MILWAUKEE -- Sara Goodrum has been promoted to minor league hitting coordinator by the Milwaukee Brewers, apparently making her the first woman to have that role in any Major League Baseball organization.

Goodrum's official new title with the Brewers is coordinator for hitting development initiatives, but she essentially will be filling the role of a minor league hitting coordinator. Brewers vice president of minor league operations Tom Flanagan said Thursday that "to our knowledge, she would be the first" woman to hold that position in an MLB organization.

Goodrum played softball for Oregon from 2012-15 and had spent the last three seasons in the Brewers' sports science department, working primarily on hitting. Her previous title was coordinator for integrative sports performance.

"Being able to observe her working around our hitters, it's not like she's coming in from some other department where she had no other interaction with our player development staff," Flanagan said. "She's been right there, kind of in the forefront, working with our hitters to some degree on different aspects in the past. "

"And I think her skill set is very unique," Flanagan added. "It gives her a very different perspective in terms of different training techniques she probably has a lot of experience with that she feels she can implement and help re-establish our hitting curriculum and help our hitters train better and be better throughout our system. Just seeing her work from afar, all of our hitting coaches and player development staff definitely have that familiarity and think that she can really impact the hitting apparatus here."

Goodrum will be based in Phoenix, where the Brewers have their spring training home.

The New York Yankees hired Rachel Balkovec as a minor league hitting coach in 2019, and she is believed to be the first woman hitting coach employed by an MLB organization. Last year, the San Francisco Giants made Alyssa Nakken the first female coach on a major league staff. Bianca Smith begins working as a Boston Red Sox minor league coach this season, making her the first Black woman to serve as an on-field coach.

Nakken is a former Sacramento State softball player who joined the Giants organization in 2014 as an intern in baseball operations. Balkovec had previously worked as a St. Louis Cardinals minor league strength and conditioning coordinator and with the Houston Astros as a Latin American strength and conditioning coordinator. Smith played softball for two years as well as club baseball at Dartmouth and also was an assistant athletic director in charge of compliance at Division III Carroll University in Wisconsin, where she also worked as a hitting coordinator and volunteer assistant coach.

Leicester Tigers scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth returns from a ban after a rule change saw games called off due to Covid-19 count towards suspensions.

Centre Sam James will make his 150th Sale appearance as Sharks seek a fourth successive league win over Leicester in Alex Sanderson's first game in charge.

Cobus Wiese faces older brother Jasper for the first time in their careers.

Scotland winger Byron McGuigan makes his first start for Sale since suffering a hamstring injury in August.

Wigglesworth is free to play for Leicester following his suspension after rugby's governing bodies ruled that Premiership matches called off because of Covid will now count as part of any player bans.

Under league rules, cancelled games are not re-arranged, with the points split between the clubs involved.

The Rugby Players' Association successfully argued that as those matches have in effect been "completed", they should also count towards a ban.

Wigglesworth was banned for four matches following his indiscretions with the Barbarians in October, but Leicester's Premiership matches against Newcastle in December and Northampton in January were both cancelled, as were the last two rounds of European action so he can face Sale.

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick told the club website:

"The team need to deliver an 80-minute performance. What we want to do on Friday night is bring smiles to the faces of the Leicester Tigers supporters, who we wish were with us in the stands, cheering us on.

"They have got World Cup winners, have invested heavily in their team and have now appointed a new coach in Alex Sanderson. Whenever you play against Sale, the game is very, very competitive."

Director of rugby Alex Sanderson told the club website:

"Borths is getting Tigers back to where they used to be and they are becoming extremely difficult to beat. It's going to be a physical encounter.

"We need to make sure we match the overall intensity that Leicester have been showing over 80 minutes recently. They compete at every opportunity and we need to be prepared for that."

Leicester: Steward; Van Wyk, Moroni, Scott, Nadolo; Henry, Wigglesworth; de Bruin, Tom Youngs (c), Cole, Wells, Green, Liebenberg, Reffell, Wiese.

Replacements: Montoya, Leatigaga, Heyes, Lavanini, Martin, Brink, Poortvliet, McPhillips.

Sale: L James; McGuigan, S James, S Hill, Yarde; MacGinty, De Klerk; Rodd, Van Der Merwe, John, Wiese, JP Du Preez, Ross (c), Dugdale, Beaumont.

