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      Grant Wahl Died of a Burst Blood Vessel, His Family Says

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      An autopsy in New York showed that the journalist had a tear in the ascending aorta, a large vessel that carries blood from the heart.Grant Wahl, the celebrated soccer journalist who died suddenly last week at the World Cup in Qatar, had a rupture in a blood vessel leading from the heart, his family announced on Wednesday.His death resulted from a weakness in an artery wall called an aneurysm, which may balloon outward and then tear open. An autopsy conducted in New York revealed that Mr. Wahl, 49, experienced a catastrophic rupture in the ascending aorta, which carries oxygenated blood from the heart.The autopsy puts an end to rampant speculation that followed Mr. Wahl’s death. Posts on social media hinted at links to Covid vaccines or retaliation by the Qatari government for an article Mr. Wahl had written about immigrant deaths.Mr. Wahl’s wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, is a leading infectious disease physician who rose to prominence during the coronavirus pandemic and advised President Biden’s transition team on Covid-19. She and the rest of the family rejected, in particular, the speculation linking his death to vaccines, saying that it was especially insulting because of her work.He probably died instantly and did not feel pain, Dr. Gounder said in an interview on Tuesday. “I really do feel some relief in knowing what it was,” she said.Mr. Wahl had been sick with a cold for several days before collapsing, and had written in his newsletter and on Twitter that he felt his body was breaking down after weeks of poor sleep and long days covering the games.He had just turned 49 and was quite healthy, making his death even more of a shock to his friends, family and readers. The sniffles and other cold symptoms he had were most likely unrelated to the aneurysm, Dr. Gounder said.Until the autopsy, Dr. Gounder said, she had been worried that perhaps she could have prevented his death if they had talked more often while he was in Qatar or if she had been there with him.Mr. Wahl’s brother, Eric Wahl, initially said on social media that he suspected foul play and later suggested that his brother might have experienced a blood clot in his lungs. On Tuesday, Eric Wahl said that he no longer believed those were factors in his brother’s death.The autopsy found that Mr. Wahl had an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm, a weakening of the blood vessel that often goes undetected. As the aneurysm grows, it may produce a cough, shortness of breath or chest pain, some of which the doctors consulted by Mr. Wahl in Qatar might have attributed to his cold and a possible case of bronchitis.In rare cases, the aneurysm can rupture and lead to death. Doctors are now exploring whether Mr. Wahl had Marfan syndrome, a risk factor for this type of aneurysm. He was tall and thin and had long arms, all of which can be signs of the genetic syndrome.Mr. Wahl joined Sports Illustrated in 1996 as a fact checker, a traditional entry route for young journalists, and wrote hundreds of articles on a variety of sports for the magazine over the next two decades.One early profile, a cover story on a teenage LeBron James in 2002, remained a touchstone for both writer and subject 20 years later. Mr. Wahl would occasionally reminisce about it to his 850,000 followers on Twitter, and Mr. James spoke about its meaning to him and his family while eulogizing the writer at a news conference and on social media over the weekend.But Mr. Wahl was best known for writing about soccer, which he began covering while he was a student reporter at Princeton University in the early 1990s. Through his books, tweets, podcasts and magazine articles, he became a guide of sorts for a generation of fans and readers just learning the game.He also used his profile and social-media megaphone to highlight the growth of women’s soccer, the breadth of corruption in soccer, human rights violations and gay rights.Mr. Wahl had worked at Sports Illustrated for more than 23 years when the magazine’s publisher abruptly fired him over a dispute about pandemic-related pay cuts. But he had a large following by then, and started an email newsletter and podcast that quickly became successful.In Qatar, Mr. Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He was in the press box in the closing minutes of the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands when he collapsed.According to two New York Times journalists who were present, medical personnel tried to revive Mr. Wahl for about 20 minutes before he was transported to a hospital in Doha. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.Dr. Gounder’s relationships with the Biden administration and public health agencies, including the New York City health department, helped her bring the unembalmed body to the United States for the autopsy.Dr. Gounder said she wanted to ascertain the circumstances of her husband’s death in part to quell online speculation. “I wanted to make sure the conspiracy theories about his death were put to rest,” she said. More

