AP Sports Summary for January 4th, 2025:
LeBron James breaks Michael Jordan's record for 30-point games with his 563rd
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James broke Michael Jordan's NBA record for 30-point games during the Los Angeles Lakers' victory over Atlanta on Friday night. With an 18-foot jumper with 5:58 to play for the last of his 30 points, James reached at least 30 points in the regular season for the 563rd time in his career, breaking the record established by Jordan in 2003. Jordan set the record in 1,072 games over 15 seasons, while James broke the mark in his 1,523rd appearance over 22 seasons. James idolized Jordan during his childhood in Akron, Ohio, and when he passed Jordan for fourth place on the NBA's career scoring list back in March 2019, the moment moved him to tears on the Lakers' bench.
Here's Kelce! Retired Eagles great Jason Kelce's tries hand as late night television show host
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jason Kelce has tried his hand at late-night television, He hosted the debut episode of "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce," Friday on ESPN. Kelce bantered with the guests and crowd during commercial breaks and took questions from a select few of about 300 fans in the audience. The 37-year-old Kelce retired in March after a 13-year career spent entirely with Philadelphia. He has watched his profile balloon in retirement. He already co-hosted a podcast with his brother but has become a prolific pitchman hawking everything from chicken wings to soup to laundry detergent to cereal to hoagies to his own beer company.
Heat suspend Jimmy Butler for 7 games and will seek to trade him
MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games and say they will seek to trade him. The Heat say the suspension was for "conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks." The team made the move one day after Butler said in a postgame press conference that he does not believe he can be happy playing in Miami going forward. The Heat say Butler "has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team." Butler was Miami's best player for five years and the leader of a team that went to the NBA Finals twice.
Hillary Clinton, George Soros and Denzel Washington will receive the highest US civilian honor
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington are set to be awarded the nation's highest civilian honor. President Joe Biden will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Saturday afternoon to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science. The White House says the recipients have made "exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors." Other awardees include José Andrés, Bono, Magic Johnson, Michael J. Fox and Anna Wintour.
College football turns upside down, but this final four is a collection of the sport's big programs
In the first round of the College Football Playoff, the teams seeded 5-8 all won. In the second round, they all won again. The moral of this story: Who knows, other than something doesn't totally add up when not a single one of the top four teams, all of which received byes, advances into college football's final four. The semifinals are set: Next Thursday in the Orange Bowl, it will be No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 7 Notre Dame. Then, Friday in the Cotton Bowl, it will be No. 5 Texas vs. No. 8 Ohio State.
Dolphins' Tagovailoa 'unlikely' to play Sunday against Jets, Huntley in line for 2nd straight start
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is expected to miss his second straight game when the Dolphins travel to face the New York Jets on Sunday, coach Mike McDaniel said. Backup quarterback Tyler "Snoop" Huntley is again in line to start after leading Miami to a win in Tagovailoa's place last week. Tagovailoa is still dealing with a right hip injury that he sustained at Houston on Dec. 15 and aggravated on a hit against San Francisco the next week. The Dolphins are still in the hunt for the last AFC wild-card spot. Miami needs to win Sunday and have Denver lose to Kansas City.
Jets interview former Titans coach Mike Vrabel for their head coaching job
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — The New York Jets interviewed former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel for their head coaching vacancy. Vrabel is the second known coaching candidate to meet with the Jets, who spoke to former Washington and Carolina coach Ron Rivera on Thursday. The 49-year-old Vrabel served in a consultant role with Cleveland this season, but his contract expired earlier this week. The one-time All-Pro linebacker helped New England win three Super Bowl titles and was 56-48 in six seasons as coach of the Titans, including 2-3 in the postseason. He was fired by Tennessee after a 6-11 finish last season.