Replacements: Langdon, Harrison, Oosthuizen, Phillips, Neild, Cliff, R Du Preez, Roebuck.

Referee: Ian Tempest (RFU).

Wisconsin’s Road America is at the heart of James French’s racing career.

It all started at age 5 when the native of nearby Sheboygan began racing go-karts at the picturesque road course.

Let’s just say the driving part was only half of the fun the now 28-year-old experienced.

“I don’t remember this, but I was told when I was driving, I would look at the line to see how close I could get to it,” French said. “I liked the thrill of getting close.”

He eventually learned that  method isn’t the best practice on a race track, especially if one wants to be fast.

It was beneficial for French that he had a strong  racing bloodline.

His father, Brian French, won the 1999 SCCA National Championship Runoffs in the Formula Atlantic category and added the C-Sports Racing title in 2009.

“He’s still got it. He’s still very coordinated, very quick; he’s very talented,” James French said of his dad. “At the same time, he’s extremely humble and under spoken, understated, which is something I’ve always strived for — let the results speak for themselves.”

French claims his dad’s humility is what is most inspiring to him.

He recalls a time about five years ago when Brian French was talking about retiring from racing. But the younger French doesn’t see his dad slipping in performance and he continues to perform on the track.

“I think he exceeds his expectations,” James French said. “It’s pretty amazing to see.”

The proof of that came in James French’s sixth try at an SCCA National Championship when he finally broke through and won the Prototype 1 race during last year’s Runoffs at his home track, joining his dad as an SCCA national champion.

To complete the almost proverbial perfect circle, Brian French crossed the line third in the P1 race. It couldn’t have been scripted better — James French winning a national championship on his home track of Road America with his dad right beside him on the podium.

“We’ve been chasing this one a long time,” French said. “To finally get one behind us feels good, especially at our home track is a great feeling.”

Without his father, many wouldn’t know of James French the race car driver.

“He’s been a great mentor; a great coach,” French noted.

Having outgrown go-karts, French was 13 when he climbed into a Formula BMW car and participated in a test day at GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, Mich.

The next year, he enrolled in the Skip Barber Racing School at Road America. Then, when James was 16, his dad bought the car he drove to victory at the Runoffs.

These days, when not racing sports cars, James and Brian French are avid vintage car racers, participating in several vintage races — many at Road America.

They own a pair of mid-1990s Formula One cars — a 1997 Jordan and a 1997 Benetton. The Jordans were driven by Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella and the Benettons were piloted by Jean Alesi, Gerhard Berger and Alexander Wurz.

In 1997, Berger won the German Grand Prix and Alesi posted three podiums to help the team finish third in the Constructors’ Championship behind Williams-Renault and Ferrari, respectively.

For the hardcore throwback F-1 fans, the high-pitched screeching of those cars is quite savoring when it echoes off the trees that surround the massive Road America facility. It makes fans feel like they’re at one of Europe’s greatest road courses, such as Spa or Monza.

“They are fun to drive out here,” French said.

They should be as there is about a 500-horsepower difference between his P1 car and the F-1 cars, which makes wheeling them down Road America’s three-quarter-mile frontstretch a blast.

“It’s the most possible fun you can have on the track,” French said.

Not only that, it’s another fun way to do something with his dad.

“I just feel very, very fortunate … very appreciative of the fact that he, first of all, has all these cars and the desire and ambition to go out and run them and he’s willing … and trusts me in one of them,” James French noted. “I feel very thankful.

“I don’t know how to describe it. There’s nothing like drafting your dad at 200 mph with titanium sparks flying in your face. It’s pretty surreal.”

Being in the cockpit of a race car wasn’t always James French’s ambition. Out of high school, he went to school to study motorsports engineering. While he did that — about a two- to three-year span — he didn’t do much racing. But then he realized something.

“I’ve been driving since I was 5 years old and I’ve been studying engineering for three years,” French said. “So I kind of accepted I have the chance to pursue driving and I should definitely take it. I have the rest of my life to pursue engineering.”

And studying wasn’t a waste of time as the things he learned during that period, French believesd, allowed him to enhance his driving by better understanding how a race car operates.

