AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic criticized LeBron James and others on Thursday for their activism in what the former LA Galaxy star called "politics."

Speaking in an interview for UEFA for Discovery+ in Sweden on Thursday, the outspoken striker said that although he admired James' talent, it's a "mistake" when athletes step out of their lane and get involved socially and politically.

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"[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time," Ibrahimovic said. "Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football.

"I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn't look good."

James has been a force for social change and political action. His More Than a Vote organization drew more than 42,000 volunteers to work at polling stations for the November election, helped some earn back their voting rights and pushed for turnout among Black people and young voters.

He has also focused on his hometown of Akron, Ohio.

The I Promise School he opened in 2018 now has over 450 students in third through sixth grades. When the pandemic shut down the school, James and his team ensured students got hot meals delivered to their homes -- even complete Thanksgiving meals. An affordable housing project for 50 families broke ground this year. And in December, plans for House Three Thirty (a nod to Akron's area code) were announced, detailing how James is going to offer things like accessible family financial health programming, job training and a community gathering space.

"I still know what I do on the floor, and obviously, I give everything to the game," James told The Associated Press in December. "But I can make a greater impact off the floor right now, more than I can on the floor. And I want to continue to inspire people with the way I play the game of basketball. But there's so many more things that I can do off the floor to help cultivate people, inspire people, bring people together, empower them."

His outspokenness hasn't always been well-received, however. In February of 2018, a prominent conservative commentator famously told him to "shut up and dribble" in response to his "talking politics."

Ibrahimovic has made headlines for acrobatic goals, bombastic boasts and on-field controversy throughout his wildly successful soccer career.

In January, he faced accusations of racism after a clash with Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia quarterfinal clash. Ibrahimovic, who often refers to himself in the third person, was accused of having used offensive language during his spat with Lukaku and later posted a message on social media reiterating that he is against racism, with his coach later backing his claims.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

For Sergio Scariolo, this was just another game.

The Toronto Raptors assistant coach slid over into the head coach's chair, leading the team to a 122-111 win over the Houston Rockets in Tampa Bay on Friday night. The win came despite Toronto being without star Pascal Siakam, head coach Nick Nurse and five other Raptors assistants because of health and safety protocols.

But even with Toronto down another assistant in Chris Finch, who earlier this week became the head coach in Minnesota, the Raptors still had a pretty experienced man on the bench to handle the job.

Scariolo has 25 years of coaching experience overseas and he has been the head coach of the Spanish national team since 2009, where he's won the FIBA Eurobasket tournament three times (2009, 2011 and 2015), won the FIBA World Cup (2019) and coached the team to a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

So no, this wasn't his first rodeo.

In fact, Scariolo served as a head coach just last week as he coached Spain in Poland for the Eurobasket qualifiers on Feb. 19 and 21. Spain won both of those games.

"It's a 3-0 week," Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said.

Originally quarantining this week as he returned from Poland, Scariolo became available to rejoin the team on Friday, just as the health and safety protocols took out the coaching staff. Scariolo said he got back from Poland on Monday and spent the rest of the week away from the Raptors. He drove to Miami, where the Raptors played on Wednesday, but still stayed separate from the team; he drove back to Tampa in the same car the day after the game.

Scariolo said the team started to put a plan in action Thursday, with the Raptors having reassigned tasks to the coaches who would still be able to be with the team by Friday morning. The team also had to alter its pregame routine because tests didn't come back on time, so the Raptors had to have one joint film session before getting on the floor without a walk-through.

"So it was kind of reacting every time to something different, but at the end of the day, we got the W, so who cares," Scariolo said.

Scariolo said he had a video call with Nurse before the game and credited Nurse's philosophy and the teamwork he has instilled in the coaching staff for helping make the transition as smooth as possible. He also credited his experience as a head coach.

"Honestly, it didn't feel too much difference with the 1,500 games I've coached before," Scariolo said. "I felt that we were prepared getting into the game because everybody made his contribution and this is what it takes in a team sport like basketball."

