LOS ANGELES -- The first thing Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart noticed with De'Aaron Fox was the Sacramento Kings point guard's Mach speed.

"He makes fast people look not fast," Smart said, practically shaking his head.

Fox has some news for his impressed teammates.

"I think I probably have gotten faster," said the point guard who's entering his third NBA season.

This might be music to Gregg Popovich's ears as USA Basketball prepares for next month's FIBA World Cup. With Kyle Lowry recently withdrawing from Team USA due to his surgically repaired thumb, Fox has a prime opportunity in front of him. Initially, Fox was on the select team but has since been promoted to the senior squad with a need at point guard.

Fox is doing his best to impress thus far. After seeing Fox's speed up close, Walker said he thinks Fox is the fastest player in the NBA with a basketball in his hands.

"Oh, my goodness," Walker said. "He is super fast. His quickness is crazy. His end-to-end speed is ridiculous. ... That's scary if he's gotten faster. The thing about him is he's fast but really under control."

During USA Basketball's 97-78 exhibition win over the select team last Friday, Fox scored 12 points and had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks in 15 minutes. He also made 6-of-9 shots, but Fox said Popovich got on him for passing up shots.

Walker said it's only a matter of time before Fox is an All-Star. But the Boston Celtics point guard believes Fox can take his game up another level if he adds a consistent perimeter shot. Last season, Fox improved his field goal shooting percentage to 45.8% and 37.1% from behind the 3-point arc after shooting 41.2% overall and 30.7% from 3-point range.

"What impressed me the most is probably his shooting," Walker said. "He has really been knocking it down. That is what is going to take him to that next level. Like for myself entering the league, the next step for me was my jump shot. That is what helped me get to the next level."

"Whenever he consistently gets that, it will be over," Walker said. "It will be over. No question."

On Wednesday, Fox, Kyle Kuzma, Joe Harris, Myles Turner and Jaylen Brown were walking through plays on another court when Team USA lost a scrimmage, 36-17, to a select team led by Jeff Van Gundy that was made up largely of some young pros, including Justin Anderson and G League players.

This men's national team has lost practice scrimmages before and still looked good in last week's exhibition. Still, there's plenty to work on before the World Cup, including developing chemistry. With several of America's star players withdrawing to prepare for the upcoming NBA season with the timing of September's World Cup, Popovich has a young roster with a group of players who don't have much international experience.

Like many of the players trying out for the final roster, Fox hopes that this USA Basketball experience will lead toward a breakout NBA season with the up-and-coming Kings.

Fox says he already has picked up leadership tips from Lowry and Smart and has tried to hold new teammates accountable even if he isn't comfortable playing with them yet.

"I think it is a big opportunity just being able to be here," Fox said. "I think I have gotten better as a player, as a leader, understanding of the game entirely. And if I am able to be on this team and travel with this team, it's a big success."

"Jerry [Colangelo] even talked about the 2010 team, all those guys being around 21, 22, 23 years old," Fox said of what USA Basketball's managing director told him. "He kind of sees the same thing and using it as a springboard into the season."

What should we expect from Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors this season?

This will be the first time in a while that the Warriors start the year not being strong championship favorites. Kevin Durant is now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, Klay Thompson is recovering from an ACL injury and D'Angelo Russell is joining the Golden State backcourt.

Fresh off of inking a $100 million contract extension to remain with the Warriors, Green sat down with ESPN's Rachel Nichols in Las Vegas to discuss what the new deal means to him, how he found out Durant was leaving and what's next for this franchise. Here's part of that interview.

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity.

Rachel Nichols: Alright, you have been living your best life these past couple of weeks. Music festival in Toronto with Drake, Boogie Cousins' bachelor party in the Bahamas, you and I are sitting here right now in Las Vegas. It's been an OK summer, and then that whole contract thing, too. I guess you've had a lot to celebrate.

Draymond Green: Absolutely. You know, it's been an amazing couple of weeks for me.

The funny thing about going to Toronto is -- I was just going to meet the guys out there. You know, I had never been to the OVO Fest, and so I'm, like, I'll just go. And I landed that morning, I was checking into the hotel, and Rich [Paul] come on -- [claps] beeline right out the hotel. Like, "Come here." And [snaps] -- it just happened like that. Like, I had no idea what was about to happen that morning.