“I don’t regret it at all,” French said, adding, “I was very fortunate to get that education.”

He has parlayed that into some proud achievements on the race track and many of those were at Road America.

French made four starts with the American Le Mans Series, including two at Road America, and he ran a pair of Indy Lights races at the track in 2016.

In 2017, he won a Prototype Challenge class race with the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Road America, pairing with future Indy car driver Patricio O’Ward. During that season, he and O’Ward won seven races en route to the class championship.

In 2018, he made his only NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Road America.

These experiences have produced unique memories, as well as built friendships with some of the best drivers in racing.

“It goes both ways,” French said. “From the career aspect, it’s good to know that I can push to that level or close to that level. At the same time, I know these guys personally. I can turn on the TV, watch an Indy car race and go, ‘Hey. That’s my buddy Pato.’ It’s been really cool to make those connections in the racing community that I never imagined making.”

Still shy of 30 years old, what is the grand goal?

“The 24 Hours of Le Mans,” French said.

OCALA, Fla. — Fresh off a pair of winged sprint car victories during the Wild Wing Shootout at Arizona Speedway, Buddy Kofoid will shed the wing to race at Bubba Raceway Park with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series.

Kofoid will drive the Chris Dyson Racing No. 20 sprint car at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval, racing Feb. 11-13 with the guidance of crew chief and mechanic Sean Michael.

The three nights of Winter Dirt Game XII will mark Kofoid’s first USAC national sprint car appearances since he ran the Sprint Car Smackdown at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway last August.

In that event, Kofoid finished in the top five all three nights for Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports. The Penngrove, Calif., native is optimistic that his time behind the wheel of Dyson’s car has similar potential.

“When I ran the Smackdown, those three races were the first three non-winged 410 (sprint car) races I had ever done. From a non-winged standpoint in general, those three races were the first ones I’d done in a couple years, so it’s really a different and unique challenge for me, I feel like,” said Kofoid. “In the past three or four years, I’ve probably done three to five non-winged races. But I’m excited for the opportunity with Chris and Sean and it’ll be fun to get in their car in Florida for the first time.

“I want to be able to do some more races and get more comfortable with the non-winged sprint car stuff, but the midgets are still my main priority,” Kofoid added. “It won’t be very often that I’ll get to do something like this, but it just worked out that we were able to do this for a weekend and see what happens.”

For Kofoid, who announced a deal Wednesday to drive Dyson’s USAC Silver Crown Series entry for the seven dirt races on that tour’s schedule, the opportunity to add a non-winged sprint car weekend to his plate with the team developed from their Silver Crown agreement.

“We had talked about the Silver Crown stuff prior to this, and agreed to doing it,” Kofoid explained. “There was just kind of a free weekend for me after the Florida midget shows and I don’t think Chris and Sean had anything going on. They said, ‘Well, if we want to do this race, we can do it.’ So I said I wanted to do it and that came out of already having a relationship with them because of the Silver Crown stuff.

“It was really being in the right place, with the right people, at the right time that this came about.”

While Kofoid’s sights are set firmly on the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series championship chase with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, he acknowledged one of his goals is to become a more diverse driver — whether that’s on different surfaces or in different styles of race cars.

He hopes returning to the seat of a non-winged sprint car, even if it’s only for one weekend, will be a step toward accomplishing that mission.

“Ultimately, I hope that would be the case,” said Kofoid about building his diversity. “I think as far as winged stuff and midget stuff, those are my two strong points right now. I came from winged racing, mostly, in California and I’m still kind of getting comfortable with non-winged racing, but we’ve shown that we can be pretty fast.

“Because I don’t get to do the non-winged stuff very often, it’s somewhat hard to tell where I’ll stack up, I think, but I hope the weekend will go really well in Florida. It’d be nice to master that discipline or at least get comfortable in it where, for the most part, we could go anywhere and have a decent run once in a while.

“When I used to move up back home, whether it was go-karts or trying something new, I would do well at it. I hope that’s the same for me when I get in the Silver Crown car, but I know it’ll be tough,” Kofoid noted. “They’ve got great stuff and they had some success last year, so I think their notebook will help me a lot as far as learning it and kind of picking it up. But I hope someday I could be looked at someone who can jump in almost anything on the dirt side and be successful, like a Kyle (Larson) or a Christopher (Bell).

