Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 9-24-21

Sports
Magic Johnson Surprised Cookie With A Private Concert By Frankie Beverly & Maze For Their 30th Anniversary
COOKIE AND MAGIC JOHNSON
John Wall, Rockets Working Together On Trade
JOHN WALL
The John Wall era in Houston will be a short-lived one, as reports say he and the team are working together to find a new home for the star guard. Houston will not be looking to buy Wall out of his contract, which is set to pay him $91.7M over the next two seasons. That deal includes a player option of $47.4M for the 2022-23 season.
When the Rockets open training camp later this month, the plan is for Wall to be a part of that. However, Wall is not expected to play in games for Houston.
Giannis Antetokounmpo In
If you’re celebrating more than three decades of mar- riage, a simple meal and a flower or two just won’t do. That’s probably why Magic Johnson decided to take things up a notch for wife Cookie as they celebrated their 30th anniversary.
He made her believe they were just going to get dinner, and they did, enjoying an eight-course meal at the Bev-
erly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. But the night culmi- nated in an epic private con- cert put on by no other than Frankie Beverly & Maze. The couple literally sat in front of the stage in the Wilshire’s beloved ballroom — but not for long. They got up and proceeded to dance to- gether to their favorite songs, even doing the electric slide at one point to “Joy and Pain.”
Milwaukee Bucks star Gi- annis Antetokounmpo was in Greece for a meeting with the country’s prime min- ister Thursday and a special ceremony to bestow Greek cit- izenship on his mother Veronica and younger brother Alex.
Antetokounmpo, who led the Bucks to the NBA championship in July, at- tended the ceremony at the official residence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitso- takis.
The 26-year-old Antetok- ounmpo was born in Athens, the son of Nigerian immi- grants. He was granted Greek
Τhe mother and brother of Giannis Antetokounmpo, (far right), Veronica and Alex, poses with Greek Prime Minister Kyr- iakos Mitsotakis.
citizenship in 2013, allowing him to travel to the United States and join the Bucks later that year.
Greece As Mother, Youngest
Brother Granted Citizenship
Kyrie Irving Calls Out Reporter Over Retirement Claim
Kyrie Irving thinks something smells fishy with the latest report about him.
The Brooklyn Nets guard called out FS1’s Nick Wright in a tweet this week. Wright reported that Irving would retire if the Nets decided to trade him, citing what Irv- ing’s agents had allegedly been asserting.
Irving fired back by call- ing Wright “a puppet.”
Wright responded by saying that the ire should be directed towards Irving’s own representation instead of towards him.
The trade rumors about the seven-time All-Star Irv-
KYRIE IRVING AND NICK WRIGHT
ing seemed to come out of the blue. But Wright’s report at least sounded plausible given Irving’s skillset overlap with Kevin Durant and James Harden as well as Irving’s noted openness to retiring from the game early.
Clippers Break Ground On New Arena In Inglewood
The design meetings have been going on for years. Tech- nology has evolved through- out the process. Painstaking decisions were made time and time again, right down to what an inch or two differ- ence in leg room between rows would mean or where cupholders should be affixed to the seats.
Finally, Steve Ballmer and the LA Clippers are ready to build their new home.
The Clippers’ long- awaited, $1.8 billion, pri- vately funded arena officially got a name Friday — Intuit
Dome, it’ll be called when it opens in 2024, the team mak- ing that announcement on the day of the formal ground- breaking ceremony. The prac- tice facility, team offices for both business and basketball operations, retail space and more will all be on the site.
Ballmer, the team’s owner, simply believes it’ll be like no other building in the NBA.
“Basketball mecca! Bas- ketball palazzo!” Ballmer, in his usual excitable way, said in an interview with The As- sociated Press.
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