Author: chicagoinquirer

Close  by Tim Reynolds Ja Morant was suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday after he appeared to be holding a gun in another social media video that was streamed live on Instagram. It’s the second time in less than three months that Morant was seen on Instagram holding what appeared to be a weapon. The first led to an eight-game NBA suspension that was handed down in March and cost Morant about $669,000 in salary. It’s unclear what sanctions Morant may be facing for the second video, which was widely shared online Sunday. An associate of Morant went live…

by Tim Reynolds The Phoenix Suns fired Monty Williams on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year. Williams had great success in his four regular seasons in Phoenix, winning 63% of his games. But three consecutive years of playoff frustration was likely too much for the Suns to overlook — especially after two straight years of Phoenix trailing by 30 points at halftime of elimination games at home. ESPN and The Athletic first reported the decision. “Monty has been foundational to our success over…

by Tim Reynolds MIAMI  — Inside the Miami Heat locker room, now officially halfway to the season’s ultimate goal, Erik Spoelstra stepped onto the NBA championship logo on the center of the floor and gathered his team around him. His message was simple. “There’s been nothing about this season that’s been easy,” Spoelstra said. He’s right, and the Heat aren’t complaining about that, either — since this anything-but-easy season is still going. They were a No. 1 seed last year and got to the Eastern Conference finals, and this year, they were a No. 8 seed and still got to…

by Greg Beacham LOS ANGELES  — After every twist and turn in the soap opera saga of LeBron James’ four seasons alongside Anthony Davis with the Los Angeles Lakers, one truth remains perfectly clear. This is a championship-caliber partnership when James and Davis are both healthy. One or both superstars have been injured for long stretches of the three seasons since their 2020 bubble championship, and the Lakers’ road back to contention has been incredibly rocky because of it. The entire roster around them has been completely changed since that ring, but James and Davis are still here, still fighting.…

by Sam Magdy CAIRO — Over recent years, Sudan’s military and a separate armed force accumulated power, each suspicious of the other, even as they worked together against the country’s pro-democracy movement. Officers inside both forces say it was a long-building recipe for disaster. Their tenuous alliance ended in mid-April, when they turned their guns on each other, sparking a conflict that threatens to engulf African’s third largest country. In interviews with The Associated Press, more than a dozen senior officers from Sudan’s military and the rival paramilitary known as the Rapid Support Forces described what led them to an…

by Lisa Mascaro WASHINGTON  — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal to end the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID era of government spending — to cope with the pandemic and rebuild in its aftermath — is giving way to a new fiscal focus on tailored investments and stemming deficits. President Joe Biden has said that recouping unspent COVID-19 funds is “on the table” in budget talks with Congress. And while the White House has threatened to veto Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling bill with its “devastating cuts” to federal programs, the administration has signaled a willingness to…

by Greg Beacham LOS ANGELES  — LeBron James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory Friday night in Game 6 of the second-round series. The seventh-seeded Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday night in Denver. Anthony Davis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in a closeout victory that punctuated their increasingly incredible late-season surge. Austin Reaves scored 23 points, highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt at…

byTim Reynolds MIAMI — Heat coach Erik Spoelstra walked into the postgame interview room, a cup of a celebratory beverage in his hand, took a seat and began explaining how difficult the journey has been for Heat. The regular season was a struggle. They needed to survive the play-in. They were three minutes away from going home before the playoffs even started, needing a rally just to earn the right to play top-seeded Milwaukee. All forgotten. They’re in the NBA’s final four — getting there as a No. 8 seed. Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23 and…

by Samya Kullab KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian military commanders said Friday that their troops had recaptured more territory from Russian forces at the scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, for the eastern city of Bakhmut, but it wasn’t clear if this marked the start of Kyiv’s long-expected counteroffensive. Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Ukrainian forces had stepped up attacks north of the region while denying speculation by Russian military bloggers that the Kyiv forces had achieved “defense breakthroughs.” The 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of territory that Ukrainian forces south of Bakhmut retook this week represented a significant gain and…

by Mathew Daly WASHINGTON  — The Biden administration proposed new limits Thursday on greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, its most ambitious effort yet to roll back planet-warming pollution from the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change. A rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency could force power plants to capture smokestack emissions using a technology that has long been promised but is not used widely in the United States. “This administration is committed to meeting the urgency of the climate crisis and taking the necessary actions required,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. The plan would not only…