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      Photos of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open Through the Years

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      It was hard not to watch Serena Williams. And who would want to look away? Since she played her first U.S. Open, in 1998, she played with athleticism and emotion that quickly drew in even the most casual spectator. She married sport and entertainment in a way few other athletes have. Even when she was not moving, she was far from still.New York Times photographers had their eyes, and lenses, on Williams since that first Open, when she lost to Irina Spirlea in the third round. It did not take long for Williams to figure out how to navigate the tournament: A year later, she won the title with a straight-sets victory against Martina Hingis.Photographers captured Williams’s highs and lows from crowded courtside seating to the upper nosebleed seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium. They had cropped in close and had discovered unique vantage points to create images that spoke to her power and grace.Williams played her first U.S. Open when she was 16 and walked off the court on Friday a few weeks from turning 41. There are countless images of her over the years, but when you look at images of her playing over the course of 25 years, her athleticism, intensity and sparkle are always in the frame.1998: Serena Williams lost in the third round to Irina Spirlea. The previous year, Venus Williams beat Spirlea in a dramatic semifinal match.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times1999: The second year Serena Williams played at the U.S. Open, she won it, defeating Martina Hingis in the final.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times 2000: Serena Williams hitting a backhand during a third-round match. For the second straight year a Williams won the U.S. Open. In 2000, it was Venus as Serena lost to a finalist, Lindsay Davenport, in the quarterfinals.Vincent Laforet/The New York Times2001: Serena Williams watched Venus Williams defeat Jennifer Capriati in a semifinal match. She lost to Venus in the final.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times2004: Serena Williams wore a biker outfit at the 2004 U.S. Open, but her quarterfinal loss to Jennifer Capriati, marred by bad calls, made the biggest impact.Uli Seit for The New York TimesThe next year, Hawk-Eye review technology was introduced.Uli Seit for The New York Times2005: Serena Williams, above, lost to Venus in the fourth round. John Dunn for The New York Times2006: After defeating Ana Ivanovic in the third round. For the second straight year, Serena Williams lost in the fourth round, this time to Amélie Mauresmo.Andrew Gombert for The New York Times2007: During a third round match. For the third consecutive major in 2007, Serena lost to Justine Henin in the quarterfinals.Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times2008: In a fourth-round match. Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic in the final.Uli Seit for The New York Times2009: Serena and Venus won the U.S. Open women’s doubles championship, a decade after they won their first one.Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times2011: Doing the splits during a third-round encounter against Victoria Azarenka. The Australian Samantha Stosur defeated Serena Williams in the final.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times2012: For the first of two consecutive years, Serena and Victoria Azarenka played competitive championship matches. Serena won the 2012 final, 7-5, in the third set. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times2013: Azarenka again took Williams to a third set in the championship match, but came up short as Williams won her 17th major singles title.Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times2014: Hitting a forehand during a second-round match. Williams won her third consecutive U.S. Open title, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final.Barton Silverman/The New York Times2015: Two matches from achieving a Grand Slam, Williams fell to Italy’s Roberta Vinci in a semifinal match. Todd Heisler/The New York Times2016: Going after a lob during a second-round match. The Czech Karolina Pliskova knocked Williams out of the U.S. Open in the semifinals. Santiago Mejia/The New York Times2018: Williams made another U.S. Open final, but lost to Naomi Osaka in a highly controversial final.Ben Solomon for The New York Times2019: Defeating her rival Maria Sharapova in the first round. Williams lost the final to Bianca Andreescu of Canada.Ben Solomon for The New York Times2020: With no fans in the stands due to Covid-19, Williams lost to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times2022: In a match that felt more like a final, Williams lost in the third round to the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. Karsten Moran for The New York Times More

