Former NBA commissioner David Stern suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage Thursday and had emergency surgery, the league said. The NBA said in a statement its thoughts and prayers were with the 77-year-old Stern’s family. Stern served exactly 30 years as the NBA’s longest-tenured commissioner before Adam Silver replaced him on Feb. 1, 2014. Stern has remained affiliated with the league with the title of commissioner emeritus and has remained active in his other interests, such as sports technology. People in and around the league offered prayers of support for Stern, with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson tweeting that he and wife Cookie were praying “for my good friend who helped save my life.’’ . . . Silver announced that Capitanes — a Mexico City-based team from the top Mexican pro league — will be joining the G League starting with the 2020-21 season as the league’s 29th team . . . Former Celtic Glen “Big Baby” Davis avoided jail time after pleading no contest to a charge that he attacked a man outside a Los Angeles-area nightclub last year, prosecutors said Thursday. Davis, 33, was accused of throwing the victim into a wall during an altercation in West Hollywood on April 8, 2018. Davis is required to complete 320 hours of community labor over the next year. He also paid $104,479 in restitution . . . Dion Waiters was suspended yet again without pay by the Miami Heat, his third banishment of the season. The team cited “his failure to adhere to team policies, violation of team rules and continued insubordination” as the reasons.
College football
LSU quarterback Burrow is AP player of year
Louisiana State quarterback Joe Burrow was named the Associated Press college football player of the year on Thursday in a landslide vote, making him the first LSU player to win the 21-year-old award. Burrow, who has led the top-ranked Tigers to an unbeaten season and their first College Football Playoff appearance, received 51 of 54 first-place votes from AP Top 25 poll voters and a total of 159 points. Ohio State defensive end Chase Young was second with three first-place votes and 69 points, and Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields was third with 43 points. Burrow, Young, Fields, and Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, who finished fourth with 33 points, are the finalists for the Heisman Trophy to be handed out Saturday in New York.
Baseball
MLB to test for opioids, cocaine
Major League Baseball will start testing for opioids and cocaine, but only players who do not cooperate with their treatment plans will be subject to discipline. Marijuana will be removed from the list of drugs of abuse and will be treated the same as alcohol as part of changes to the joint drug agreement between MLB and the players’ association. In addition, suspensions for marijuana use will be dropped from the minor league drug program. Talks to add testing for opioids began following the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in his hotel room in the Dallas area July 1 before the start of a series against the Texas Rangers. A medical examiner’s office said the 27-year-old died after choking on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his body . . . Outfielder Brett Gardner is staying with the New York Yankees after the best offensive season of his career, agreeing to a one-year contract that guarantees $12.5 million, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP . . . The Detroit Tigers and catcher Austin Romine agreed to a $4.15 million, one-year contract, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP. Romine backed up Gary Sanchez for the Yankees for four seasons . . . The Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a one-year contract for $5.1 million with righthander Corey Knebel, who is returning from Tommy John surgery. Knebel, 28, hurt his elbow during spring training and had surgery April 3.
Golf
Gainey arrested in undercover sting
Professional golfer Tommy “Two Gloves’’ Gainey, 44, was one of 124 people arrested in Florida in a prostitution and human-trafficking sting. Gainey was arrested Sunday and charged with first-degree misdemeanor solicitation, news outlets reported. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that Gainey was arrested in an undercover sting called “Operation Santa’s Naughty List,’’ which lasted six days. Gainey turned pro in 1997 and joined the PGA Tour in 2008. He’s known for wearing gloves on both hands, hence the nickname, and has one career PGA Tour win at the McGladrey Classic in October 2012.
Miscellany
Sabates retires from NASCAR ownership
Felix Sabates, who has been a NASCAR owner in some form since his team SABCO Racing began competing in the Cup Series in 1989, will retire from ownership in 2020, Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday. Sabates, 74, is leaving his role as a co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing, which he sold controlling interest of SABCO Racing to in 2001. Together they have earned 43 total wins in NASCAR’s top two series . . . The English Premier League gave interim chief executive Richard Masters the job permanently after a blundering effort to find a person to run the world’s richest club soccer competition. Two people quit before taking up one of the leading roles in world soccer . . . Christian Pulisic was voted the US Soccer Federation male player of the year, at 21 becoming the youngest to earn the honor for the second time. Pulisic had five goals and three assists for the US this year.