Nichols: That the contract was that close?

Green: I knew that they were working on it. I had no idea I was about to land to, like -- oh, let's agree to this deal.

Nichols: For those who don't have access to a newspaper, you and the Warriors agreed to a $100 million extension. Was there a point where you maybe got up to the hotel room, where you had a second alone, that you just said, damn, $100 million?

Green: There's been several points where I've sat back and said, 'Wow, hey, I signed for $100 million.' Like, that's not your normal thing for a kid from Saginaw, Michigan. Like, I'm still at a loss for words about it.

Nichols: I think so much money and figures are thrown around with professional athletes, sometimes people get numb to it. But as you said, you were a kid sitting in Saginaw, Michigan. You were never the most highly recruited guy going into college. Out of college, 35th pick in the draft. And then even once you were successful, there were a lot of people who did not like the way you went about your business. You had arguments with your coaches, teammates, suspension in the NBA Finals.

What does this contract say, validating the way you have gone about your life and your career?

Green: I think it tells the story that no one has ever been willing to tell. You know, I think everyone wants to tell the story of, oh, like, Draymond's this hothead. He argued with Steve Kerr, argued with his teammates. He did this, he got suspended from the Finals, he got suspended for arguing with Kevin Durant. Everyone wants to tell that story, because that's the story that gets the most clicks and that's the cool thing to do.

But no one wants to tell the real story, that Draymond is a very intelligent guy, that Draymond is someone who actually cares about his coaching staff and about the organization and about his teammates. And above all, about winning. You know, no one ever wants to tell that story, because it gets old. And everyone then wants to see the Golden State Warriors lose.

What this contract tells you that all the garbage that you tried to say about me arguing with Kevin or about the thing with Steve Kerr about the suspension -- it just tells you that there was a method to that madness. And while so many people tried to write it differently, as I said before, they were wrong. There's proof in the pudding now that you were wrong. And I enjoy that just a tad.

Nichols: Oh, just a little bit?

Green: A lot. [Laughs].

Nichols: There were people who have been saying over the past couple of weeks, 'Why would he sign this extension now?' You could've chased a few more million dollars here or there, next summer is not gonna be like this past summer. You would have been the most high-profile free agent available on the market. So why lock yourself up now on your side of things?

Green: You know, people always talk about testing the market. But if you're testing something, there's a possibility that you come up short. You know, we've seen that story, we've seen that movie a million times. Where guys think, like, 'Oh, I wanna test the market and see what I can get.' Wasn't quite what you could've gotten had you not tested the market.

With Rich and Mark Termini (of Klutch Sports) and myself, one thing we talked about from the very beginning was understanding the business. Understanding that there's five teams who can possibly next year offer me $30 million. Now, how about you do your diligence, understand the business that you're in and figure out which one of those five teams are gonna give me all of that $30 million that they have available.

The flipside of it is I got two guys that I've been rolling with since the time I stepped into this league in Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson). And I went from 46 wins or 48 wins to 50 wins to 60 wins to 73 wins and three championships with those two guys.

With those two guys, I've done every single day of my NBA career. And we have the opportunity to have a lot more days together to continue to build a legacy. You know, we started this whole Golden State thing when it wasn't so sexy. Why would I get to this point where we done built this entire organization up and bail on it? Like, you know, you don't bail on your baby. You know, the Golden State Warriors, that's our baby. Like, you don't just bail on your baby.

Nichols: The Golden State Warriors are gonna look very different from here on out. The biggest departure is, of course, Kevin Durant. Have you talked to Kevin the summer?

Green: Absolutely. I actually talked to K yesterday. You know, Kevin is my brother. He came to Golden State for three seasons. We won two championships ... if someone would've told me, man, Kevin Durant's gonna come to the Warriors and you guys are gonna win two championships and then have a shot at winning a third, would you take that? In a heartbeat. And so that was a major success. That's my brother, and I'm happy for him.