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      in Tennis

      This Wimbledon Champion Never Had a Tennis Lesson

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      Dick Savitt, the first Jewish player to win the English tournament, has spent his life helping other athletes, including Arthur Ashe. In 1951 Dick Savitt, a self-taught tennis player, stunned the world by winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, becoming the first Jewish champion of both vaunted tournaments.“Dick Savitt of Orange, N.J., who never took a tennis lesson, established himself as the world’s No. 1,” announced The New York Times after the Wimbledon win, one of the shortest finals ever played on Center Court at that time. The match (6-4, 6-4, 6-4) was over in 63 minutes.Mr. Savitt retired from major tournaments the following year. But he stayed committed to the sport, competing when he could and mentoring other athletes in New York City, where he has lived since the late 1950s. He has been in the same Manhattan apartment, near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, since 1963. His home is full of trophies and coffee table books, like “100 Years of Wimbledon” and “Great Jews in Sports.”Bid Goswami, a close friend of Mr. Savitt’s who led the men’s tennis program at Columbia University for almost 40 years, said that tennis greats like Arthur Ashe and Don Budge would seek him out for play when they came to town. “Mr. Ashe used to talk about Dick’s ‘heavy shots,’” he said.Mr. Savitt, who won Wimbledon in 1951, center, keeps his trophies and mementos in his apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Carly Zavala for The New York Times; Central Press, via Getty ImagesWhen he wasn’t playing with tennis stars or coaching young athletes at Columbia, Mr. Savitt would teach the sport to his son, Bob Savitt, who went on to found the commercial real estate company Savitt Partners. The two ended up competing in father/son tournaments together.As Wimbledon gets underway in London, The New York Times caught up with Dick Savitt, now 95, Bob Savitt and Mr. Goswami about their thoughts on tennis, New York and Dick Savitt’s legacy. The following interview is an edited and condensed version of the conversation.What brought you to New York City?Dick Savitt (DS): In the 1950s I was working for an oil firm in Texas. There was no money in tennis back then, so everyone was an amateur. My company asked me to open a New York office, and that’s why I came.It can be hard to find courts here. Where did you play?DS: I played a lot in Central Park, and also on the clay courts on 96th Street. I used to know the guy who ran them, so he knew what time I was going to come, and he would save the court for me. I didn’t have to wait. A lot of people would watch me play. There are now waiting lists to play on the courts.Bob Savitt (BS): I played the most with my dad at a Midtown tennis club and also at this apartment building on 65th and Columbus that had one court. A good friend of my father’s had court time there every Saturday and Sunday. A lot of the great players came to play there, like Bjorn Borg.Who did your father play with?BS: He played with Vitas Gerulaitis and Arthur Ashe the most, but also Dick Stockton and other professionals when they were in the city.DS: Ashe was very organized. He knew where he was weak, and he wanted me to help him. The way it works in tennis is when you play with people, you figure out where your efforts should go. If you played with a guy who was a better volleyer than you, you knew you needed to work on your volley. I remember helping Ashe with his backhand. We would play at Columbia or in the park. Once in a while we got a few beers afterward.Bid Goswami (BG): Dick used to play with his son a lot. They used to play the father/son nationals and when they finally won in 1981 after two or three tries, Dick said, “This is bigger than me winning Wimbledon.”A backhand return during the Wimbledon semifinals in 1951.Central Press — Hulton Archive, via Getty ImagesThe tennis center at Columbia University was named after you, Mr. Savitt. How did that come about?DS: I first met Bid at a club in Westchester where he was the assistant pro, and he became the coach at Columbia, and the program took off. This started in the 1980s, and I would play with some of the team members. When they put a permanent bubble over six outdoor courts they wanted to name it after me. We were fighting about it; I went to Cornell, so I didn’t think a place at Columbia should have my name.BG: Dick was my secret recruiting trick. I would say to these students, “Where else in this country can you get a Wimbledon champion to help you?” We had kids coming in from Asia, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, all over America, and when they got to New York, the first thing they wanted to do was meet Dick.He studies tennis, so he would come in and watch someone play, and he would figure out what was wrong with his serve or whatever. He noticed these little things that only he could point out. So I wanted to name the tennis center after him. I had his friends explain to him, people are slowly forgetting who you are, so this facility should be named after you.Mr. Savitt, you made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 1951, which gave you lifetime perks, including being able to access the locker room in Flushing Meadows. What are your favorite memories from the tournament?BS: My dad used to go every day and every night for two weeks. It’s harder for him to get around now, but we went last year and had a great day, and we will go again this year.When the tournament was at Forest Hills, it was much smaller, and everyone was in suits and jackets. We would talk to the players. They didn’t have the entourages, all those coaches and trainers, so you had access to them.For most of his life at Forest Hills or Flushing Meadows, he couldn’t walk five feet without bumping into someone who was a friend or someone who knew him when he was playing competitively.Our box is right behind the court, so when my dad knew all the guys playing he would actually be coaching them even though you weren’t allowed to. He would encourage them when they got down, or if he saw their opponent had a weak backhand he would say, “Get on the backhand.”BG: At the U.S. Open, back in the day, all the tennis people would know Dick. They would call him Mr. Savitt, even Arthur Ashe. It’s a little different now, but I think he prefers not to be known. He was always very serious about watching tennis, and he didn’t want to talk too much. I remember Alan King, the comedian, had a box next to Dick’s, and when Alan was waving to the crowds, Dick would get mad and say: “Sit down. Sit Down. This is about the tennis.” More

