BASKETBALL

Aliyah Boston had an incredible first season and was honored by the league as the WNBA Rookie of the Year on Monday.

The No. 1 pick in the draft started every game for Indiana averaging 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks. She shot 57.8% from the field and became the first rookie to lead the league in that stat.

The South Carolina graduate was a unanimous choice by the 60-person national media panel, becoming the fifth rookie to be chosen on every ballot and first since A’ja Wilson did it in 2018.

BRONNY JAMES: LeBron James says his son, Bronny, is progressing in his rehabilitation from cardiac arrest in hopes of playing for the University of Southern California this season.

James gave the update on his 18-year-old son Monday when the Los Angeles Lakers held their annual media day ahead of training camp.

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“Bronny is doing extremely well,” James said.

Bronny James went into cardiac arrest during a workout at the Galen Center in late July. LeBron James praised USC’s training staff and coaches for saving Bronny’s life with their quick responses after Bronny was stricken.

NBA: Two-time All-Star point guard Ja Morant will be able to travel with the Memphis Grizzlies, practice with his teammates and even take part in shootarounds throughout his 25-game suspension to start the NBA season, the team confirmed Monday.

Then the Grizzlies believe Morant will have to leave arenas a few hours before tipoff under the terms that the NBA is allowing him to work under throughout his suspension.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Morant’s second suspension in June, making clear the guard must stop his “alarming” habit of flashing guns on social media.

• The Houston Rockets have told Kevin Porter Jr. that he cannot be with the team in any capacity in the wake of his domestic violence arrest last month.

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Porter was arrested after an alleged attack on his former WNBA player girlfriend Kysre Gondrezick in a New York City hotel room Sept. 11. Prosecutors said that the attack left her with a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her right eye.

The 23-year-old Porter has pleaded not guilty to felony assault and strangulation and is due back in court in Manhattan on Oct. 16.

BASEBALL

MLB: The Angels announced Monday that they have declined their option on Manager Phil Nevin’s contract for 2024. Los Angeles will have its fourth manager in six years since the departure of Mike Scioscia, who held the job for 19 years.

Nevin went 119-149 in his first major league managerial job while both of his teams missed the playoffs. He was promoted to the Angels’ top job in June 2022 when Joe Maddon was fired in the middle of a 14-game losing streak.

SETTLEMENT REACHED: Former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer and a woman who accused him of beating and sexually assaulting her in 2021 have settled their legal dispute, Bauer’s attorneys said Monday.

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The former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher was placed on administrative leave by MLB in July 2021 after the allegations were made by the woman, who said Bauer assaulted her on two different occasions at his home in Pasadena during what she said began as consensual sexual encounters between them. The 32-year-old Bauer denied the allegation, saying the encounters were consensual.

Prosecutors decided not to file charges in February 2022. Bauer was suspended an unprecedented 324 games by Major League Baseball, a ban reduced to 194 games by an independent arbitrator in December 2022. After Bauer’s suspension ended, the Dodgers cut him and no team picked him up. He now plays in Japan.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Stewart-Haas Racing said Monday it will not appeal Kevin Harvick’s disqualification at Talladega despite claims from the crew chief that cheating did not cause their loose windshield.

Harvick became the first driver disqualified at Talladega Superspeedway since 1972. Harvick lost to Ryan Blaney at Talladega on Sunday in a drag race to the finish line. The margin of victory was 0.012 seconds and Harvick was credited with a second-place finish in the final superspeedway race ahead of his retirement at the end of the season.

Some two hours after the race, NASCAR disqualified Harvick, saying the windshield fasteners on the No. 4 Ford were not secure in post-race inspection. The disqualification dropped Harvick from second to 38th — his first last-place finish of the season — and stripped him of all stage points earned Sunday.

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FORMULA ONE: Michael Andretti cleared a major hurdle in his bid to launch an American team in Formula One when the FIA said Monday that he meets all required criteria to expand the world’s top motorsports series to 11 teams.

The FIA decision does not guarantee Andretti will get the two-car team he wants. Andretti Global and partner Cadillac must still prove their commercial value to F1 rights holder Liberty Media and the existing teams, which vehemently oppose expanding the 20-car grid. The teams, however, have no vote on expanding the grid.

Approval from the FIA was a first, important step in Andretti’s three-year quest to return his family’s storied name to the pinnacle of auto racing. Mario Andretti, his father, won the 1978 F1 championship and Michael ran 13 races in 1993.

TENNIS

CHINA OPEN: Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz eased to his 12th semifinal appearance of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Casper Ruud at the China Open on Monday.

The top-seeded Spaniard will meet sixth-seeded Jannik Sinner in Tuesday’s semifinals after the Italian downed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Third-ranked Daniil Medvedev overcame a second-set stumble to beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. His semifinal opponent will be eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev, who needed three sets to prevail over Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

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