Because, you know, not many times in life do you get to do what you wanna do. He's worked his ass off and had the opportunity to do what he wanted to do. And he did exactly that. And someone who puts the amount of effort that that guy puts into the game of basketball, he deserves to do exactly that.

Nichols: How did he tell you that he was picking Brooklyn?

Green: I found out that he was picking Brooklyn when everybody else found out. Which is exactly how it should be. You know, so many times you hear somebody say, "Oh, man, that guy didn't tell me this."

He don't owe it to me to tell me before he tells everybody else. Like, we did what we had to do. The thing that people forget about in this league is, like, this is our lives. I'm not about to go to Kevin Durant and say, "Hey, Kevin, can I get my fiancé pregnant?"

Nichols: Right. [Laughs]

Green: Right. But that's my life.

Nichols: Thank you for that visual, by the way.

Green: I'm sorry, but like ... maybe we'll go somewhere else with that ...

Nichols: What kind of Draymond Green are we gonna see this season? Because last season there were points where you got injured, that tumbled into you being out of shape. You had five-year lows in a lot of major categories, shooting problems. Then in the playoffs, we saw a totally different Draymond Green, diet, you were a monster on the court on both ends.

Are you gonna be able to keep that up through all of next season?

Green: So, last year taught me a lot. You know, diet, taking care of my body. All the things that -- I'm 29 now -- that I need to know. And I was able to get that through the course of last year and still be able to rise up throughout the playoffs and do what I've normally done. I look forward to doing that for the entire season again and again and again. You know, it's a lot easier to go into a season knowing you're going back to the Finals. And, you know, burn some unforeseen things knowing you're going to another championship. It's a different thing.

I'm excited to go into this season and not know we're gonna win the championship. But know that no matter what, we're gonna compete like we can and possibly do it. I'm excited for that challenge. I'm excited for the challenge of Steph being the oldest guy on the team and only me and Klay right after that in this severe age gap. And so a part of that is coming into the season in tip top shape and ready to go. I've been in the gym doing different workouts. It's been really good. And I've been excited to do that.

Like, this is a different challenge. This is: Grab these young guys and teach them how to win, teach them what it means to be great. Teach them how to work -- the things that you need to understand to win at the highest level. I'm looking forward to that challenge. And so, what Draymond Green will you see? A different one. Because the circumstances are different. But the method behind the madness always remains the same.

Nichols: Alright, last question. So we're sitting here in Las Vegas. The oddsmakers have not given you guys good odds to win the title, compared to some of the other teams.

What do you make of odds as you go forward here?

Green: I like it. You know, being the underdog, it's been a while since we've been the underdog. But it brings that underdog chip back, and I miss that chip. I'm pretty sure Steph missed that chip. And some of the stuff Klay been texting me this summer, I'm positive he misses the chip.

D'Angelo (Russell) coming in with something to prove. Willie Cauley-Stein coming in with something to prove. We got a bunch of young guys coming in, trying to show their worth in the league. We got (Kevon Looney) coming back, who -- shout out to Loon for signing him a nice contract but who, you know, a lotta people feel should've gotten more. He comes back with something to prove.

For the first time in numerous amount of years, I mean -- Steve Kerr's a great coach. But he will actually get to coach. You know, when you have a team like we had, I mean, let's just be quite frank about it, Steve didn't coach that team every single night. You know, there's times where every single night, yes, he gets to coach the team, but to be able to actually coach every single day, every single night -- you know, that's another, not necessarily challenge, but something to bring life to the coaching staff.

So to the oddsmakers, thanks. You got me where I am today. I look forward to where they take me again.

DENVER -- Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray left in the third inning of Wednesday's 7-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies because of spasms in his lower back.

Ray took the mound in the bottom of the third and made one warm-up pitch before he was visited by manager Torey Lovullo. After a brief meeting, Ray walked toward the dugout with the team trainer.

Ray said he could have pushed through, but he didn't "want it to turn into something that is a bigger issue."

Ray struck out two, walked two and allowed one run over two innings. He was replaced by right-hander Matt Andriese.

Ray is 10-7 with a 3.99 ERA this season.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

PITTSBURGH -- Fresh off his first full season in the majors, Jameson Taillon seemed to be on the brink of big things for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Instead, a forearm injury sidetracked him in May and again in July. Now his future is even more uncertain.

