Sports Digest: Draymond Green fined, not suspended, for punching teammate

BASKETBALL

Draymond Green has been fined but won’t be suspended by the Golden State Warriors for a violent punch to the face of teammate Jordan Poole last week.

Coach Steve Kerr said after Tuesday’s preseason win against Portland that Green would return to practice Thursday, then play for the defending NBA champions against Denver on Friday night and again in the season opener Tuesday against the Lakers. Kerr, General Manager Bob Myers and players have met to decide how to best proceed – including Green and Poole talking to each other.

Green and Poole met in recent days about the fight and everyone involved has taken part in exhaustive discussions since the incident last Wednesday in practice, Kerr said. Two-time MVP Stephen Curry has led some of those talks.

Green has been away from the team since the altercation and has been working out on his own every day. Neither player was injured.

Video of the punch leaked to TMZ was published Friday. The footage shows Green approaching Poole near the baseline and them coming chest to chest. Poole used both hands to push Green away, then Green punched Poole in the face and sent the fourth-year guard into the wall behind the baseline.

Kerr said an investigation is ongoing into the leak.

• Detroit Pistons center Marvin Bagley III is expected to be out of the lineup for three to four weeks with an injured right knee.

Bagley was hurt Tuesday night in a preseason game against Oklahoma and an MRI showed a sprained knee ligament and bone bruise.

The 6-foot-11 Bagley signed a three-year, $37 million contract as a restricted free agent in July with the Pistons, who acquired him from Sacramento in a four-team trade last season. Bagley, the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, bounced back from a disappointing, injury-filled stint with the Kings to average 14.6 points in 18 games with the Pistons last season.

The 23-year-old former Duke star has averaged 13.6 points and 7.4 rebounds over his four-year career.

SOCCER

IRELAND: The coach of Ireland’s women’s soccer team apologized Wednesday after her players sang a pro-IRA chant in the locker room after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time.

Video footage of the chant circulated on social media after the 1-0 victory over Scotland in the playoffs at Hampden Park on Tuesday.

Ireland Coach Vera Pauw apologized “from the bottom of our hearts to anyone who has been offended by the content of the post-match celebrations.”

The Football Association of Ireland also issued an apology “for any offense caused by a song sung by players.”

Support for the IRA, or Irish Republican Army, remains controversial amid efforts to heal the wounds left by decades of sectarian violence known as “The Troubles.” While some see the IRA as freedom fighters in the campaign to reunify Ireland, others decry its role in attacks that killed nearly 1,800 people as militants sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

Most militants renounced violence after the 1998 agreement that brought peace to the island, but occasional bombings and shootings are still attributed to IRA dissidents.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Napoli advanced to the last 16 with two matches to spare after another goal and an assist from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped his team beat visiting Ajax 4-2.

The Italian club is atop both Serie A and its Champions League group and unbeaten in both competitions.

• Club Brugge held Atletico Madrid to a 0-0 draw at Madrid to become only the second Belgian club to reach the Round of 16.

TENNIS

DJOKOVIC-AUSTRALIA: Novak Djokovic won’t get official support with lobbying from Tennis Australia should he seek to enter the country for the first major of 2023, a year after he was deported because he was not vaccinated for COVID-19.

The 21-time Grand Slam champion wasn’t allowed to defend his Australian Open title last January after a tumultuous 10-day legal saga that culminated with his visa being revoked on the eve of the tournament eventually won by Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic originally was granted an exemption to strict vaccination rules by two medical panels and Tennis Australia in order to play in the Australian Open but, after traveling to Melbourne believing he had all his paperwork in order, the exemption was rejected by the Australian Border Force.

Being deported made Djokovic subject to a possible three-year exclusion period that prevents the granting of a further temporary visa, although Australian Border Force in January said any exclusion period “will be considered as part of any new visa application and can be waived in certain circumstances.”

Australia has changed its border rules and, since July 6, incoming travelers no longer have to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations.

DOPING

TRACK & FIELD: Olympic discus finalist Kamalpreet Kaur was banned for three years for doping with an anabolic steroid, track and field’s Athletics Integrity Unit said .

Kaur had one year cut from the standard four-year ban after she admitted the violation and accepted her sanction, the AIU said.

Kaur will be allowed to keep her sixth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics last year but will miss the 2024 Paris Olympics before the ban expires in March 2025.

The 26-year-old Indian tested positive for stanozolol in a urine sample given in March when training at Patiala, India. The steroid was most famously used by sprinter Ben Johnson at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Kaur first suggested the positive test was caused by a contaminated protein supplement, according to the AIU’s published ruling on the case.

Traces of the steroid were confirmed in tests on the supplement by the laboratory in New Delhi accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, an AIU scientific advisor’s evaluation was that traces in the supplement were not compatible with the athlete’s positive test.

When formally charged and facing a four-year ban, Kaur acknowledged the anti-doping rules violation, the AIU document said.

Kaur set an Indian national record of 66.59 meters when competing in her home country several weeks before the Tokyo Olympics.

In Tokyo, she finished just over two meters out of the medals in a competition won by Valarie Allman of the United States.

PICKLEBALL

MEDIA: The pickleball craze is getting the Stephen Colbert treatment, with charity the winner.

Colbert will host CBS’ “Pickled,” described as a sports-comedy special centered on a celebrity pickleball tournament. Among the players: Dierks Bentley, Will Ferrell, Emma Watson, Daniel Dae Kim, Max Greenfield, Luis Guzman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tig Notaro and Kelly Rowland.

Colbert and Kenny Loggins will join in a national-anthem duet for the two-hour special airing at 9 p.m. Nov. 17 on CBS. It will stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

The host of CBS’ “The Late Show” will bestow the Colbert Cup.

Teams will compete to benefit nonprofit Comic Relief US, with viewers asked to contribute in support of programs that “address the life-altering impact of homelessness, rootlessness and lack of safety often experienced by children and families living in poverty,” the group said.

JURISPRUDENCE

BEN GORDON: Former NBA player Ben Gordon is facing assault charges for allegedly punching his son at a New York airport.

The alleged assault occurred Monday evening at LaGuardia Airport. According to the Queens district attorney’s office, witnesses including an American Airlines employee saw Gordon yell at his son and punch him several times in the face after the boy dropped a book on the ground.

Gordon later confirmed to police that it was his son. Gordon also allegedly assaulted officers as they attempted to handcuff him and put him in a patrol car.

At an arraignment Tuesday night, Gordon was charged with offenses including assault, resisting arrest, contempt and child endangerment. He was ordered to return to court Friday.

According to a criminal complaint, Gordon’s son has an order of protection against him dating from 2018 that forbids Gordon from “committing physical abuse, harassment, or the interference with personal liberty,” and prohibits him from removing the boy from Illinois.

The 39-year-old, who played collegiately at the University of Connecticut, was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2004 and played 11 seasons in the NBA with Chicago, Detroit, Charlotte and Orlando, most recently in the 2014-15 season with the Magic.

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