Lowry and guard Fred VanVleet tried to downplay the situation as much as possible, but Lowry made sure to grab the ball after the buzzer and present it to Scariolo after the game. Scariolo said that basketball will go next to other balls players have given to him following medal games or other championships throughout his career.

VanVleet said the team tried to keep things the same as much as possible so as not to try and overcorrect something that didn't need to be corrected.

"I think I kind of came to grips with that pretty early on once they made a decision that obviously those coaches were going to be out. I didn't really want to overreact to it," VanVleet said. "I think it's one of those things that you probably put a little bit too much stock into, but the game doesn't change.

"The way we need to play doesn't change. The way we play doesn't change. So just having a different voice out there, obviously, that's why you have a strong coaching staff for situations like this. Obviously, Sergio has been a great head coach for a long time. He's been doing it at a high level, so plugging him in was pretty simple to do."

The Raptors didn't release the names of the coaches who missed the game but Jim Sann, Jamaal Magloire and Mark Tyndale were spotted along the Raptors' bench and received shoutouts from VanVleet and Lowry after the game.

Scariolo said he doesn't know how long he'll end up as the acting head coach, adding that the team will continue to operate on the fly until it knows more. While he had talked to Nurse before the game, he hadn't talked to him before meeting with reporters postgame. There were more important matters to take care of first.

"I will make sure I get tested first, this is my first test and I don't want to make a mistake right now," he said. "We can't afford it. Then, for sure, we'll talk."

BOSTON -- The Celtics -- already mired in a three-game losing streak, and having lost eight of their past 11 games -- found themselves down 18-4 five minutes into Friday night's game against the Indiana Pacers. It was the kind of performance that, had fans been allowed into TD Garden, would've been met with a hearty round of boos.

But rather than resigning himself, and his team, to another ugly loss in a stretch full of them, Kemba Walker put the Celtics on his back. And on a night when the team's young All-Stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, weren't effective, it was Walker who scored 32 points and made six assists to carry Boston to a desperately needed 118-112 victory over the Pacers.

"I don't think we win the game without his will," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "I think that no matter how everyone is playing, when that thing was 18-4, he was the loudest voice. He willed us back into that thing. And now, we're back on our footing, [and] we have a little bit of confidence, which has been shot this week.

"But that's what really good players do. That's what veterans do. That's what guys that have been there, done that and done it for a long time do. So I really thought he led us tonight."

It's been as difficult of a season for Walker individually as it has been for the Celtics as a team. Coming off a 12-week offseason strengthening program for his troublesome left knee that caused him to miss the first several weeks of this season, Walker entered Friday night shooting 37.5% from the field -- the second-worst percentage of his career.

On this night, though, Walker looked every bit the All-Star he was last season before the knee troubles began. After Boston fell into that 18-4 hole, Walker scored or assisted on 13 of the team's 15 points in a 15-2 run that helped the Celtics take a lead after the first quarter.

"I try to bring that aspect to the game every night, my leadership," Walker said. "I try to use my voice as much as possible to keep my teammates up when things are not going well.

"I know guys look to me in situations like that and you know, just try to stay upbeat, just try to stay positive, and just bring that energy to the team."

With Tatum (4-for-18 shooting, nine points) and Brown (5-for-12, 15 points) unable to get it going, it was a combination of the two things that have received the most scrutiny in Boston's struggles -- Walker and the supporting cast -- that allowed the Celtics to get this win.

Jeff Teague, the veteran point guard who has struggled mightily all season and received several DNPs of late, had his best game since scoring 19 points in the season opener, putting in 14 in 19 minutes. Rookie Payton Pritchard, who has had his own struggles lately, had nine points in 19 minutes, while young big man Robert Williams III had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in 22 minutes.

"It's been a different experience than I've ever been a part of, but it's always a learning experience," Teague said. "Just take the good with the bad and keep rolling. Tonight was a big win for our team; we played well. I'm happy to see a lot of guys play well. We finally helped JT, Kemba and Jaylen out tonight. So it was good for us."