“You see people jump around quite a bit on the USAC side; there are definitely a lot of people that do it, but you don’t see a lot of those guys run a winged car as well. I just think it’s cool to play around in anything and try and get in as many different cars as I can. I think it makes me a better driver.”

The USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series season opens Feb. 11-13 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., with a practice night on Feb. 10 preceding the trio of racing programs.

Former Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard announced his retirement after 14 seasons on Thursday.

Howard, 36, a free agent, didn't sign anywhere this offseason. He finishes with a 246-196-70 record with a 2.62 goals-against average and 24 shutouts in 543 games.

"Becoming an NHL goalie was a childhood dream and after an incredible 14 years within the Red Wings organization, I've decided to say farewell to playing professional hockey and move on to the next chapter," Howard wrote in an Instagram post. "It has been the honor of a lifetime to play and I'm forever thankful to the fans, everyone within the Red Wings organization, my teammates and my family for their ongoing support, loyalty and dedication. As I enter this new chapter in my life, I look forward to spending more time with my family, coaching my son's hockey team and new opportunities the future will hold."

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After spending his entire 14-year career in Detroit, Howard was not offered a contract by Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman. He decided to go with Jonathan Bernier and find another goalie in free agency.

The decision was not a surprise as Howard, 36, had the worst season of his career with a 4.20 goals-against average and .882 save percentage in 2019-20.

Howard backstopped the Red Wings to seven straight playoff appearances from 2009-10 to 2015-16, but the Red Wings have fallen on hard times. They haven't made the playoffs in four straight seasons and have been in a major rebuild, most recently under Yzerman.

Fikayo Tomori said there was "more to football than the Premier League" after completing his loan move from Chelsea to AC Milan.

Tomori moved to the Rossoneri on a season-long loan and made his debut as a substitute during Milan's defeat to Internazionale in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.

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The 23-year-old follows in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho as one of a number of young English players to move abroad and said these types of experiences will be good for the national side.

"A lot more people are realising that there's more to football than the Premier League and England," Tomori told reporters. "I speak to a lot of English players and they always say: 'How come players from Brazil or Argentina move at 16, 17 yet English players don't seem to go out of England a lot.'

"I think it's definitely a positive that many young English players want to leave England and are willing to try something new, to learn new languages and a different style of play. That's only going to benefit them and the national team as well.

"Going abroad gives you a different view on football as whole rather than just Premier League and England and being in the comfort zone. Being out of your comfort zone can definitely develop a person and a player as well."

At Chelsea, Tomori was playing alongside former Milan captain Thiago Silva and said he leaned on the former Brazil international as well as other Stamford Bridge teammates for advice before making the move.

"When I knew coming to Milan was a possibility, I spoke to a lot of players that had played in Italy: Jorginho, Emerson, Toni Rudiger and Mateo Kovacic, who played for Inter, so I asked him how Milan was," Tomori said.

"I spoke to Thiago very briefly because his English isn't that great, but no one had a bad word to say about Milan or Serie A"

Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Frank Lampard sent a personal message wishing him luck in succeeding him as Chelsea boss and admitted any fan backlash to his appointment could have a damaging effect on the team.

The 47-year-old signed an initial 18-month contract to take charge at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, 24 hours before his first game ended in a 0-0 draw at home to Wolves.

- Insider Notebook: Chelsea's problem over Lampard replacement
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The Blues' decision to sack Lampard divided opinion among fans, with some believing the man who spent 13 successful years as a player and became their all-timer top goal scorer deserved more time to work with a squad bolstered by £220 million worth of summer signings.

Supporters are still banned from entering stadiums due to coronavirus social distancing rules, but when asked whether he was concerned about a negative reaction from fans, Tuchel said: "I don't know, I hope not because that would be hard on the team. We need our supporters like any team. In a stadium like ours, in a club like ours, to have the fans so close and behind the team makes a real difference.

"I can assume it is a big, big disappointment for the fan base to see that Frank was sacked. I have the biggest respect. I was a huge fan of Frank as a player. It was a pure joy to watch him play and to see how he played, with the personality he played. He was one of the key figures to demonstrate in 90 minutes what Chelsea is about: intensity, devotion, winning mentality. And so I have the biggest respect for him, personally, and for his legacy.