Taillon will miss the 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow for a second time.

The team said Wednesday that Taillon had the operation a day earlier in New York. The club initially hoped Taillon would need surgery on only his right flexor tendon, but during the operation, Dr. David Altchek determined that Taillon also needed surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him personally yet. I reached out to him yesterday. I received the news yesterday, so, yeah, it wasn't the result or the finding that we were looking for or hoping for," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before Wednesday's game at the Los Angeles Angels.

"However, now we'll deal with the reality of what it is and do everything we can to support him again, encourage him. And I'm sure there will be a point and a time and place where he will figure out what his next steps are," he said.

Taillon, 27, had Tommy John surgery in April 2014 while still in the minors. He missed the 2015 season with a sports hernia before returning in 2016 and making his major league debut later that year.

Taillon went 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in seven starts for Pittsburgh this season. He felt pain in his right forearm following his last start against Texas on May 1, and the team shut him down for nearly two months.

Taillon returned to throwing in late June before having pain again in late July.

"Although Jameson is disappointed in this outcome, he is most disappointed that he won't be able to compete with his teammates next year, compete for his fans, compete for the city of Pittsburgh," Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said. "Fortunately, Jameson has been through some setbacks before throughout his career, and he is bound and determined to make this another comeback."

As far as research on players who twice have had Tommy Jon surgery, "there is not a lot, but there is enough," Tomczyk said.

"I think with Jameson, it's a work in progress. I think the early initial phases of the rehab are just beginning. And how this all plays out for him, I know that he's confident that he will pitch again in the major leagues."

CHICAGO -- It seems that any alarm bells ringing after Houston Astros starter Gerrit Cole was a last-minute scratch from Game 2 of a doubleheader on Tuesday in Chicago can be silenced -- that is, if encouraging tests results after an examination of his hamstring prove to be accurate.

"We got some good news back today that it's not super serious," Cole said. "So we'll just take it day-by-day right now and kind of see how it responds to some treatment and some rest. Then get back out there as soon as we can."

Cole, the American League leader in strikeouts, noticed the discomfort while warming up before his scheduled start in the visiting bullpen at Guaranteed Rate Field.

"Finishing my delivery on the first handful of pitches during the first bullpen yesterday, just had some discomfort kind of getting to the ball," Cole said. "I just wasn't 100 percent ready to go at that point. I wasn't just able to ramp it up. I warmed up well on flat ground. It was just kind of bizarre. It just kept grabbing."

Cole, 28, has been one of the AL's top hurlers the past couple of seasons, his first with Houston. This season, he is 14-5 with a 2.87 ERA and a league-leading 226 strikeouts. With Houston in a busy part of its schedule and trying to work around Monday's rainout in Chicago, Cole's injury was ill-timed.

"It's frustrating to be in a stretch when we don't have any off days," Cole said. "It's frustrating to be in the back end of a doubleheader. The bullpen's had to pick us up. I don't know. If you could pick the least ideal time for that to happen, this would probably be it."

Before the game, Astros manager A.J. Hinch declined to name a starting pitcher for Houston's contest on Saturday in Oakland but said Cole would not pitch that day. Still, Cole will accompany the team to the Bay Area, and he said it is possible that he could start near the end of the four-game series.

"I don't think it's been ruled out, but I really haven't had that conversation yet with the manager," Cole said. "Kind of informed him of what the doctors have told us -- that the severity is not bad. We'll just kind of take it one day at a time."

All in all, the mild nature of Cole's injury appears to be good news for one of baseball's hottest teams and prime World Series threats. Cole said his doctors wouldn't go so far as to call the injury a strain. All signs point toward a brief absence.

"When I spoke to the doctor, he didn't use that word," Cole said. "He was just encouraged by what he saw. The recovery, barring any setbacks, along with the way I'm feeling, should be pretty quick."

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies right-hander Jake Arrieta likely will have season-ending surgery soon because of a bone spur in his pitching elbow.

