Page 25 - Florida Sentinel 8-21-20

Sports
Orange County Declares
LeBron James
Russell Westbrook To Miss Start Of Playoffs
Aug. 24 'Kobe Bryant Day' In
Helps Turn
Honor Of Basketball Legend
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted recently to declare Aug. 24 as “Kobe Bryant Day.”
The late NBA legend and longtime Orange County resi- dent was a “treasured mem- ber” of the community who “inspired so many men and women to pursue their dreams and never give up,” O.C. County Board Chairwoman Michelle Steel said of Bryant.
The resolution reads, “The Orange County Board of su- pervisors recognizes August 24th as Kobe Bryant Day and encourages members of our community to continue Kobe
Dodger Stadium
Alvin Gentry Fired As Pelicans Head Coach
KOBE BRYANT Bryant’s legacy by engaging
in community building help- ing young people in need, en- couraging aspiring youth to follow their dreams, and living by Bryant’s words: ‘The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.”
LEBRON JAMES
LeBron James is helping to make Dodger Stadium a hub for voting in Los Angeles.
Thanks to the efforts of More Than A Vote — a non- profit coalition of Black ath- letes and artists working to educate, energize and protect young communities of color by fighting systemic voter sup- pression — the Dodgers are of- ficially the first Major League Baseball team to make their venue available for voting. The NBA star is a co-founder of the organization.
Any registered voter in Los Angeles County can visit the stadium over a five-day period and parking will be free.
Additional details are yet to be announced, however the MLB team announced on Thursday (August 13) that all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health guidelines will be fol- lowed regarding social distanc- ing.
"We are all in this to- gether," James said in a state- ment, according to the Associated Press. "This is ex- actly why we created More Than a Vote. A lot of us are now working together and here for every team who wants to follow the Dodgers lead and turn their stadium into a safer place for voting."
Dodger Stadium has been closed to the general public during the 60-game MLB sea- son. It and surrounding prop- erty have already hosted the county's largest COVID-19 testing site and been a site for emergency equipment and a food distribution site for those experiencing food insecurity.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK
said after the game that he was confident he would be able to play Friday and have enough time to be at full strength for the start of the postseason, but that changed when the 31-year-old woke up with soreness.
The Rockets will take on Westbrook’s former team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the first round of the play- offs.
Into Massive
Russell Westbrook was diagnosed with a strained quadriceps muscle in his right leg last week, and the in- jury is significant enough that it will cause the Houston Rockets star to miss some time in the playoffs.
Westbrook will be held out for at least the first few games of Houston’s playoff series and possibly longer.
Westbrook returned from the injury to play against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, but he woke up sore on Wednesday and was ruled out for Hous- ton’s final seeding game on Friday.
The quad injury did not bother Westbrook at all during Tuesday’s game or im- mediately after. Westbrook
Voting Hub
The New Orleans Pelicans are in the hunt for a new head coach.
The Pelicans have fired coach Alvin Gentry after five seasons.
The decision to move on from Gentry doesn’t come as an enormous shock. He had made the playoffs just once in five seasons, falling short this year after going 2-6 in bubble play. In addition, the Pelicans brought in a new basketball operations department last season headed by David
ALVIN GENTRY
Griffin. That group did not hire Gentry, but inherited him, making his position somewhat tenuous unless he brought quick success.
Cam Newton Showing
‘Exceedingly Positive’
Signs In Patriots Camp
Cam Newton sounds ready to have a huge season for the New England Patriots, if reports are to be believed.
Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports reported that he con- tinues to hear “exceedingly positive” information about Newton out of Patriots’ camp, both physically and mentally. He went on to pre- dict a major bounce-back sea- son for the veteran quarterback, and expects New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to “unleash and unlock” Newton.
Newton is ostensibly in a
CAM NEWTON
competition for the starting job with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, but few expect anyone to beat him to the role. That’s especially true with Bill Belichick offering some rare public praise early on in camp.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 13-B