PRO BASKETBALL
NEW YORK (AP) — Ben Simmons will have surgery to alleviate pain in his back caused by a herniated disk, the Brooklyn Nets said.
The procedure will be done Thursday. The Nets said the decision was made after consultation with multiple back specialists.
Simmons sat out this entire season. The No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft didn’t play in Philadelphia after requesting a trade, citing mental health concerns. After he was dealt to Brooklyn in February in a deal for James Harden, he was bothered by the back while trying to rebuild his conditioning.
The Nets originally said he had back spasms but later said the problem was a herniated disk. Simmons eventually resumed workouts and hoped to make his debut during the playoffs, but that plan was scrapped when he experienced more pain.
Simmons will have a microdiscectomy, in which a small fragment of the disk is removed.
PRO FOOTBALL
LONDON (AP) — The first regular-season NFL game in Germany will be between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Seattle Seahawks at the home of soccer club Bayern Munich.
The game will take place at the Allianz Arena on Nov. 13, the NFL said. Frankfurt will also be staging a regular-season game in Germany during the next four years.
The schedule for the three NFL games in London next season was also announced, with the Green Bay Packers becoming the final team to play in Europe.
The Packers will take on the New York Giants on Oct. 9 at the home of Premier League soccer team Tottenham, a week after the Minnesota Vikings play the New Orleans Saints at the same stadium.
On Oct. 30, Wembley Stadium will host the Denver Broncos against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who played games there for seven straight seasons until 2019 before playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last year.
The final international game will be between the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 21 in Mexico City.
COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers bolstered their secondary, signing cornerback Bryce Callahan to a one-year deal.
Callahan, who is entering his eighth season, has spent the last three years in Denver after playing in Chicago from 2015-18. The 5-foot-9, 188-pound cornerback missed the 2019 season due to foot issues and then played only six games last year due to a knee injury.
In 66 career games, the 30-year-old former Rice player has six interceptions, 29 passes defensed, 193 tackles and five sacks.
AUTO RACING
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drivers Matt Kenseth and Hershel McGriff and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine were selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Mike Helton was named the Landmark Award winner for outstanding contributions to the sport during a ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. They will officially be inducted on Jan. 20.
Kenseth was a first-ballot selection, Shelmerdine was voted in on his third try and McGriff his seventh. Kenseth and Shelmerdine were voted in on the modern day ballot, while McGriff made it in on the pioneer ballot.
The 50-year-old Kenseth drove 18 full seasons on the NASCAR circuit before retiring in 2020 with 39 Cup victories and 20 poles. His 39 wins are tied for 21st all-time.
Kenseth reached almost every major milestone in NASCAR.
He won the Daytona 500 twice, the Coca-Cola 600 and the All-Star race. He also captured the 2003 Cup Series championship, capping a dominating season in which he led the points standings for the final 32 weeks. He made the NASCAR playoffs in 13 of 14 seasons and finished runner-up twice.
SOCCER
SEATTLE (AP) — Raúl Ruidíaz scored on a deflected shot late in the first half, added a second goal in the 80th minute and the Seattle Sounders beat Pumas 3-0 to win the CONCACAF Champions League title.
The Sounders became the first team from Major League Soccer to claim the championship of club teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean since the current format was adopted in 2008. Seattle was the fifth MLS team to reach the final and the first to finish the task.
Nicolas Lodeiro added a final punctuation in the 88th minute with his third goal of the final after he scored both Seattle goals on penalty kicks in the first leg last week in Mexico City when the sides played to a 2-2 draw.
The title earned Seattle a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup and added to a full trophy case that includes U.S. Open Cup titles, an MLS Supporters’ Shield and two MLS Cup titles.
TENNIS
MADRID (AP) — Rafael Nadal got off to a good start in his return from injury, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic in two sets to reach the third round at the Madrid Open.
Nadal showed few signs of rust in his 6-1, 7-6 (4) opening win at home. He cruised in the first set and recovered in the second after twice losing his serve following a rain interruption.
The fourth-ranked Nadal had been out for nearly 45 days after a rib stress fracture halted his great start to the season, highlighted by winning his record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
PARIS (AP) — Total prize money at the French Open will be about 7% higher this year than it was for the last pre-pandemic edition in 2019 — with an increase of 35% for players who lose in the first round of singles — but the singles champions will each receive slightly less than they did three years ago.
The French Tennis Federation announced it will hand out a total of 43.6 million euros (about $46 million) in 2022.
The clay-court Grand Slam tournament begins on May 22, with Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejcikova as the reigning champions.
COLLEGE SPORTS
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita State fired athletic director Darron Boatright amid growing criticism over the university’s inability to compete in the new market of name, image and likeness payments to athletes.
Sarah Adams, the school's senior associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator, will become interim athletic director while a search is conducted for Boatright’s replacement.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