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      Kyrie Irving Makes His Brooklyn Return

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      With new vaccine rules in place, the Nets can finally play their star guard at Barclays Center.Kyrie Irving basked in it — a crowd eager for his return, and his belief that he had won the battle he fought this season against vaccine mandates. When asked about the game, after Sunday night’s 119-110 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, he smiled.He called it “historic” — being able to play for the Nets in Brooklyn. He said he had tried to stay grounded as he prepared for the warm reception he would receive.“I don’t take for granted what happened tonight,” Irving said.Just in time for baseball season, and for the N.B.A. playoffs, New York City created an exception to its private-sector coronavirus vaccine mandate that allows local athletes and performers to work in the city regardless of their vaccination status. That announcement on Thursday meant that Irving, who has declined to be vaccinated against Covid-19, could finally play at home.“Now we can move on,” Irving said. “Now that everybody can move on, especially in the locker room. Limited distractions, no fear. Next game we’ll be better.”His team, which began the season with championship expectations, is now fighting for a playoff berth. Irving’s return might give the Nets some stability, finally, after a season mostly without it. But in his first game back at Barclays Center, the Nets lost, and time is running out for them to develop the cohesion they will need to make a run this postseason.“This is the situation that we’re in,” forward Kevin Durant said. “Put our heads down and go to work. I mean, you know, it’s a challenge. Everybody’s going through challenges this season as a team. This is what we’ve got in front of us.”It had been nearly 10 months since Irving played in the Nets’ home arena. On Sunday night, the crowd of 18,166 people — a record number for a Nets game at Barclays Center — hailed him.Before the game, a fan shown on the video board simply yelled, “Kyrie,” stretching out the final vowel. Irving got the loudest cheer of any player when the starting lineups were introduced.Just before tipoff, he stood on the Nets’ logo at midcourt with the scoreboard camera fixed on him. The fans roared and Irving pointed up at them, turning to acknowledge each side of the arena.“It was great to see him out there,” Durant said. “Good to see the fans excited for him.”When Covid-19 vaccines became available, the N.B.A. created separate protocols, making it significantly easier for players who got a vaccine to stay active and participate in team activities. Although New York City’s law, and the N.B.A.’s insistence that teams follow local guidelines, had prevented Irving from playing at home, he was allowed to play on the road while observing stricter testing protocols.The Nets at first said they weren’t interested in a part-time participant, but then changed their mind. Since Jan. 5, Irving has been a part-time player, suiting up for road games.His stance against getting a coronavirus vaccine is unusual in the league. The N.B.A. and its players’ union now say 97 percent of players have been vaccinated and 75 percent have received a booster shot against the illness that has led to more than 40,000 reported deaths in New York City.Recently, as the city began loosening restrictions, Irving’s teammates began itching for his return for home games. Adam Silver, the N.B.A. commissioner, said the law didn’t make sense because it allowed unvaccinated players on visiting teams to play.On Thursday, suspiciously close to the start of baseball season, Mayor Eric Adams of New York announced an exception for local athletes and performers, setting up Irving’s Barclays debut.“It’s not just the talent that Kyrie has, the continuity he provides playing at home,” Coach Steve Nash said. “But the amount of minutes and the amount of burden in the roles that guys have to assume when he’s not here.”The date of his debut was not ideal. The Nets got home shortly before dawn on Sunday after playing Saturday night in Miami.Irving missed his first five shots and was 6 for 22, but that didn’t quiet the crowd’s vocal appreciation for him.“You feel the, kind of, anticipation,” Irving said.Irving missed his first five shots and was 6 for 22 in his return to Barclays Center.John Minchillo/Associated PressHe made only two of his first 17 shots, but was more efficient in the fourth quarter, making three shots in a row to tie the game at 104. He was fouled on his next attempt, and when he stood at the line, the crowd chanted his name.Early this season, even without Irving, the Nets found themselves in the top quarter of the conference, with Durant and James Harden contributing to wins. But they lost Durant for 21 consecutive games because of a knee injury. Harden was traded to Philadelphia in February for Ben Simmons, who has yet to play for the Nets.Only seven regular-season games remain for the Nets. They are now tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference and would rank ninth on tiebreakers if the season ended today. That is a seeding position that would require them to win two play-in games just to make it into the playoffs.It was noted to Nash that the Nets might now have a starting five they can count on having for the rest of the season. He smiled wryly at the suggestion.“We’re very hesitant to pretend that that’s just going to be the way it is,” he said.Their season has been too unstable for Nash to rely on that. More