More than anything, it was important for the Celtics to get a win after an ugly past few days that saw them lose in overtime in New Orleans on Sunday after blowing a 24-point lead, fall on a last-second 3-pointer by Luka Doncic on Tuesday in Dallas, and then get annihilated in Atlanta without Walker (knee management) on Wednesday.

After Friday's win, everyone said how important it was to get that collective bad taste out of their mouths with a win, and Walker specifically said it was up to the team's leaders to make sure the Celtics stay together through their struggles.

"We'll figure it out," Walker said. "That's on me. That's on Jaylen. That's on Jayson. That's on Marcus. And then Tristan [Thompson] and Jeff are gonna add on to that, as well. That's on the veteran guys, as well as Brad, too. We've got to keep it together. We can't let nobody go in any other direction. Even though things might not be going as well as we would like it at the moment, but things could change really fast, so the only way you can get out of struggles is by doing it together."

The G League is investigating a claim made by Jeremy Lin that he was called "coronavirus" during a game, a league official told ESPN's Marc Spears on Friday.

In a Facebook post Thursday, Lin, the former NBA guard now playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors on the G League, spoke out about the racism he believes the Asian-American community continues to deal with and offered examples that he said he's experienced.

"Being a 9 year NBA veteran doesn't protect me from being called 'coronavirus' on the court," he wrote.

Lin didn't specify when he was called that, and it was unclear whether the incident occurred in the G League bubble in Orlando, Florida, where Lin currently is playing as a member of Santa Cruz, the Warriors' affiliate.

On Friday night, Golden State coach Steve Kerr said he'd like to see the NBA investigate Lin's claim.

"I just saw the Facebook post just now," Kerr said. "Really powerful. I applaud Jeremy for his words and echo his sentiments regarding racism against the Asian-American community. It's just so ridiculous and obviously spawned by many people including our former President (Donald Trump), as it relates to the coronavirus originating in China. It's just shocking. I don't know -- I can't wrap my head around any of it, but I can't wrap my head around racism in general."

Lin became the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent when he broke in with the Warriors during the 2010-11 season. He became best known for a hot scoring stretch -- one that led to wins with the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 season -- that was described as "Linsanity." In total, the former Harvard star averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 games in the NBA from 2010 to 2019.

He previously had spoken out about racist taunts he received while playing, saying in a 2017 podcast that while some came during his time in the NBA, they were far worse during his four years at Harvard while competing on the road from 2006 to '10.

In his Facebook post Thursday, Lin said the current generation of Asian Americans "is tired of being told that we don't experience racism."

"We are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble," he wrote. "We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they're REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we're inherently unattractive. We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood affecting our psyche and limiting who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren't as real.

"I want better for my elders who worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make a life for themselves here. I want better for my niece and nephew and future kids. I want better for the next generation of Asian American athletes than to have to work so hard to just be 'deceptively athletic.'"

Before his G League stint this season, Lin had been playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.

When asked specifically about whether he would like to see an investigation regarding Lin's claim, Kerr quickly answered Friday.

"Oh yeah, for sure," he said. "As I said, I saw the post, the reference was a little bit vague, so I think it would be good to know what happened."

Despite leading the Atlanta Hawks by eight going into the halftime break on Friday, the Oklahoma City Thunder made a drastic second-half adjustment: They completely changed uniforms.

Because of a breakdown in the uniform selection and approval process, the Thunder and Hawks played the first half wearing extremely similar colors, the Hawks in their red "icon" uniforms and the Thunder in their orange "statement" alternates.

On television, the combination was especially bad.

The league requested the jersey change, a Thunder spokesperson said. The Hawks had only their red "icon" jerseys on their road trip, so the Thunder made the change to white for the second half.

With teams having multiple combinations and alternates to wear, and no longer observing the traditional home white and road color standard, the uniform selection process is done before the season for the entire schedule using an input system called "Lockervision." The home team picks first, then the road team.

The league double-checks all combinations and approves them, but the Thunder and Hawks mistakenly slipped through the approval process, according to a league spokesperson.