Arrieta, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, has been pitching through pain for several starts, but his inability to go more than five innings led him to shut it down. He was scheduled for an MRI on Thursday, and he will determine his course of action afterward.

"I wanted to try and make it work for as long as possible," Arrieta said. "I realized that I'm not able to give the team what it needs. The pain is something I can deal with, but it's the loss of feel and the ineffectiveness as the outings wear on. I think that the time is right to make it happen now and get a guy in the rotation that has pitched really well for us and give him an opportunity to get back to the form where he was at earlier in the season for us. I think we'll be in good hands."

Zach Eflin will rejoin the starting rotation and take Arrieta's spot on Saturday. First baseman Logan Morrison was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Arrieta's roster spot.

Arrieta won the 2015 NL Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs. He has been mediocre since he joined the Phils on a three-year, $75 million contract in March 2018. The deal includes team options for $22.5 million in 2021 and 2022. Arrieta also can opt out after this season, but it's unlikely he'll give up the $20 million he is due next year.

He is 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA this season, after going 10-11 with a 3.96 ERA in 2018.

"Every fifth day, despite being uncomfortable and not being able to execute his pitches the way he wanted to execute his pitches, he gave us everything he had, and it was genuinely a heroic effort in a lot of ways," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.

Over his past 13 starts, Arrieta has a 5.76 ERA with 84 hits and 25 walks allowed in 65⅔ innings.

"I would have liked it to go differently," Arrieta said. "I would have liked to pitch the remainder of the season healthy, but it's something that I really couldn't control. The spur stayed pretty dormant for seven to eight years, and it decided to give me trouble and get to a size now where this is the only option to me getting back to the pitcher that I am. And that's OK. This is what I have to do."

Arrieta, who has been pitching through pain this summer with sporadic effectiveness, told reporters that if he has the arthroscopic procedure, he'll "probably" not pitch again this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Peta Bee talks to masters athletes about how Manchester Metropolitan University research has helped change their training habits

Balance – and the importance of training to improve it – has never been better understood by scientists. In AW magazine, we have reported on the groundbreaking research being conducted by exercise scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) where Jamie McPhee, professor of musculoskeletal physiology, and his team, have been carrying out studies funded by the European Union and the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and involving members of the British Masters Athletics Federation.

Their findings have shown that while young adults – even those who are not very athletic – can easily stand on one leg, eyes closed, for 30 seconds, age diminishes this ability. By the time the average person is 70 years old they manage only four to five seconds doing the same test.

In the trials, even super-fit masters athletes fared no better than the average couch potato. McPhee reported that, among well-trained masters athletes, those in their 70s could hold the position only for around seven seconds – no better than the average for a sedentary person.

We now know our balance deteriorates as we age and that, unless we do something about it, it is a slippery slope that can result in a dramatic downturn in performances. But what can be learned from such studies and how do we apply them to our own training?

Here we ask six AW readers how the scientific findings have influenced their own conditioning work.

Pamela Woodcock, Morpeth Harriers, F65

Although I was aware of the importance of balance, I hadn’t fully realised the impact of lack of balance on performance so I’ve made several changes to my training since reading about the research. I’ve started doing Pilates two or sometimes three times a week and I also incorporate balance exercises into my day. When brushing my teeth I now stand on one leg – I’ve found it helps to focus on a fixed point to keep my balance – if I’m standing in a queue I lift one foot slightly off the floor. If someone’s watching, they usually just smile and seem a bit bemused.

Tony Bowman, Leeds City AC, M80

I was already aware of the importance of balance, especially for my event, the hurdles (pictured, top), and because it is important in my other sport, tennis. However, since reading the article I now include one-foot, eyes-closed, balancing twice a week in my training. I intend continuing with this as I get older.

Penny Forse, Stubbington Green, F70

I didn’t realise the effect that a lack of balance can have on your on performance. Having tripped when running off road on several occasions over the last few years, I thought it was purely that I didn’t “pick my feet up” as much as I had done in my younger years. My balance is much worse standing on my left foot, following several twisted ankles over the years. I would religiously do the rehab exercises but would not continue once I could run well again – hence my poor proprioception. Balance on either foot is bad, but seems much better later in the day than first thing in the morning. Before reading about the MMU research I was doing balance exercises in Pilates just once a week, but I have increased that and am now also doing them at home. It’s something I plan to continue as part of my routine, particularly now I know balance can be improved, even at a 70.