PGA Tour contemplating changes to Tour Championship, AP sources say
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told his staff that everything is on the table. That includes the format for the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship. Two officials at the PGA Tour say they are contemplating another change to the format to decide the $25 million winner of the FedEx Cup. Among the ideas are creating seeds and a bracket nearer the conclusion. That could involve medal matches so all 18 holes are played. One official directly involved says there are a number of formats being considered. Any change would require approval by the PGA Tour board. The Tour Championship currently begins with the FedEx Cup leader at 10 under par.
Hideki Matsuyama sets the target at Kapalua and leads Collin Morikawa by 1
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Hideki Matsuyama is leading The Sentry at the halfway point of the start to the new PGA Tour season. He had a bogey-free 65 for a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa with eight other players within three shots of the lead. Morikawa did his work late. He's been around Kapalua enough to know there's no need to panic. Morikawa was seven shots behind at one point. He ran off five straight birdies late in his round and shot 65. The scoring average was 68.1 on a perfect day for scoring. And more low scores are expected on the weekend with moderate wind.
Minnesota beats Virginia Tech 24-10 in Duke's Mayo Bowl for 8th straight bowl victory
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Max Brosmer threw for 211 yards and a touchdown, Darius Taylor ran for 113 yards a TD and also threw for a score and Minnesota extended its bowl winning streak to eight with a 24-10 victory over Virginia Tech on Friday night in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Elijah Spencer had six catches for 81 yards and two TDs for the Golden Gophers (8-5). They improved to 6-0 in bowl games under coach P.J. Fleck, who got the bowl's traditional mayo bath after the game. Backup quarterback Collins Schlee ran for a touchdown and Ayden Greene had six catches for 115 yards for the Hokies (6-7). They've lost five of their last six bowl games. The Golden Gophers outgained the Hokies 403-223.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Detroit 98 Charlotte 94
Final Orlando 106 Toronto 97
Final Boston 109 Houston 86
Final Oklahoma City 117 New York 107
Final New Orleans 132 Washington 120
Final Cleveland 134 Dallas 122
Final San Antonio 113 Denver 110
Final Sacramento 138 Memphis 133
Final L.A. Lakers 119 Atlanta 102
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final SO Florida 3 Pittsburgh 2
Final St. Louis 4 Ottawa 0
Final Chicago 4 Montreal 2
Final Edmonton 3 Anaheim 2
Final Nashville 3 Vancouver 0
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (8)Marquette 79 Creighton 71
Final (18)Michigan St. 69 Ohio St. 62
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Philadelphia at Brooklyn 6 p.m.
Minnesota at Detroit 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Indiana 7 p.m.
Denver at San Antonio 8 p.m.
New York at Chicago 8 p.m.
Portland at Milwaukee 8 p.m.
Utah at Miami 8 p.m.
Memphis at Golden State 8:30 p.m.
Atlanta at L.A. Clippers 10:30 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
N-Y Rangers at Washington 12 p.m.
New Jersey at San Jose 4 p.m.
Boston at Toronto 7 p.m.
Detroit at Winnipeg 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Carolina 7 p.m.
Montreal at Colorado 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Columbus 7 p.m.
Utah at Dallas 8 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Los Angeles 9 p.m.
Buffalo at Vegas 10 p.m.
Edmonton at Seattle 10 p.m.
Nashville at Calgary 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Cleveland at Baltimore 4:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh 8 p.m.
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(23)Arkansas at (1)Tennessee 1 p.m.
Missouri at (2)Auburn 4 p.m.
(25)Baylor at (3)Iowa St. 2 p.m.
(4)Duke at SMU 2:15 p.m.
(12)Oklahoma at (5)Alabama 6 p.m.
(6)Florida at (10)Kentucky 11 a.m.
Texas at (13)Texas A&M 8 p.m.
BYU at (14)Houston 2 p.m.
(15)UCLA at Nebraska 2 p.m.
Arizona at (16)Cincinnati 2:30 p.m.
South Carolina at (17)Mississippi St. 2 p.m.
(19)Gonzaga at Loyola Marymount 9 p.m.
Georgia at (24)Mississippi 12 p.m.
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