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      Tissot Celebrates the N.B.A.’s 75th With Team Straps

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      The line includes a Wilson strap, made from the same leather as the league’s basketballs.For those who want to wear their basketball passions on their wrists, Tissot has created a line of leather straps for its Supersport watches to mark the N.B.A.’s 75th anniversary season.“Our partnership with the N.B.A. serves as inspiration for our watches and we are proud to be able to create models that channel that free spirit and street style that illustrates the N.B.A.,” Sylvain Dolla, chief executive of Tissot, wrote in an email. Since 2015, the brand has been the league’s official timekeeper.The 23 strap designs were inspired by the uniforms of 11 teams, including the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks (its straps are to debut this month). The range also includes the Wilson strap, crafted from the same leather used to make the N.B.A.’s basketballs. The straps are 22 millimeters (almost nine-tenths of an inch) wide and sell for $45 each on the Tissot website and the brand’s three New York City boutiques.Sports has long been a popular theme for watch and watch accessory brands. In February, Hublot introduced the Big Bang e Premier League, a limited edition of the brand’s connected watch with the league’s lion logo in its signature purple color. In 2020 the strap company Everest suggested a series of watch band-and-face combos that paid homage to Major League Baseball teams. And since 2019 Invicta has partnered with the N.F.L. on a series of watches featuring team logos on the dials and straps in team colors. At the lower end of the market, there are a wide variety of licensed silicone straps for Apple watches that are designed around sports logos and uniforms.Tissot said it planned to release three new models in the Supersport line this year, including a black version with a yellow second hand, and another with blue and silver features, all of which would be able to accommodate the N.B.A. straps.“You can keep the steel bracelet for business occasions and switch it up for the weekend,” Mr. Dolla said. More

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      Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson's N.B.A. Returns Prompt Divergent Questions

