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#pounditFriday, March 29, 2024

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Look: Zurich Classic golf tournament is dealing with a family of gators

Zurich Classic alligator

This weekend’s PGA Tour event in New Orleans has a couple spectators that the golfers would probably prefer had stayed away.

According to the commentary, the 17th hole at the Zurich Classic has been dealing with difficulties due to a nest of alligator eggs located near the fairway. That in itself isn’t a problem, but it has meant that the two gator parents have been frequently traversing the fairway throughout the event.

On at least one occasion, a couple of staff members on golf carts armed with brooms had to chase one of the gators back into the water.

Ultimately, the golfers sort of had to work around the gators. And at times, that meant that golfer and gator wound up in fairly close quarters.

Believe it or not, this course has seen even stranger things than this. When you’re golfing in the south this time of year, this is just the sort of thing you might have to deal with.

Twitter reacts to Jeanie Buss leaving Jerry West off her list of most important Lakers

Jerry West

Jeanie Buss and Jerry West now work for rival Los Angeles teams. But many believe that the former is underselling the extensive prior contributions of the latter to her club.

The Lakers controlling owner Buss appeared this week on Showtime’s “All The Smoke” podcast. During the episode, Buss was asked to name her five most important Lakers of all-time. Her list consisted of Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, and Phil Jackson.

Many on Twitter pointed out the most noticeable omission on her list: West. Others also mentioned players like Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain as worthy of a spot.

Nobody will argue with the inclusion of the Lakers franchise icons Bryant, Johnson, and Abdul-Jabbar. Jackson, who is Buss’ former fiancé, makes sense for her to mention as well. But James is probably the most debatable member of the list. He is in just his third season with the team, having won one ring for them in less than 200 games played so far as a Laker.

West, meanwhile, was the first great Los Angeles Lakers player along with Baylor. He also helped build two ensuing Laker dynasties as an executive, putting together both the Showtime era as well as the Shaq-Kobe era.

But West, who now works for the rival LA Clippers as an executive board member, has not been on the best terms with the Lakers in recent years. Perhaps that played a factor in Buss’ omission of him from her list.

Bill Belichick reportedly ‘hates’ new NFL number rule

Bill Belichick

The new NFL rule relaxing restrictions on jersey numbers passed with broad support this week, but there are definitely a vocal few who didn’t want to see that happen.

Among them, apparently, is New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, Belichick “hates” the new rule. In addition, the Patriots were one of only four or five franchises to vote against its adoption.

Belichick’s stance puts him in alignment with his former quarterback, as Tom Brady outlined his opposition to the rule after it was adopted. We don’t know Belichick’s reasoning, but it’s easy to envision that it’s similar to Brady’s.

The good news for Belichick is that there are reasons to believe that there won’t be a lot of initial changes to numbers. Eventually, that will fade once players start to switch teams, though.

Trae Young clowns Kings over Bogdan Bogdanovic signing

Trae Young

Trae Young’s Atlanta Hawks are closing in on the first playoff berth of his NBA career. Now Young is shouting out the Sacramento Kings for helping make it happen.

Atlanta swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic came up big in a crucial win Friday over the Miami Heat. The first-year Hawk had 21 points and eight assists as the team’s primary playmaker with Young out due to an ankle injury.

After the game, Hawks forward Solomon Hill expressed his gratitude to the Kings for allowing Bogdanovic to sign with them last offseason. Young then proceeded to co-sign on Hill’s tweet, writing “This Facts.”

Bogdanovic, 28, was a restricted free agent this past summer. Sacramento chose not to match Atlanta’s four-year, $72 million offer sheet for him, and Bogdanovic became a Hawk. There was also a good amount of drama with the Milwaukee Bucks that paved the way for Bogdanovic to come to Atlanta.

At a solid 33-27, the Hawks are now fifth in the Eastern Conference. They had not won more than 29 games in any of their previous three seasons, so it seems like they have a lot to thank Sacramento for on the Bogdanovic front.

Brewers have worrisome update on Christian Yelich back injury

Christian Yelich

Christian Yelich has not played since Apr. 11, and it sounds like the Milwaukee Brewers outfielder isn’t getting much closer to a return.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell admitted Saturday that Yelich’s recovery from a back injury has hit a “plateau” after the outfielder did some work in the batting cage on Friday, and is expected to undergo an MRI.

“With Christian, unfortunately, we’ve hit a bit of a plateau here,” Counsell said, via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. “Nothing bad happened [Friday]. He did the day of work that we were expecting. We’re just at a plateau so we are just trying to rule everything out and see if we can get another piece of information.

“It’s frustrating for Christian. He’s frustrated. So, we’re trying to rule everything out and get as many answers as we can.”

Yelich was eligible to come off the 10-day IL on Saturday, but there was no sign of when he might be activated and able to play again. That’s a bit worrisome when it was initially expected that a simple week and a half of rest would help Yelich get past the back stiffness he’s been experiencing.

