February 25, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty ImagesBy GOOD MORNING AMERICA, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Soccer star Alex Morgan has scored more than 100 goals in her soccer career, but the one she scored Wednesday may be the sweetest so far.

Morgan, 31, scored her first goal for the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) since giving birth to her daughter, Charlie, last May.

Morgan’s goal, her 108th in her career, helped propel the USWNT to a 6-0 victory against Argentina, which earned the team its second consecutive She Believes Cup title.

“First USWNT goal as a momma,” Morgan captioned a photo of her goal in an Instagram story.

Morgan told Good Morning America last year that “taking a step back from soccer” while pregnant was “a little different” for her, but added that she was “enjoying it.”

“I hope that she’s born into a world that she can accomplish much bigger and better things that I’m ever capable of,” Morgan told GMA at the time.

Morgan, who is married to soccer player Servando Carrasco, was back in action with the USWNT after taking time off earlier this year to recover from COVID-19, which she said she contracted while in California over the holidays.

Last year, Morgan relocated to England, where she played several games with Tottenham Hotspur Women. It was confirmed in December that she would be returning to the U.S., where she is a member of the Orlando Pride.

Morgan scored her goal Wednesday in Orlando, in front of her hometown fans.

Loved getting my first US goal at home in Orlando. Thanks for all the love this tournament. Back to work with @ORLPride now! https://t.co/975cdq2XFV

— Alex Morgan (@alexmorgan13) February 25, 2021

She is not the only Pride player to now be playing as a mother.

Morgan’s teammates, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and defender Ali Krieger, announced earlier this month that they welcomed their adopted daughter.

The couple, who wed in 2019, shared the news on social media that their daughter, Sloane Phillips, was born on Feb. 12, weighing 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

USWNT star Megan Rapinoe gave Sloane a shout-out when Rapinoe scored a goal earlier in the She Believes Cup. After her goal, Rapinoe ran to the cameras and held her arms like she was cradling a baby.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

February 25, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Allen Kee / ESPN ImagesBy JEANETTE TORRES-PEREZ, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — It’s been nearly two weeks since the Houston Texans released J.J. Watt and already, the defensive end has reportedly received offers from multiple teams.

Citing league sources, ESPN reports that the biggest deal is believed to be worth between $15 million and $16 million.

Among the teams interested in Watt are the Cleveland Browns, according to ESPN, although it is not yet known if the Browns have submitted an offer to the 31-year-old.

Watt, who was drafted by the Texans in 2011, requested to be released from the team and his wish was granted earlier this month. In his 10 years in Houston, he won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards (2012, 2014 and 2015) and became the team’s all-time sacks leader.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

February 25, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

Phil Ellsworth / ESPN ImagesBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Any former teammate of Shaquille O’Neal would likely tell you that having him on the court was the sports equivalent of a great insurance policy.

The NBA Hall of Famer told ABC News’ Good Morning America that “trust and credibility were very important” throughout his 19-year NBA career, and now he’s applying those values to a new campaign with a brand that’s been by his side since college.

“In 1989 when I bought a used Ford Bronco 2, I didn’t have insurance, went to all these places I couldn’t afford, then I went to The General and they gave me an affordable policy, and it was great. I never had to use it,” he said with a laugh. “But hey, I had the full coverage I needed.”

Shaq first teamed up with the brand nearly a decade ago.

“I’m watching Maury Povich, ’cause that was my routine every day, and I would hear the jingle with The General commercial, and I said, ‘Hey I’d love to let the world know about the quality insurance that your company offers’ — and we’ve been in a relationship every since,” he said.

But now, the company known for its computer-animated ads is evolving its image with the help of the 15-time NBA All-Star and a couple of his friends from Inside the NBA.

Shaq said “it was a lot of fun” filming on set with fellow NBA analysts Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson.

“We had a lot of outtakes. But it’s also great to tell your friends ‘I told you so,'” Shaq said. “A lot of people look at the commercial and think they’re too cheesy, but nope, they’re quality insurance.”

Thinking about other famous basketball trios, the four-time NBA champion said if he could build his own Big Three with any other players of all time, it would be “Me, Michael Jordan and Jason ‘White Chocolate’ Williams.”

One real-life matchup on Shaq’s calendar is his All Elite Wrestling in-ring debut. He’s wrestling Cody Rhodes on March 3 in a mixed tag-team bout, “so I’m gonna have to beat him up,” he said.