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      Thompson’s comeback restores the Warriors’ backcourt, one of the most symbiotic connections in sports. Irving’s return raises concerns about the Nets’ lineup disruptions.It is a tale of two returns.Kyrie Irving is back with the Nets — well, on a part-time basis at least — after spending the season sidelined for reasons of his own making: the stubborn refusal of a Covid-19 vaccination.Klay Thompson will soon suit up for the Golden State Warriors after 30 months in which unlikely injuries pried him away from basketball. Thirty months, two and a half seasons, of hard and sometimes heartbreaking rehab.Thompson’s comeback brings us the opportunity to marvel again at one of the most symbiotic connections in sports. From 2012 until his initial injury in 2019, Thompson and Stephen Curry, his close friend and backcourt mate, offered steady lessons in combined greatness: ballet-like cutting and passing, orbital jumpers from every angle — all of it performed in remarkable tandem.We finally get to see Klay and Steph, Part II.Thompson’s return does bring about questions, but they are as simple and straightforward as his pull-up 3-pointers. Will he return to the All-Star form that helped lead Golden State to three N.B.A. titles? And if so, how long will it take?Stephen Curry, left, has kept the Warriors atop the standings, but nothing will feel quite right until Thompson is back in the mix.Jeff Chiu/Associated PressIrving’s comeback is another matter altogether. His return is a gamble. First, it sends a dubious message about personal responsibility during a public crisis. It also leaves the Nets in a muddle. The team is close to realizing its significant dreams, even as it now operates under the shadow of Irving’s most recent act: Here one game, gone the next.Few in basketball have ever been as elusive as Irving is when he winds through opposing teams and slices down the court — a fact underscored by Irving’s return to the Nets on Wednesday, when he scored 22 points and helped lead the team back from a 19-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Pacers, 129-121.Irving is just as hard to pin down off the hardwood. There may not be an N.B.A. point guard as fine at getting his teammates involved with pinpoint passing. But he also has a reputation for a history of being an erratic personality who can just as easily implode teams. (See: Boston Celtics; Cleveland Cavaliers.)Irving’s belief that the earth is flat? That was once a funny sideshow that he couldn’t quite explain in any manner that made sense.His refusal to be vaccinated during a pandemic that has killed at least 5 million worldwide and more than 830,000 Americans, with many of the hardest-hit communities being the Black and Brown neighborhoods that Irving takes pride in helping? That’s a perplexing travesty.What a difference three months makes in this troubled world. In October, Nets officials were adamant they would not allow Irving on their team so long as he refused to abide by New York City mandates requiring workers at venues as large as the Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden to inoculate against the virus.Why bother if Irving could play only when the team was on the road?“Each member of our organization must pull in the same direction,” General Manager Sean Marks said.Of course, the Nets waffled. Like almost every team in the N.B.A., they’ve been trotting out patchwork lineups filled with minor-league replacements because Covid-19 protocols have sidelined so many regulars. Never mind that by this week, every player kept from the team because of positive coronavirus tests had returned — the Nets had cover to reverse course on Irving.Brooklyn made a business decision, altering its stated principles, even as New York City finds itself swamped by another surge fueled by another coronavirus variant in this plague. Irving is back, adding to the bottom line that really matters in sports: winning and the heady financial rewards that come with it.The Nets, already gifted with Kevin Durant and James Harden, are chasing a championship and Irving’s return brings with him not questions of wonder and potential, but of logistics.With Irving, left, James Harden, and Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets’ big three has the talent to win a championship.Darron Cummings/Associated PressDoes Kyrie Irving give the Nets the best chance to win a championship if he can’t play at home, in Manhattan against the crosstown Knicks or in Toronto versus the rival Raptors because vaccination is a requisite for entering Canada?The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 6The global surge. More

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      Kyrie Irving Returns to the Brooklyn Nets, Part Time

