Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal flew to Los Angeles on Monday to seek medical treatment for a hip injury that has sidelined him the past five games.
O'Neal's departure two games into a five-game trip is the latest setback for an injury-plagued team that has the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 8-26 and has lost seven games in a row. O'Neal had said Sunday he had hoped to return to the lineup yesterday at Minnesota.
He bruised his left hip Dec. 22 when he dived for a loose ball and slid into the scorer's table during the a win over Utah. He aggravated the injury in a Dec. 26 loss at Philadelphia and hasn't played since.
The hip injury and a sore left knee have contributed to the least productive season of O'Neal's 16-year career. He is averaging 14 points and 7.8 rebounds in 29 games.
Injury layoffs have been common for O'Neal in recent years. He missed 39 games last season, when he underwent left knee surgery. He sat out 21 games during the Heat's 2005-06 championship season because of a sprained ankle and sprained thumb.
The Heat lost O'Neal's backup, Alonzo Mourning, for the season when he tore two knee ligaments in a Dec. 19 loss at Atlanta. Dwyane Wade, Jason Williams and Dorell Wright have all battled injuries recently.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play on Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers were scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena last night. “Our hearts are with our entire Los Angeles community,” the Kings said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard working first responders who are diligently working to contain the fire and protect our community. We appreciate the league’s support in keeping our
TWO IN A WEEK: Despite an undefeated start to the year playing alongside Jiang Xinyu of China, Wu Fang-hsien is to play the Australian Open with a Russian partner Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien yesterday triumphed at the Hobart International, winning the women’s doubles title at the US$275,094 outdoor hard-court tournament, while McCartney Kessler lifted the trophy in the women’s singles. Fourth-ranked Wu and partner Jiang Xinyu of China took 1 hour, 15 minutes to defeat Romania’s Monica Niculescu and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-1, 7-6 (8/6) at the Hobart International Tennis Centre, their second title in a week. Wu and Jiang on Sunday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, beating Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US. Their winning ways continued in Australia as they stretched
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