Chris Mason, South Derbyshire, M65

I had a spell where I was regularly falling over during running so tried to minimise causes. As a result I became aware of the importance of balance during injury rehab and also because I have a family member who is a physio. These days I incorporate a balance element into my daily routine and run warm-up. I’m also a coach and, where practical, introduce an element of balance to my sessions for others. Improving my balance, flexibility and training and race volume is something I’m always adjusting to stay fit. The plan is to incorporate balance into my daily routine as I do flexibility and during my one strength and gym session a week.

Ian Ratcliffe, Macclesfield Harriers and Northern Masters AC, M55

I was aware of the importance of balance training, but not of the effect that the deterioration of balance can have on performance. For quite a while I had been incorporating balance exercises in my training – usually balancing on each leg daily with my eyes wide open, three times on each leg in a sprint pose to help with flexibility. Since reading about the MMU findings, I am now also doing the same with my eyes closed and I’ve added a second exercise – standing on one leg with eyes closed and ‘drawing a star’ with the other foot. This one is much more difficult – in fact I’ve been very surprised at the impact of closing my eyes when trying to balance.

Brenda Robinson, Rochdale Harriers, F75

I‘ve long suspected I was unbalanced in daily activities and needed to do something about it. I found it hard sometimes to run in a straight line but since starting to concentrate on balance training I have found ordinary daily tasks better and feel my running is improving. Now I am doing two Pilates classes per week and trying to practice balancing daily by standing on one leg. Some days I am reasonable but other days completely rubbish and can hardly do a few seconds. However, it is all paying off. I ran the last leg of a 4 x 2 mile relay recently and was nearly three minutes faster than in the event last year.

Ulster scrum-half John Cooney, Connacht prop Finlay Bealham and full-back Mike Haley of Munster have been cut from Ireland's World Cup squad.

They returned to their provinces as their Irish colleagues left for warm weather training in Portugal.

Cooney's omission will be a surprise to many, given his club form and place-kicking ability.

Meanwhile, Ireland have said fly-half Joey Carbery is expected to be out for four to six weeks with an ankle injury.

Munster player Carbery sustained the injury during last Saturday's 29-10 win over Italy.

If Carbery, understudy to first-choice Johnny Sexton, needs the full six weeks to recover, he would be ruled out of Ireland's first World Cup pool match against Scotland on 22 September.

Ireland's other Pool A matches are against hosts Japan, Russia and Samoa.

Hooker Rob Herring, who retired from the Italy game early due to a back spasm, has fully recovered, Irish management said on Wednesday.

Three recognised number nines remain in head coach Joe Schmidt's 40-strong squad - Conor Murray, Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath - with the final 31-player panel to be announced by 8 September.

Ireland play England in their second warm-up game at Twickenham on 24 August before playing Wales away and home.

England wing Jack Nowell has admitted he pushed himself too hard during his recovery from a serious ankle injury, but hopes to be fit for the start of the Rugby World Cup.

Nowell, 26, was injured in the Premiership final, and had surgery at the start of June.

But he was forced to fly home early from the training camp in Italy after a setback in his rehabilitation.

"It was a kick up the backside for me," Nowell told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Speaking to 5 Live's Sonja McLaughlan, he added: "Maybe at start of my rehab I may have pushed it a bit too much.

"That's probably down to me being a bit greedy and me wanting to get back as quickly as I can.

"I sat down with the physios and they said 'you need to look after this now'. Luckily now I am on the right track."

Nowell is unlikely to feature in any of England's warm-up games in August, but has still been named in the World Cup squad of 31.

The versatile back enjoyed a superb Six Nations and is now targeting being fully fit in time for England's tournament opener against Tonga in Sapporo on 22 September.

"I'm getting there. It was a bit slower than I thought at the start but I am pretty positive about it now," he added.

"I went back to the club and saw the surgeons and they are very happy.

"It's tough watching the boys play and train but hopefully I am not too far away now."