Comics » The former Los Angeles Lakers star won

Kobe Bryant is a winner in retirement http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-zach-allen-jersey , too.

Oscar in the animated short category for ”Dear Basketball,” a poem he wrote after ending his 20-year career on the court in 2016.

He’ll add it to an already jammed trophy collection that includes five NBA championships with the Lakers, two Olympic gold medals, NBA Finals most valuable player awards, a league MVP award and four All-Star game MVP awards.

Backstage, Bryant looked lovingly at the statue cradled in his hands and mouthed, ”My God.”

”I feel better than winning championships,” he said, a smile never leaving his face. ”This is crazy, man, it’s crazy.”

As executive producer of the six-minute film, Bryant accepted his golden Oscar statue from ”Star Wars” star Mark Hamill on Sunday night. He shared the award with Disney animator Glen Keane.

PRO FOOTBALL

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Shaquem Griffin did 20 reps on the bench press with a prosthetic left hand in what was by far the best feel-good story of the NFL combine.

”My goal was six,” acknowledged Griffin, who almost doubled his previous high of 11 reps and surpassed the 17 his twin brother, Shaquille, managed at last year’s combine before the Seattle Seahawks selected the speedy cornerback in the third round.

Griffin is expected to be a mid-rounder like his brother.

”This is a legitimate football player Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey ,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. ”He’s an energy giver.”

One who, conversely, fed off the hoots and hollers during his bench press.

”Everybody in the stands was hyping me up. I got the guys I’m here with hyping me up. It felt amazing,” Griffin said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Police were searching for suspended Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith, who authorities said Sunday is suspected of domestic violence.

Someone called 911 to report a domestic violence incident at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, a San Francisco police spokesman said. He added Smith fled the San Francisco home before officers arrived.

Sgt. Michael Andraychak said the victim’s injuries were not life-threatening. Andraychak said investigators are asking for the public’s help finding him.

The troubled linebacker has been arrested several times on charges of drunken driving, vandalism and illegal possession of assault rifles among other charges since the San Francisco 49ers drafted him in 2011 in the first round. The 49ers released him 2015 after he was arrested and charged with his third drunken driving in four years.

The Raiders signed him in 2015 and he played nine games for them until the NFL suspended him for substance abuse violations. The 28-year-old’s application to the NFL commissioner for reinstatement was initially denied in 2016 and is still pending.

DOPING

LONDON (AP) – A report published by British legislators has accused IAAF President Sebastian Coe of misleading a parliamentary inquiry into doping.

The digital, culture, media and sports committee’s report was critical of Coe’s responses to questions regarding how much he knew about doping within track and field before the problems were revealed by investigative journalists and whistle-blowers.

The committee suggested Coe could have acted sooner to clean up the sport while he served as vice president of the international track and field federation until 2015, when he won an election to succeed Lamine Diack as president.

Coe appeared before the committee in December 2015.

LONDON (AP) – Bradley Wiggins used a banned powerful corticosteroid to enhance his performance while preparing to win the Tour de France in 2012, a British parliamentary committee said in a doping investigation report that accuses Team Sky of crossing an ”ethical line” after preaching zero tolerance.

The legislators said they received evidence that shows Team Sky sought a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for Wiggins to take triamcinolone ”not to treat medical need” – asthma – ”but to improve his power to weight ratio.”

In a statement, Wiggins denied ”any drug was used without medical need.” Team Sky defended its reputation in a statement criticizing ”the anonymous and potentially malicious claim” by members of parliament.

But the report from a committee established in 2015 to investigate doping casts doubt on the team’s use of medication and failure to keep accurate medical records.

TRACK AND FIELD

LONDON (AP) – Roger Bannister, the first runner to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile, has died. He was 88.

Bannister’s family said in a statement that he died peacefully on Saturday in Oxford.

On a windy late afternoon in Oxford on May 6, 1954, Bannister ran four laps on a cinder track in 3 minutes Phil Haynes Jersey , 59.4 seconds to crack the mythical 4-minute mile – a feat many had thought humanly impossible.

A few months later in 1954, Bannister beat Australian rival John Landy in the ”Miracle Mile” or ”Mile of the Century” at the Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia as both men ran under 4 minutes.

