ for Russians and Belarusians to compete as ‘neutrals’ in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” the Canadians wrote in a statement. Opening that door, the athletes said, “sends a message that the COC is no longer concerned with Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.”

Signing the statement was a who’s-who of Canadian Olympic greats and gold medalists, including Hayley Wickenheiser (hockey), Jenn Heil and Alex Bilodeau (freestyle skiing), Tessa Virtue (skating) and Beckie Scott (cross-country skiing).

Russian and Belarusian athletes have been largely excluded from international competition since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.