Typically, when there are close contrasts such as the red-orange issue with OKC and Atlanta, the league catches it and corrects it before it happens. According to a league source, this is the first time in more than 4,000 games this has happened since the system was introduced.

There have been other notable basketball wardrobe malfunctions, such as the Argentina women's national team forfeiting a game in the 2019 Pan Am Games because they had the wrong jersey on. In the 2002 NIT, both Syracuse and South Carolina showed up wearing white uniforms, with Syracuse changing in the first half and wearing orange tops and white shorts.

Major League Soccer announced on Friday that the expansion team set for Sacramento, California, scheduled to begin play in 2023, is now on indefinite hold after Ron Burkle, the primary investor of the proposed team, informed MLS officials that he has "decided not to move forward with the acquisition of an MLS expansion team" in the city due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation cited increasing costs associated with building a stadium at the Downtown Railyards site as the primary reason Burkle, who also co-owns the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, decided not to move forward. One source said that the costs for the Sacramento stadium went from $300 million to $400 million, while infrastructure costs increased from $27 million to $47 million. On top of those increases, the ability to raise funds from the projects' limited partners, all in the middle of a pandemic, fell roughly $60 million short of what was anticipated

"After working for many years to bring an MLS team to Sacramento, the League continues to believe it can be a great MLS market," MLS said in a statement. "In the coming days, the League will work with Mayor Darrell Steinberg to evaluate possible next steps for MLS in Sacramento."

MLS announced the team in Sacramento to much fanfare in October of 2019. But the deal was complicated. Not only did Burkle and co-investor Matt Alvarez need to put up a $200 million expansion fee, plus the costs of the stadium, but Burkle and Alvarez also needed to acquire USL Championship side Sacramento Republic from owner Kevin Nagle. That part of the deal was also not completed.

Doubts began to emerge earlier this year about whether Burkle would move forward with the project after The Athletic reported that Burkle's group had missed an initial payment on the expansion fee. That news proved a harbinger, as Burkle informed MLS on late Friday that he was pulling out of the deal. Sources confirmed an additional Athletic report that Burkle's group never signed the long-form agreement with MLS.

"I want to thank Mayor Steinberg for his continued efforts to bring MLS to Sacramento," MLS commissioner Don Garber said. "His commitment to the city and delivering for its passionate soccer fans should make all citizens of Sacramento proud.

"Interest in owning a club in Major League Soccer has never been higher. And I remain incredibly optimistic about finalizing expansion plans for our 30th team."

The announcement amounts to a massive setback, and possibly a death knell, for Sacramento's expansion hopes. While the USL Championship side Sacramento Republic remains well-supported, finding an ownership group with sufficiently deep pockets has been a struggle. In late 2017, Sacramento was thought to be one of the front-runners in the expansion race, but ended up losing out to Nashville and Cincinnati when Meg Whitman opted not to invest in Sacramento's expansion effort.

Burkle was thought to be Sacramento's main investor, but now, despite having a stadium site picked out, Sacramento's future as a home for an MLS team is in serious doubt.

We're about to find out if Jose Mourinho really has changed. Tottenham progressed into the Europa League round of 16 with such a comfortable win against AC Wolfsberger on Wednesday -- 4-0 in the second leg, to advance 8-1 on aggregate -- that it's easy to feel the bigger battle took place a day earlier in Mourinho's prematch news conference.

These are challenging times for the Tottenham Hotspur manager, who has long been miscast as a Machiavellian manipulator. He is mischievous and often calculated, of that there is no doubt, but those who know him best describe a capricious individual prone to violent emotional mood swings.

Several years ago during a private conversation, one of his most famous former players once described to me the contrast between Guus Hiddink and Mourinho during their respective tenures at Chelsea by making two hand gestures. The first was with his hand out in front, palm facing flat to the floor, motioning from left to right to signify calm waters. For Mourinho, he drew waves as high and low as his arms would allow.