Bannister then gave up running to pursue a long and distinguished medical career.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The month of December has been a special time for the New England Patriots during the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era.Since the pair arrived in 2000, the Patriots are 64-13 during the final month of the regular season. Brady has been the starter for all but six of those victories — four during his rookie season in 2000 and two in 2008 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener.Still, the 41-year-old quarterback’s 58 December wins are the most in NFL history. His .843 winning percentage is second-best among quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era. Roger Staubach (17-3, .850) is first.Patriots special teams captain Matt Slater is one of the few players left on New England’s roster with enough tenure to appreciate that run and the emphasis Belichick puts on this portion of the season.“As coach says, ‘Football season starts after Thanksgiving,'” Slater said.Just for good measure, Brady is 75-18 in regular-season games played on or after Thanksgiving.Three of their final five games are at home, beginning with Sunday’s matchup with Minnesota.But even after the Patriots (8-3) earned their latest post-Turkey Day win last week over the Jets , Slater said the message coming from Belichick and Brady is far from a state of being content.“I don’t think we’ve played our best football yet,” Slater said. “I think it was a step in the right direction.”That’s not good news for a Vikings team that is in position to make the playoffs, but is also a few losses away from peering in from the outside.Minnesota (6-4-1) has lost four straight regular-season meetings with New England, though the teams haven’t met since 2014. The Vikings have won twice at New England, but their last victory was in 2000 in Belichick’s first year.Running back Dalvin Cook said the Vikings are trying to concentrate on themselves and not the Patriots’ mystique .“We’re going to get caught up in us playing good football Ugo Amadi Jersey , and that’s what we’ve got to focus on,” he said. “Everybody can go into the whole thing of ‘New England this.’ We respect Tom, we respect the Patriots, we respect everything they’ve got going. But it’s more about us at this point, about how we’re playing football and about just the little things we’re doing. We’ve got to go in and focus on those.”Here are some things to watch for in Sunday’s game:TOUGH ON TOM:Vikings coach Mike Zimmer’s defenses have had some success in minimizing Brady’s impact in some matchups against the five-time Super Bowl champion. Though Zimmer’s teams have lost three of four games against the Patriots, with the Vikings in 2014, as the defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 2010 and as the defensive coordinator for Dallas in 2003, the Bengals beat New England 13-6 in 2013 with Zimmer in charge of the defense.Over those four games, Brady has been intercepted only once, but his average against Zimmer’s defenses is only 204 passing yards and one touchdown with a 56.3 percent completion rate.The game at New England for the Vikings is sandwiched between matchups with Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Seattle’s Russell Wilson, so Zimmer, his staff and his players have had their hands full lately and will continue to into the next month.“Like Belichick said about Rodgers,” Zimmer said of Brady, “I’m glad he’s not in our division.”GETTING THE GROUND GAME GOING:The Vikings have the third-fewest rushing yards in the league this year, after finishing seventh last season. Though the success of their passing game and particular game situations have factored into them falling to 28th in the NFL in attempts after totaling the second-most rushes last year, they’ll need an uptick down the stretch and in the playoffs Dwayne Haskins Jersey , if they make it, to keep winning.Attacking the perimeter last week against the Packers was productive, with Cook and Stefon Diggs each taking jet sweep plays for 9 and 12 yards, respectively. There’s another untapped source of rushing yardage that lies with quarterback Kirk Cousins, too.Though Cousins had just 17 yards on six attempts and has never rushed for more than 38 yards in an NFL game, he’s had plenty of opportunities to bolt for a first down this year that he’s passed up in favor of a throw after the pocket has collapsed.“I can’t miss those opportunities when they’re there, and you also can’t go looking for them when they’re not there,” Cousins said. “You just have to play and react instinctively, and when they present themselves be ready to attack.”FAMILIAR FOE:Sunday will be a reunion of sorts for Patriots receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, who spent the first four years of his career in Minnesota (2013-16) before being signed by the Raiders the following year.Patterson had a career-high four touchdown catches and was utilized out of the backfield as a rookie in 2013. But he developed a reputation as bad route-runner and barely got any time at receiver in his second and third seasons in Minnesota.He bounced back and had a career-best 52 catches during his final season in 2016.“They’re using him way better than we did,” said Zimmer, who coached Patterson for three seasons beginning in 2014. “I think they use him in a number of different ways. I mean, it’s good to see for him. I wish we would have used him a little bit better.”