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      Irving remains unvaccinated. He will be eligible to play only road games, except those against the Knicks and the Toronto Raptors.The Nets will allow Kyrie Irving, whom they barred from the team until he received a Covid-19 vaccination, to rejoin the team part time, the Nets said in a statement on Friday, despite Irving’s still being unvaccinated and cases skyrocketing in New York City.The announcement was a surprising about-face for a franchise that had said in no uncertain terms that it was not open to Irving’s working part time. As a result of a New York City edict from the summer mandating that employees and patrons of indoor dining, gyms and other similar establishments be vaccinated, Irving is still barred from playing home games at Barclays Center without a valid medical or religious exemption.The Nets, who are 21-8 and are in the top spot in the Eastern Conference, cited their high number of players in the N.B.A.’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols as justification for bringing back Irving. On Friday evening, the team listed a dozen players as unable to take the court against the Orlando Magic on Saturday at Barclays Center, leaving the team in danger of not having enough players to compete. Seven of those players were listed as being held out because of the Covid-19 protocols — part of a recent leaguewide spike.“After discussions with our coaches, players and staff, the organization has decided to have Kyrie Irving rejoin the team for games and practices in which he is eligible to participate,” Sean Marks, the Nets’ general manager, said.Marks said the decision had the “full support of our players” and came after “careful consideration of our current circumstances.” In addition, Marks said, “We believe that the addition of Kyrie will not only make us a better team but allow us to more optimally balance the physical demand on the entire roster.”Before the Nets’ announcement, Irving posted a video on his Instagram story showing himself wearing basketball shoes.Last month, Mayor-elect Eric Adams said that the city would not change its vaccine requirements once he takes office next month. A spokesperson for Adams didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about whether there had been a change in plans.Irving will be eligible to play in all road games for the Nets except for those against the crosstown Knicks and the Toronto Raptors. The Canadian government, beginning next month, will bar unvaccinated athletes from entering the country. If Irving takes the floor for the Nets’ next road game, Dec. 23 against the Portland Trailblazers, he will be allowed to play in 24 remaining games in the regular season. Irving is slated to lose half of his salary this year as a result of not playing at Barclays, unless he gets vaccinated.Irving’s return to the Nets is, at least outwardly, an awkward visual for the Nets and the N.B.A. In New York City, the pandemic has continued to rage with the arrival of the Omicron variant, with long lines surrounding testing sites as a result of a surge in cases.In recent weeks, multiple N.B.A. teams have had to cancel practices, postpone games and place dozens of players in protocols as a result of rising cases. On Friday, the N.F.L. postponed three games as a result of outbreaks. Medical experts say the unvaccinated, like Irving, remain the most at risk from the coronavirus.While 97 percent of N.B.A. players are vaccinated and the league has run advertisements promoting vaccines’ use, Irving is one of the league’s top stars and most visible vaccine holdout. His stance has made him a particular cause célèbre of conservatives in the United States, such as Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, who publicly praised Irving for holding out, and those who have spread vaccine misinformation.The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 4A new U.S. surge. More