Following an 11-month hiatus from the game after being sacked by Manchester United, Mourinho insisted when he arrived at Spurs in November 2019 that he was a different man; a more mellow, measured character who no longer relished conflict no matter how contrived. Anyone versed in his career knows his time at a club follows a specific pattern which never completes a fourth season: improve, excel, push to breaking point, civil war, acrimonious exit.

You know we've reached a dangerous stage of the cycle when the blame game starts.

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"I think for a long, long time, we have problems in the team that I cannot resolve by myself as a coach," he said after Sunday's 2-1 defeat at West Ham United, their fifth in six Premier League games, which left Tottenham's top-four hopes hanging by a thread. Three days later, with time to gather himself, he backtracked from that position, keen to reset the rhetoric toward the more conciliatory tone he has struck since joining the club.

"Sometimes, there are moments of frustration and I think postmatch interviews are the perfect place for a coach not to say the right things or to leave some doubts [for interpretation]," he explained. "Like today, a prematch press conference, I think everything we say you can follow word by word, because we are calm with no pressure and no adrenaline but after matches it is not easy for us."

Postmatch interviews have not been easy for Mourinho because Spurs keep losing. Although they endured a difficult spell before England's first coronavirus lockdown last March, Mourinho avoided the tough questions because he'd only been in the job for four months, with further mitigation offered by lengthy injuries to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, among others.

This time, it's different, and under a more searching examination, Tuesday's news conference was at times like watching Mourinho battle with his own shadow. In claiming he has greater composure than the Mourinho of 2004, the 58-year-old made a remarkable admission.

"As you know, I didn't have many bad runs of results," he said, struggling with the self-anointed 'humble' element of his new persona. "But day-by-day problems that happen many times in clubs with all of us, I reacted previously in a much more emotional way. And instead of helping myself and the ones around me, I even created the kind of conflict situations that I had previously."

He's right, of course, but it was no less eyebrow-raising to hear Mourinho admit his penchant for generating internal hostility. And this was why the "problems I cannot resolve as a coach" line set alarm bells ringing; it appeared to signal an escalation in his habitually confrontational approach, with certain members of the dressing room that has inexorably led to his departure from every club he has managed.

Mourinho instead claimed he was referring to "nothing specific, nothing that probably you think I wanted to say and I didn't," taking a damp cloth to the small fire he started.

There were more contradictions. A declaration that the club should be everyone's focus preceded a lengthy ramble about his own feelings and reputation.

In insisting conflict creation was behind him as a more mature man, he had a dig at another unnamed manager -- the smart money is on Chelsea's Thomas Tuchel for his public admonishment of Callum Hudson-Odoi -- for going "a bit too far in his words, but that's another story because it's not Jose Mourinho, that's not a problem." He just cannot help himself, and remember: these are the occasions we can "follow word by word."

It is easy to place too much stock in news-conference quotes, but Mourinho knows all too well the perception he is fighting: yesterday's man, left behind by more progressive, expansive managers playing a brand of football to which he is the antithesis.

For a time this season, he appeared capable of catapulting Tottenham into the title race, particularly with Manchester City struggling before their winning streak and champions Liverpool looking truly vulnerable. Yet this downturn smacks of the terminal decline synonymous with Mourinho's third year at clubs, when defeats are drenched in acrimony, finger-pointing and rancour.

The second season, which Mourinho is now in at Spurs, is supposed to be the peak. At FC Porto, he won the Portuguese Primeira Liga and Champions League in year two. At Chelsea, he retained the Premier League. At Internazionale, it was a Serie A and Champions League double. At Real Madrid came his sole La Liga title. On his second tour with Chelsea, he delivered the Premier League. In 2017-18 at Manchester United, he didn't win a trophy but described his second-placed finish as "among my top achievements."

That double remains possible again this season, and he will have to win at least one to even begin claiming this campaign has been a success.

Those two trophies at United were supposed to be the springboard to greater prizes. The same trajectory is desired at Spurs, whom Mourinho himself declared had a better squad than he managed at Old Trafford. That squad was also supplemented expertly in the summer window with the additions of Sergio Reguilon, Gareth Bale (on loan), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty, leading Mourinho to "congratulate" chairman Daniel Levy for the work he'd done.