"It just got bigger when I received a personal message today in the morning to wish me all the best and maybe meet in the future when this is possible.

"Honestly, nothing has changed there, but in the last 72 hours the club made clear to me that this is not my fault and I cannot change the situation for him. The decision was made and I was handed the opportunity, but I mean what I say."

Chelsea are currently in eighth place, 11 points behind leaders Manchester City, and Tuchel ruled the Blues out of the title race despite having just under half the season to play.

"I'm very realistic," he said. "I'm at a club whose DNA is to win, go for trophies and I am here to challenge for every trophy we play for. Realistically, this year it is the Champions League and the FA Cup.

"To speak now about the Premier League title, there are too many teams in between us, this is not realistic and we will just lose the focus if we start here. But you know, our job is also about relations with the club, the team and to push everybody to the limit.

"Success is also about making the stadium happy. People should be excited to come to Stamford Bridge, excited to watch our team, excited to feel our team plays with a special kind of energy and atmosphere. These are also the soft points of success, but in the end we don't need to talk around a lot. At Chelsea, you play for trophies and that is it."

Tuchel opted to leave Chelsea academy graduates Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Reece James on the bench Wednesday, but the former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss insisted this was not a sign of things to come.

"If you know my reputation at my last clubs, I will push every youngster to be ready. And what I say also today in training from the guys who did not play, I have zero doubts that we have 20, 21 players who are ready to play for Chelsea in the Premier League and win games for us. Nobody should read too much into this."

Mount, in particular, was a favourite under Lampard, captaining Chelsea for his final game in charge and starting 17 of 19 League games prior to being dropped to the bench under Tuchel.

"There is nothing to worry about," he added. "I like what I see from Mason so far, from his personality that I get to know now for three days. He is amazing, he is such a nice, competitive guy. Such a lot of talent. And the most important: Every game I watch so far, he leaves his heart on the pitch, he cares for Chelsea 100 percent and he gives the 100% he has every time he plays. This is the best basis for big development. I am very happy to have him around and I will keep pushing him."

South Africa's bowlers did not have as much success as they might have wanted on the third morning in Karachi as Pakistan's tail plundered 70 runs in 12.2 overs, but one of them reached a special, personal milestone. Kagiso Rabada became the third-fastest and fourth-youngest bowler to take 200 Test wickets.

Only Waqar Younis (7725) and Dale Steyn (7848) needed fewer deliveries than Rabada (8154) to reach the landmark, while only Waqar, Kapil Dev, and Harbhajan Singh were younger than Rabada's 25 years and 248 days. Of all of them, Rabada has the best strike rate of 40.8.

"It's a massive feat to be included among a list of such names. When you start playing you don't ever think you will be on such a list and have such statistics," Rabada said.

He put his consistency at a level this demanding down to diligence and perseverance. "I don't think there is a magic answer. It's just hard work and spending time on your craft and seeing where you can get better and analysing it. It hasn't all been easy.

"You find yourself trying to perfect something that might seem so simple but it's constant repetition and hours and hours of work. It's being relentless with that and trying to see how much better you can get and finding ways. It's hard and relentless work."

While Rabada has played alongside Steyn, he is yet to share trade secrets with Waqar, who is part of the opposition camp, as bowling coach.

Asked if he sought tips from Waqar, Rabada indicated there may be time to pick his brain after the series. "We practised at the same ground but I think it would be a bit concerning if he was coaching me and not the Pakistan team," Rabada said. "He was a wonderful bowler and someone that I have watched a lot in my spare time, when I am trying to learn about the game, and I would love to chat to him once this is over."

"It's been hard work, like any Test match, especially in the subcontinent where you have to be a lot more patient. It tests you mentally, it tests you physically. I just got reminded of how Test cricket can impact you."

Kagiso Rabada

That may be too late to seek advice on how to generate reverse swing in Pakistan but Rabada and Waqar may want to reflect on the difference in conditions in Pakistan over the span of their careers. Rabada's national coach, Mark Boucher, remembers Pakistan being flat and conditions being ripe for reverse swing in the time of Waqar, while Rabada is experiencing it as spinner-friendly with variable bounce and "not a lot of demons but enough to be concerned about for batsmen". He however expects spin to play a role on the final two days, when South Africa's two left-armers, Keshav Maharaj and George Linde, will be key to their attempts to defend a total.