When asked about his training, he said “I can’t tell ya, I’ll just have to show ya.”

Although the 2020-21 NBA “season is still young” Shaq said that “Utah, the Lakers and Brooklyn are all playing well.”

Shaq will be in on the All-Star Weekend action and back with Inside the NBA on TNT for the second part of the regular season, but he said “there are about four or five teams in contention to become champions.”

“I’m biased,” he said after seeing the Lakers take home the title last season, “but I want to see the best players shine and the best team win.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

February 25, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

iStockBy ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 112, Houston 96
Atlanta 127, Boston 112
Golden State 111, Indiana 107
Oklahoma City 102, San Antonio 99
New Orleans 128, Detroit 118
Chicago 133, Minnesota 126 (OT)
Miami 116, Toronto 108
Charlotte 124, Phoenix 121
Utah 114, LA Lakers 89

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 3, Carolina 0
Dallas 3, Florida 0
Toronto 2, Calgary 1 (OT)
Philadelphia 4, NY Rangers 3
Minnesota 6, Colorado 2
Arizona 4, Anaheim 3 (SO)
Los Angeles 2, St. Louis 1

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Arkansas 81,Alabama 66
Florida St. 88, Miami 71
Creighton 77, DePaul 53
NC State 68, Virginia 61
Tennessee 70, Vanderbilt 58

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

February 24, 2021 • No Comments • Sports News

ABC NewsBy KELLY MCCARTHY, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — In 2019, when the Toronto Raptors won their first NBA Championship title, the dream moment quickly turned into a nightmare for the team’s president, Masai Ujiri.

ABC News’ Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts sat down exclusively with Ujiri for his first interview since the courtside confrontation between he and a sheriff’s deputy who shoved him and later sued the basketball executive.

“The game ends — I hurried behind the benches to go and meet my wife. Found her, we hugged, cried, prayed. That brought a sense of calmness,” Ujiri recalled. “There’s lot of chaos going on on the court — I walk up and that’s when I actually got stopped.”

Alan Strickland, the sheriff’s deputy who halted Ujiri, was seen on body-camera footage shoving the team president twice as he reached for his credentials.

“I was confused, you’re taken aback and you don’t even know how to react,” he said thinking back to the incident. “You just don’t buy a championship in Walmart or something. It’s something you’re trying so hard to do — you’re trying to figure out, ‘how do I go and celebrate with my guys?’ — You get this confrontation, and it confuses you.”

Eventually, he was allowed to join his team on the court and players rallied behind him. But eight months later, Strickland filed a civil suit for monetary damages against Ujiri that claimed Ujiri was the aggressor and injured him.

Ujiri’s lawyers filed a countersuit and called the deputy’s account of the encounter “a complete fabrication” that ultimately led to the release of the body camera footage in August 2020.

“Seeing that tape, you are vindicated, you feel that yes this is the right story,” he explained. “People said you punched a policeman, you hit his jaw, you punched his jaw and all kinds of things, you begin to doubt yourself. As time goes on, you start to actually wonder what really happened.”

Both lawsuits have been dropped after nearly two years since the encounter, but now, Ujiri said it has reignited his push for racial equality.

“As much as we say this happened to me, it’s worse that happened to other people, right. George Floyd — I lost a moment, people lost their life,” he said. “I say it as humble as I can, there are some people who don’t have privilege or job to fight this. They’re wrongly accused, no bodycam, nobody sees what happens, they’re incarcerated, accused or charged. We have to fight for them.”

Ujiri worked his way up in the NBA, starting as a scout before eventually becoming the general manager of the Denver Nuggets and has held the coveted spot as Raptors team president since 2013.

The NBA executive, whose family is from Nigeria, is a humanitarian and has dedicated much of his career to philanthropy to empower youth in his homeland for nearly two decades with his organization, Giants of Africa.

“We want to teach basketball – basic basketball fundamentals of it and we want to find talent,” he said. “They are incredibly young girls and boys who need a pathway. My job that the NBA has blessed me with I have to continue to do this – we teach the kids more life skills, being honest, on time, respect your elders and respect women.”

As he continues to encourage the next generation to dream big, he said now he can move forward and hope for a future without discrimination.

“I want people to really think about humanity and who we are as human beings,” he said. “It’s really important that we treat each other well.”

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