With nobody to blame above him, Mourinho has occasionally taken out his frustration on the players, particularly the number of individual defensive mistakes that have contributed to their dismal run. Players have been ostracised, as is Mourinho's style, with Bale and Dele Alli now asked to take a more prominent role. Last night was a promising start with Alli and Bale on the scoresheet but their response will be vital to Tottenham in the run-in, as will be Mourinho's management of those individuals -- and the squad as a whole -- with his position under mounting pressure.

Being in London at the family's Belgravia home will help, rather than holed up alone in The Lowry, a five-star hotel in Manchester he preferred to buying a house in the area. But these next few games -- starting with Burnley's visit on Sunday -- are crucial moments in determining whether Mourinho truly has evolved as manager and can break his own cycle.

His future at Tottenham depends on it.

Tiger Woods is "recovering and in good spirits" after undergoing follow-up procedures on his leg injuries Friday morning, according to a statement posted on his Twitter account.

Woods had his procedures at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was transferred Wednesday night following the single-vehicle crash the day before that left him with serious injuries to his right leg.

"Tiger and his family want to thank you all for the wonderful support and messages they have received over the past few days," the statement read. "We will not have any further updates at this time. Thank you for your continued privacy."

Woods, 45, was moved from Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, which is located about 18 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, "for continuing orthopedic care and recovery," according to Dr. Anish Mahajan.

On Tuesday, Mahajan said Woods suffered multiple "open fractures" to his lower right leg and had a rod placed in his tibia and screws and pins inserted in his foot and ankle during emergency surgery.

Two separate sources told ESPN on Wednesday that Woods suffered an injury to his talus bone, which connects the bottom of the lower leg to the top of the foot. The bone is a pivot point for motion. Sources say that screws were likely inserted into the area to help it heal and, if all goes well, eventually allow for normal movement.

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a Level 1 trauma center, meaning it is qualified to provide the most comprehensive surgical and other care for such injuries. Cedars-Sinai has a renowned Sports Medicine Institute that has catered to professional athletes and a rehabilitation program for sports-related and orthopedic injuries.

ESPN's Bob Harig and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MIAMI -- Former Utah guard Elijah Millsap said Friday that he has not yet heard from any investigators regarding his allegation that Jazz executive Dennis Lindsey made a bigoted comment to him during an end-of-season meeting in 2015.

Millsap also expressed doubt that a fair investigation could take place regarding his claim that Lindsey, who then was the team's general manager and now is an executive vice president, threatened to cut his "Black ass" and send him home.

Millsap made the allegation in a tweet on Wednesday. The Jazz responded Thursday, saying in a statement they would bring in outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation along with the NBA.

"Obviously, I know my truth," Millsap said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Some outside counsel or somebody, all they can do is just try to stir it up and make it me look as if I'm lying. I did it basically to free myself from the torture of holding things in, to free myself, not to make Dennis Lindsey feel bad and not to make him look like a racist. I don't feel he is a racist, but I do know what he said to me."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the league's involvement Friday.

"We take allegations of discrimination seriously, so do we also take the due process rights of those who are being accused, which is why we do full investigations," Silver said. "And in this case, the investigation is being conducted in partnership and in coordination with the Utah Jazz."

Millsap played in 67 games for the Jazz over two seasons. The incident in question came from an April 2015 exit meeting, which Millsap -- the brother of longtime Utah standout Paul Millsap -- said was also attended by Jazz coach Quin Snyder.

General manager Justin Zanik, who was then an assistant general manager tasked with keeping detailed notes of the conversation, was also in the meeting, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Those notes were entered into a team database and will be examined as part of the investigation, sources said.

Millsap said he remembers being "high energy" going into that meeting and eager to hear what Lindsey and Snyder would say to him.

"I was expecting great feedback," Millsap said. "And then it took a turn for the worse."

