​The ol’ “fill a rook’s car with popcorn” gag is a go-to for many NBA veterans, but Nik Stauskas thought he had this one beat. The Kings rookie doesn’t have a car (or even a license) so there was no way he’d get popcorned. Boy, was he wrong or what? MORE: Lakers still failing | Westbrook ain’t no Spurs fan | Nike Dunk sneakers Stauskas’ teammates Rudy Gay, DeMarcus Cousins and Reggie Evans stepped their prank game up and covered the rookies whole apartment with the buttery, salty goodness....

Hutchinson, who served as an aide to Trump’s ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified last Tuesday before the House select committee that is investigating the events that unfolded during last year’s Capitol riot, and made several new bombshell revelations against the former president, including that he got into an alleged physical altercation with his security detail and that he wanted armed individuals to be let into his speech the morning of January 6....

On Tuesday, Parler reported its number of users had practically doubled since the election, from 4.5 million to 8 million, with its number of active users up to more than 4 million from 500,000 two weeks ago. While that’s a tremendously successful level of growth, Parler still has a lot of catching up to do to reach the daily user numbers boasted by Twitter (187 million) and Facebook (1.8 billion)....

“I remember going to a Blazers game in ‘98 when Jordan was there,” Thompson told Nichols. “It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. It was like Michael Jackson and Justin Bieber was in the building, all in one though.” MORE: GSW can dominate without Curry scoring | Comparing GSW home win streak to other streaks Stephen Curry also recalled watching the Bulls in their prime. “Every time they came on TV, you knew it was going to be a special game,” he told Nichols....

Golden State, which has made the last five Finals and won three titles during that time frame, lost Kevin Durant to the Nets in free agency this summer and traded away Andre Iguodala while Thompson tore his ACL in Game 6 against the Raptors and is expected to miss a significant portion of next season. Some have speculated the Warriors’ dynasty is over, but Thompson does not believe that’s the case....

The Reds boss also highlighted that a goalkeeper who wants to be an extension of the club’s full-throttle football will find himself in riskier situations than most. The 23-year-old, recruited from Mainz for 4.7 million pounds ($5.8M) this summer, arrived on Merseyside with the billing of being one of the Bundesliga’s premier stoppers. He was just shy of recording a century of appearances in Germany’s top flight before making the switch, and has secured four consecutive starts for Liverpool following an injury layoff....

Is there a better centre back than David Luiz? The Anfield side had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Antonio Conte’s men in midweek, despite dominating play for large parts of the game, as Chelsea used every trick in the book to get a point. Klopp has now admitted he would like to see his side use the same strategies if need be, but he realises his relatively inexperienced players will not toughen up overnight....

The Reds’ move to make Netherlands international Van Dijk the most expensive defender of all time was confirmed on Wednesday, drawing a line under one of the transfer sagas that dominated the close season at Anfield. The other was Barcelona’s ultimately fruitless pursuit of Brazil playmaker Coutinho, who has resumed his pivotal role at Liverpool and been in sublime form while notching seven goals in December As such, reports of Barca’s interest have persisted but Klopp is adamant his move to secure Van Dijk will not affect the future of a player for whom the La Liga leaders reportedly had a £115m bid turned down in August....

Salah opened the scoring in last week’s rousing 3-0 success at Anfield, before departing the action early in the second period with a groin injury. That problem kept him out of Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Everton, but Klopp was optimistic when quizzed on the fitness of a man who has scored 38 goals across all competitions this season. “We’re not sure 100 per cent, he was with the athletic coach yesterday,” Klopp told a media conference ahead of Tuesday’s return leg at the Etihad Stadium....

This article looks at total knee replacement in younger patients, when it is indicated, and what the results might be. It also discusses some of the risks of total knee replacement. How Young Is Too Young? No one can say for sure if patients of a certain age are too young for total knee replacement, or what age marks the turning point. What we do know is that the benefits in some younger patients may outweigh the risks of surgery....