South Africa are effectively 29 for 4 and will need to bat well if they are to challenge Pakistan. But Rabada thinks they can still do enough to win the Test match. "That's what we believe. That's what we have to believe. Aiden (Markram) and Rassie (van der Dussen) batted extremely well and in the subcontinent wickets can fall in clusters. We are constantly tested and now we are going to get tested again tomorrow. We are up for the challenge. That's why we practice so hard - for times like these. Hopefully we can get the team in a good position and get some runs on the board so we can set a target."

As things stand, the match is delicately poised after a see-saw first three days, marking an interesting return to the longest format for Rabada. He has not played Test cricket since appearing for South Africa against England in Port Elizabeth last January. In that time he has been part of the IPL and T20I series against England, and he acknowledged that red-ball matches are a complex assessment of a players skills.

"Test cricket never gets old and it never gets any easier. You are constantly challenged," he said. "It's my first time playing Pakistan. That's quite amazing. It's the only place I haven't played at and I'm glad I could get the opportunity to play here. It's been hard work, like any Test match, especially in the subcontinent where you have to be a lot more patient. It tests you mentally, it tests you physically. I just got reminded of how Test cricket can impact you."

The trend of home umpires officiating in Tests during the pandemic will continue in the upcoming India-England series, with the ICC appointing the pair of Anil Chaudhary and Virender Sharma to stand alongside Nitin Menon in the first two Tests. Both matches will be played in Chennai, with the first Test starting on February 5 and the second from February 13.

While Menon, the only Indian official on the ICC's Elite Panel, will be standing in his fourth Test, it will be the maiden Test appearance for both Chaudhary and Sharma, both of whom are part of ICC's International Panel of umpires. While Chaudhary has an experience of officiating in 20 ODIs and 28 T20Is, Sharma has stood in just two ODIs and a solitary T20I.

Chaudhary will be the on-field umpire for the first Test, with Sharma replacing him in the second. C Shamshuddin, also part of the International Panel, will be the third umpire for the first Test, and will be replaced by Chaudhary for the following match. Former India fast bowler Javagal Srinath will be the match referee for England's entire tour, which also comprises five T20Is and three ODIs.

The ICC has not yet announced the roster for the final two Tests, which are to be played in Ahmedabad, including a day-night Test starting February 24 followed by the fourth and final Test from March 4. It remains to be seen whether the ICC will get a neutral umpire for the second leg of the Test series.

Although the pandemic has allowed the ICC and cricket boards to gauge the performance of several match officials on the International Panel, the debate on whether the best umpires should stand in a Test series has remained a key talking point during this period. Last December, West Indies Test captain Jason Holder had questioned why ICC was not making Elite umpires travel for bilateral series when players were being asked to adhere to bio-secure environment norms.

However, England's Richard Illingworth was recently announced as a neutral on-field umpire for the two-match Test series between Bangladesh and West Indies. But that was facilitated by the ICC only because hosts Bangladesh do not have an umpire in the ICC'S Elite Panel.

Menon, who became the 62nd Indian umpire to stand in Tests in 2019, has never stood in a pink-ball Test. However, he has the experience of standing in first-class matches under lights, including the Duleep Trophy and a Sheffield Shield game. Shamshuddin and Chaudhary are the next two senior-most umpires followed by Sharma and K Ananthapadmanabhan, both of whom were added to the International Panel recently.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, going public with that announcement Thursday to encourage others to receive the shot when they have the opportunity.

Popovich released the news on his 72nd birthday. He made the announcement through the NBA in the form of a video, just as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 73, the league's all-time scoring leader, did last week. Both are well within the age guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surrounding vaccine eligibility.

"Sciencewise, it's a no-brainer. It's the right thing to do so we can all get on track again,'' Popovich said in the video.

The video also shows Popovich receiving the vaccine. "I didn't feel it,'' he told the health care worker who gave him the shot.

CDC guidelines suggest that priority for receiving the vaccine should go to health care personnel, those living in long-term care facilities, front-line essential workers, those over the age of 65 and people "with underlying medical conditions'' that increase their vulnerability to COVID-19.