Millsap said Lindsey told him, "If u say one more word, I'll cut your Black ass and send you back to Louisiana."

Millsap met with reporters shortly after leaving the meeting with Snyder and Lindsey and did not show any signs of being upset. He was waived by the Jazz in January 2016, a day before the remainder of his contract for that season would have been guaranteed, he said. Such moves are not uncommon with non-guaranteed deals.

Lindsey has denied making the comment. Snyder has said he has no recollection of it happening, and defended Lindsey again on Friday before the Jazz played in Miami.

"I've never heard anything remotely close to that from Dennis," Snyder said. "I haven't heard anything, like I said, remotely close to that and know him and his character. And I also think that if something like that were ever said, I'm sensitive to those issues and I would remember it."

Millsap appeared in only two more NBA games after the Jazz waived him, and said he believes the team has not spoken well of him when other teams asked about his background. He said he still works out for several hours a day and would like to resume his playing career.

Millsap said he doesn't have any specific resolution that would satisfy him in mind.

"These guys, they had the opportunity to tell people the truth about who I was," Millsap said. "And they didn't do that. That's disgusting to me."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Annika Sorenstam had planned to take her daughter, Ava, to play volleyball on Saturday.

She'll now need to make other arrangements.

In her first LPGA start since 2008, the 50-year-old Sorenstam shot 1-under 71 Friday at the Gainbridge LPGA to make the cut on the number at 2 over. She did so despite receiving bad advice from a rules official during Thursday's first round.

Sorenstam's drive at the fifth hole Thursday at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, Sorenstam's home course, ended up underneath a gate. Barely in bounds, Sorenstam called in an LPGA rules official, who determined that Sorenstam could not open the unlocked gate in order to play her next shot.

Instead, Sorenstam took an unplayable and went on to make triple bogey.

After her round on Friday, the rules official, Dan Maselli, informed Sorenstam that he had given her incorrect advice. Under the new Rules of Golf, updated in 2019, Sorenstam was allowed to open the gate.

The LPGA also released a statement, telling Golfweek: “Regarding the Ruling given to Annika Sorenstam on the fifth hole during the first round of the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA, the official on scene linked the word “integral” to the gate meant that it could not be moved. This was an error under the definition of an Immovable Obstruction in the Rules of Golf. The gate is considered moveable if proven to be unlocked (Rule 16), and therefore could have been moved to allow the player to hit the shot. The option to rescind the penalty is not available under the Rules of Golf. The official met the player immediately following her second round to explain the mistake and apologize.”

Sorenstam admitted that she hadn't brushed up on the new rules since she last attended USGA Rules School as a player more than a decade ago, so she was quick to forgive.

“He said, ‘This is going to hurt me. This is eating me inside,’” Sorenstam recounted. “I said, ‘Please, please don't feel that way.’ ‘I appreciate it,' he said, ‘I won't make that mistake again.’ I said, ‘Well, I won't hit there anymore.’”

After a nervous start and opening 75 on Thursday, Sorenstam didn’t have time to be anxious on Friday. Her 8 a.m. tee time forced her to get right to business. She began her day on the back nine at Lake Nona, where she recorded nine consecutive pars. After making the turn, she made back-to-back birdies, on Nos. 2 and 3, offset by a bogey at the fourth hole. But she rallied with a long birdie make at the par-4 seventh to give her a last burst of momentum.

Sorenstam closed bogey-par, punctuated by an aggressive 3-wood into the par-5 ninth hole to cap off her round.

“You know, I didn't come here to lay up,” Sorenstam said about her final hole of the day. “Yesterday, I was trying to just maybe play overly smart. Today, I just released the club a little bit more. I think that worked out.”

Now, she'll get to test her game on the weekend. Sorenstam has been adamant that this isn't a comeback but rather a tune-up for a potential U.S. Senior Women's Open start this summer, and she's already accomplished what she set out to do at the start of the week.

“The goal was to shoot under par and I did, and so that's all I can do,” Sorenstam said. “Whatever happens, happens from here. It's been great.”