Despite offseason speculation that he wanted to be traded, the Knicks star claims he’s satisfied with where he is. MORE: All-time New York Knicks “Hell no,” Anthony told the New York Daily News when asked whether he’d consider a trade. “For me to get to that point and then decide that this is not what it’s going to be, I already came this far. That don’t even come across my mind at this point....

Iman Shumpert, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee in April of 2012, also had a procedure this summer, according to the New York Daily News. Shumpert had arthroscopic surgery performed on his left knee in July, the same knee he originally injured, the Daily News reports. The Knicks didn't share this information with the media. Shumpert came back from his injury in January of 2013, but experienced knee pain after his return....

Smith struck Rice Jr. in a Tuesday game as he attempted to defend near halfcourt. On the play, Rice Jr. jumped out hard to steal the ball and hit Smith in the face. Smith appeared agitated and reacted immediately by hitting Rice Jr. MORE: LeBron James held scoreless | Obama responds to MJ | NBA stars then and now

While Simmons has impressed in his rookie campaign with his playmaking, athleticism, scoring, passing and defence, his lack of mid-range shooting and even more so three-point shooting has been the one area brought into question. In an appearance on the Chris and Caron show on Fox Sports Radio , the Lakers legend suggested that Simmons must rebuild the mechanics of his jump shot entirely, in order to become a threat from outside the paint....

“I think it’s going to be difficult for him,” TNT analyst Charles Barkley said Thursday in an interview with Sporting News and another reporter. “Kobe doesn’t have a college degree, and you can only go to so many business meetings.” MORE: Kobe’s retirement tour and final season, in photos We can cross coaching off the list of possibilities. Earlier this season, Bryant said he didn’t want to deal with a bunch of divas....

Bryant, who has played just six games this season due to injuries, asked fans to vote for young players like Damian Lillard for the all-star game. He didn’t get his wish as Bryant was voted a starter for the Western conference team. But Bryant still doesn’t want to play. MORE: West All-Star roster | East All-Star roster | Dwight Howard snubbed | Payton to Bennett: ‘You look fat’ “With all due respect to the fans that voted me in, I certainly appreciate that, they know how much I appreciate that, but you got to do the right thing as well,” Bryant told ESPNLosAngeles....

On Wednesday, Koch President and COO Dave Robertson said the company decided to continue operating its subsidiary Guardian Industries’ two glass manufacturing facilities in Russia with its 600 Russian employees in mind. “While Guardian’s business in Russia is a very small part of Koch, we will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them (which is what The Wall Street Journal has reported they would do),” Robertson said in a Wednesday statement....

Premier League champions-elect City can claim the title by beating neighbours Manchester United in Saturday’s derby at the Etihad Stadium. The derby will offer City the chance to bounce back from their shock 3-0 loss to Liverpool in the opening leg of their blockbuster Champions League quarter-final tie. It will be do-or-die for City in the Champions League against Liverpool at the Etihad next week and Kompany is willing to put the club’s domestic title celebrations on hold, given their 16-point lead atop the table....

Bloomberg reported Monday—based on conversations with people familiar with the effort—that scores of elite Russians have been given early access to the vaccine, which is being developed by the state-run Gamaleya Institute in Moscow. According to the report, some were getting shots to protect them against the pandemic as early as April. Bloomberg did not name any Russian politicians who are believed to have been inoculated. Peskov said Monday that the president had not been given the vaccine, noting it was still under development....

Nearly three weeks ago, Anonymous declared the technology attack against the Russian Federation to oppose the war on Ukraine. Though it hasn’t been confirmed Anonymous is the source of the chaos, the Kremlin’s website and other Russian internet sources were offline Wednesday. Anonymous took to Twitter Wednesday, posting alleged screenshots of the Kremlin’s server status, “Kremlin.ru is down for everyone,” early Wednesday. Newsweek has confirmed that the Russian government website is now back online....