Yelich was off to a 10-for-30 start before landing on the IL. Maybe it’s time for him to bring back the lucky gum.

Paul George says he wants to retire with Clippers

Paul George

He may be giving off “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” vibes at this point, but Paul George is once again declaring his loyalty.

After the Clippers beat the Houston Rockets on Friday, the star forward said that he would like to retire with the team.

“I’m at a great comfort level,” said George, per SI’s Farbod Esnaashari. “This is home. I hope I can retire here.

“We want to be great,” the 30-year-old added. “We see the goal after every clip we watch. At the end of the scout, there’s a trophy.”

George’s claim may be met with some skepticism. After all, he has made similar assertions of loyalty at previous stops only to leave not long after making them.

But there is reason to believe that George is being genuine this time around. He is a Los Angeles-area native, having grown up in nearby Palmdale, Calif. George also recently signed a four-year extension with the Clippers that will keep him in town through at least 2024.

The 30-year-old is often roasted for frequently switching teams. But he may be getting his chance with the Clippers to finally put that reputation to rest.

Clippers fans, show everyone who runs Los Angeles with this great “We Run LA” shirt. It makes a perfect gift for you or a friend – you can buy it here:

Draymond Green has funny quote about his son rebounding for Steph Curry

Draymond Green

Draymond Green is, in many ways, one of the most intelligent players in the NBA. His son is clearly taking after him in that regard.

Green revealed that his son, Draymond Jr., likes rebounding for Stephen Curry when visiting Golden State’s practice facility. Green joked that he hardly blamed his son for that choice, since rebounding for Curry is pretty easy.

“When he comes to the gym with me, he wants to go rebound for Steph,” Green said. “I understand. You don’t gotta do that much work rebounding for Steph as you gotta do rebounding for me, so I get it. I always tell him, ‘You a smart kid, man.’

“I asked him the other day — somebody was shooting. I’m like, ‘You wanna go help?’ He’s like, ‘Nah, I wanna go help Steph!’ I’m like, ‘A’ight, go ahead, then, you a smart kid, man.’ You know you don’t wanna run or something, so you’re just gonna stand under the rim and the ball coming out the rim when Steph shoot. Real smart kid, I like that.”

Rebounding for Curry has been even easier of late. Maybe Little Dray is a good luck charm, because something is certainly working for Curry these days.

Chad Johnson paid a fan $1,000 to drive him to Starbucks

Chad Johnson

The ever-charitable Chad Johnson took things to a new level on Saturday with a very hefty tip for someone who took him to Starbucks.

Early Saturday morning, Johnson tweeted that he was in Jacksonville and would pay anyone $1,000 for a round trip to and from Starbucks. There did not appear to be any strings attached.

Was Johnson serious? Apparently so. Less than an hour later, the longtime NFL wide receiver posted a picture of himself in a car with a Twitter user who had responded to his plea.

The driver, Joey McAvoy, said Johnson was “real chill” and told the Starbucks barista that he loved them.

You’d be forgiven for finding this hard to believe, especially if it came from any other athlete. Johnson is the exception, though. He’s shown remarkable generosity before, just as he did here.

Rob Gronkowski set a world record before Arizona’s spring game

Rob Gronkowski

Where Rob Gronkowski goes, a spectacle tends to follow. It was no different when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end made an appearance at Arizona’s spring game on Saturday.

Gronkowski, a former Arizona player, was named as one of the honorary head coaches for Saturday’s game. Beforehand, however, Gronk opted to try to set a world record. It was simple, really: if he could catch a football dropped from a helicopter 600 feet in the air, the record would be his.

Did he do it? You already know the answer.

It did take three tries, because Gronkowski muffed the first two. Still, that’s way easier said than done, between the altitude and the sun and the spin.

This had to be a great moment for the Arizona players, who won’t forget it. This is also probably part of why Gronk had to follow some ground rules after winning the Super Bowl.

Jimmy Butler takes responsibility after latest Heat loss

Jimmy Butler

A week ago, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler was critical of his team after a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. After the Heat dropped another game to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, Butler struck a more conciliatory note.

Butler said after Friday’s game that he would “ride with these guys ’til wheels fall off,” pointing the finger at himself for not doing enough to help the team.

“We’ve got to be in this thing together, which we are,” Butler said, via Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We’ve had lapses where I could do more. I got to show that I could do more.”

It’s a different tone than the one Butler used a week earlier. At the time, he was sharply critical of the team’s play, and the comments even raised questions about chemistry issues. As honest as those original comments were, Butler’s handling of this latest loss is probably better for team morale, at least publicly.

The Heat sit seventh in the Eastern Conference after Friday’s loss, putting them in danger of landing in a play-in spot just one year after reaching the NBA Finals.