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      in Football

      When Stuyvestant High Finished Its Football Season After 9/11

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      Stuyvesant High, blocks from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, finished its football season in 2001 under dour circumstances. Was the attempt at normalcy worth it?Follow our live coverage of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.The football season began with a victory for the Peglegs of Stuyvesant High School. A team laden with seniors and playoff expectations downed a tough rival from Staten Island in the season’s first game, played on the warm afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 8, 2001.Three days later came the terrifying tragedy that changed the world and left an indelible emotional mark on the students at Stuyvesant and their football team.Stuyvesant sits just a scant few blocks from the World Trade Center. So close that the 10-story school building shook as the hijacked jets sliced into the twin towers. So close that some students feared they would be crushed if the buildings fell.“I remember so many of the moments from that terrible day and our struggle afterward to put together a season,” said Paul Chin, a wide receiver on that team. “I remember it feeling by feeling, image by image. They are shards of memories, and they do not go away.”Everyone on that team carries them, added Chin, now 37 and an associate professor at the Relay Graduate School of Education.“It’s been 20 years?” he said. “How can that be?”Think for a moment about Sept. 11 and sports. How the stories told most are those of the professionals or the collegiate athletes, big names on the big stage, and their defiant, resolute return to action. The Yankees and their run to the World Series. Mike Piazza’s homer for the Mets in the team’s first home game after the attacks. One of the first big college football games: Nebraska hosting Rice in a stadium dripping with American flags and unfettered displays of patriotism.High school football, just getting underway that summer, played an important but less-heralded role in helping an unmoored nation heal from its wounds. All across America — north to south, west to east — football seasons played by little-known teens provided comfort in a more personal way than the World Series or Michigan vs. Ohio State.Few high school teams were more affected by Sept. 11 than the Stuyvesant Peglegs, who remain unusually close even now. They attend one another’s weddings, celebrate one another’s newborn babies, maintain group chats and fantasy leagues. Many of them showed up this summer for the funeral of Matt Hahn, a beloved assistant coach who died in July at age 67. Paralyzed from the waist down, Hahn mentored the team from a wheelchair.A silly photo of the 2001 Stuyvesant varsity football team.“He was so important to the kids at that time. His example meant everything to that team,” said David Velkas, the team’s now retired coach, who was then in his first year leading the squad. “Matty let nothing stop him from what he was doing and living his life. And with that in mind, we would not let Sept. 11 stop us.”None of his players lost close family members in the attacks, Velkas said, but nearly all saw the devastation up close. They scrambled with their fellow students to evacuate from school. They headed north, sometimes sprinting, fearful of being hit by falling buildings or flying concrete.They made their way home — or in the case of players like Chin, who lived in Battery Park City, which were uninhabitable because of the attacks — to the homes of friends and family members.They wondered what was next. What would become of their school year, their beloved team, their season of high hopes?Stuyvesant, for over 100 years one of New York City’s most elite public schools, closed for nearly a month. Its building became a triage center.“For a while, nobody knew if we were going to have a season,” Velkas told me during one of nearly a dozen recent phone interviews with members of the team. “We were in limbo. Other schools were playing in the city and across the country, but we were not. But we also knew that giving the teenagers on that team something to hold on to — that was key.”The entire school temporarily moved for weeks to Brooklyn Technical High School, where the Peglegs practiced football in the morning and went to classes in the afternoon. There were no showers so they changed in a shop room.In their first game back in late September, they stood alongside their Long Island City High opponents for the national anthem. That had never happened before. Velkas — whose wife’s firefighter cousin died in the attacks — passed out American flag decals for players to affix to their helmets. The Peglegs lost, 42-14.By the middle of October, Stuyvesant’s roughly 3,000 students had returned to their campus. An awful, acrid smell still hung in the air. The streets around the school had filled with checkpoints, barricades and police officers carrying high-powered weaponry.Football traditionally got short shrift at Stuyvesant, which is known for its competitive academics. But the school went all out in 2001 to support the team, recalled Eddie Seo, a tight end that year who now volunteers as an assistant coach.Seo said that officials arranged buses to freight students from all over the five boroughs to that year’s homecoming game at John F. Kennedy High in the Bronx. The Peglegs lost again, but what Seo recalled most vividly was how the stands were filled with what felt like a thousand fans instead of the usual few dozen.“I came off the field, and I could hear my friends in the stands saying, ‘Great catch, great play!’” Seo said. “I had not heard that before. That was as good a way as any to heal from what we had been through.”On the hard season went. Key players sustained season-ending injuries. A few quit.The 2001 varsity captains Nick Oxenhorn (21) and David Olesh (89) with the varsity coaches, from bottom left: Kevin Gault, Alfred Burnett, David Velkas and Peter Bologna. Courtesy David VelkasEven before Sept. 11, the Peglegs did not have a field of their own. They practiced in weedy public parks across Manhattan. In the aftermath of the attacks, all the parks had shuttered or were unreachable but one, on 10th Street and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. To get there, the team received permission to bus through a restricted area near ground zero. That meant passing a massive pile of smoldering rubble: the remnants of the fallen towers.On each trip, the bus would stop, and workers in hazmat suits would hose it down with water. “Passing by the pile,” remembered Velkas, “sometimes we would hear a horn blow. The workers had found the remains of someone. We would be still, and I would tell everyone to be quiet.”Some players prayed, he said. Others sat stone faced with grief.A question must be asked, all these years later, and given the benefit of hindsight.With our generation’s increased understanding of trauma and post-traumatic stress — and our knowledge of how the nation rushed into a disastrous war — was it the right choice for Stuyvesant High, or any youth sports team, to return to play so soon?“Does it make sense to have a team full of high school football players driving through the wreckage of 9/11 for practice?” wondered Lance Fraenkel, who captained Stuyvesant’s junior varsity team in 2001. “Maybe we should have been inconvenienced and gone around. And maybe we should have paused the whole season. But I think it is hard to make those decisions in the moment, and looking back I am glad we played.”The season, he said, gave the players an emotional lift in a time of great need.When it ended, Stuyvesant’s record was 2-5. But after Sept. 11, winning was not the point. Just playing was victory enough. More