Patrick Mahomes dominated the voting for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award. Now, he’ll try to break the MVP curse. Mahomes, who also won in 2018, easily outdistanced Jalen Hurts, receiving 48 of 50 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. He earned 490 points to 193 for Hurts, who got one first-place vote, 26 seconds, 11 thirds and 10 fourths. Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs face Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Game time 6:30 p.m. on Fox.
Six-time All-Pro offensive lineman Joe Thomas and lockdown cornerback Darrelle Revis got voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on their first try. Thomas and Revis join a new class of Hall of Famers that also includes return finalists DeMarcus Ware, Zach Thomas and Ronde Barber. Senior candidates Joe Klecko, Chuck Howley and Ken Riley, along with coaching candidate Don Coryell also got voted into the Hall and will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, this summer.
The NFL's chief medical officer says the league is prepared for any emergency on game day, whether it's a preseason exhibition or the Super Bowl between Kansas City and Philadelphia on Sunday. Dr. Allen Sills says that was underscored by the way medical personnel were able to help Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin, who collapsed in cardiac arrest during a game against Cincinnati last month. Hamlin was resuscitated and continues his recovery, but he was doing well enough to travel to Phoenix this week to accept a community service award.
Damar Hamlin has made his second appearance in Phoenix during Super Bowl week, joining the first responders onstage at the “NFL Honors” who helped save his life. The Buffalo Bills safety received the NFLPA’s Alan Page Community Award on Wednesday, a little more than a month after he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati. He appeared again at “NFL Honors” on Thursday night after the first responders were recognized. Hamlin collapsed on the field after a collision with a Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins on Jan. 2.
NBA
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 25 points in his first game since returning to Brooklyn and the Nets beat the Chicago Bulls 116-105, hours after trading superstar Kevin Durant to Phoenix. Joe Harris had 18 points, and Yuta Watanabe chipped in 14 points in 22 minutes off the bench. Dorian Finney-Smith, who came with Dinwiddie from Dallas in the trade for Kyrie Irving, had nine points and nine rebounds in his Nets debut. It was Dinwiddie’s first game in a Nets uniform since Dec. 27, 2020. Zach LaVine scored 38 points and DeMar DeRozan had 14 for Chicago, which lost its second straight and fell to 10-18 on the road.
The Boston Celtics have agreed to trade forward Justin Jackson and a pair of future second-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for big man Mike Muscala. That's according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been announced. The move bolsters the front court for Boston, which currently has the best record in the Eastern Conference, but is looking for backup for Robert Williams and Al Horford.
First it was Kyrie Irving to Dallas. Then came Kevin Durant to Phoenix. The breakup in Brooklyn is rebuilding some contenders in the West. Trade deadline day in the NBA on Thursday featured plenty of moves, with the Suns making the biggest as they chase the first championship in franchise history. They acquired Durant by sending Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, first-round picks in 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029, and a first-round pick swap in 2028 to the Nets, who also sent T.J. Warren back to his original team in Phoenix. The Lakers also made multiple moves as they try to strengthen their team around career scoring leader LeBron James.
LeBron James says his ascent to the top of the NBA's career scoring list is still surreal to him. The Los Angeles Lakers star expressed his thanks to his family, his fans and all the great players who came before him when the team honored him with a pregame ceremony. James broke the record set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who said James is “without a doubt, the greatest player of his era.” James referred to his mother, wife and three children as his “starting five,” and he thanked his mother for buying him a kiddie hoop and a basketball on the Christmas before his fourth birthday.
NHL
Elias Pettersson scored twice in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks snapped a two-game skid with a 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brock Boesser, Nils Aman and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Canucks. Collin Delia made 24 saves. Bo Horvat, picked up in a trade with Vancouver at the end of January, Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin finished with 28 saves as the Islanders’ four-game winning streak came to an end.
Dougie Hamilton scored two power-play goals and the New Jersey Devils continued to roll despite playing without Jack Hughes for the first time this season, posting a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Mackenzie Blackwood, making only his fifth start since Dec. 23, was outstanding, making 34 saves as New Jersey improved to 10-1-1 in its last 12 games. Ondrej Palat had the primary assist on Hamilton’s goals and defenseman John Marino scored into an empty net with 1:11 to play. Defenseman Adam Larsson scored for Seattle and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves.
James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Frost scored in the shootout, Carter Hart made 34 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. Kevin Hayes scored in regulation for Philadelphia. Evander Kane scored and Connor McDavid had an assist for the Oilers, who lost for the second time in 10 games. Edmonton has earned points in both of those defeats during the stretch, as they have come past regulation. Stuart Skinner stopped 34 shots for Edmonton.
SEC bumped to 2024
Texas and Oklahoma are heading to the Southeastern Conference in 2024 after Big 12 officials cleared the way for the storied programs to exit their league a year earlier than planned. Texas and Oklahoma will leave behind the $50 million each school would have received over the next two seasons under the Big 12′s media contracts. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormak said the league would only agree to an early departure “if it was in our best interest.” The agreement must still be approved the Texas and Oklahoma boards of regents, but that is considered a formality.
South African rugby player killed by Hawaii police had CTE
An autopsy report says Honolulu police fatally shot a 29-year-old South African man who had a degenerative brain disease often found in American football stars subjected to repeated head trauma. Experts say the finding could explain his strange behavior that prompted the deadly 2021 confrontation with officers. Boston University determined that Lindani Myeni’s brain tissue showed the rugby player had the disease known as CTE. The doctor who conducted the autopsy says he suspected CTE after hearing about Myeni’s behavior and his past with contact sports. Honolulu’s prosecuting attorney decided not to pursue charges against any of the officers, saying their deadly force was justified because Myeni physically attacked them after he went into a stranger's home.
