• Several top-ranked men’s college basketball teams have been defeated this week.
• No. 1 Arizona looks to rebound from its first loss of the season against No. 16 Texas Tech.
• No. 9 Kansas, fresh off a win against Arizona, faces No. 4 Iowa State on the road.

It might have taken slightly longer than usual, but we have at last reached the point in the men’s college basketball season when the grind is finally catching up to even the best teams.

Several top-10 squads and numerous other ranked teams have already been beaten this week, including the No.-1 team in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll tasting defeat for the first time. Those Arizona Wildcats return to action on another busy Saturday, as well as the team that handed them that first loss.

Here’s a quick preview of those games and a few other key clashes around the country in this week’s edition of the Starting Five.

No. 18 Clemson at No. 6 Duke

Time/TV: noon ET, ESPN

We begin the day in the ACC, where the Tigers are coming off an unexpected home loss to Virginia Tech and must now brave the Cameron Crazies. The Blue Devils for their part were able to shake off last weekend’s setback at North Carolina with a business-like win at struggling Pittsburgh despite the absence of center Patrick Ngongba, who sat out with a wrist injury and might still be unavailable. Clemson spreads its scoring wealth but often lacks a true takeover guy, which could again be a problem against a Duke squad that appears to have figured out its defensive issues.

No. 9 Kansas at No. 4 Iowa State

Time/TV: 1 p.m. ET, ABC

It has not been a good week for basketball in the state of Iowa. The Cyclones cracked the top five only to squander a late lead at TCU. All that will be forgotten, however, if they can defend their home court and avenge last month’s loss to the Jayhawks, who are fresh off that Arizona victory but have not been as reliable on the road. As usual, much of the pregame chatter concerns KU’s mercurial freshman Darryn Peterson, who missed Monday’s win due to flu symptoms. Whether or not Peterson is available, the Cyclones will have to figure out their own offensive inconsistencies, starting with facilitator Tamin Lipsey finding his own shooting touch.

Kentucky at No. 14 Florida

Time/TV: 3 p.m. ET, ABC

Florida’s quest for a repeat championship didn’t begin well. But the Gators seem to have found their winning formula just in time. Their modest winning streak could get a test here, however, as the Wildcats got a few days off to recharge after outlasting Tennessee last Saturday. It will be a homecoming of sorts for UK’s Denzel Aberdeen, who was part of Florida’s title team a season ago before transferring to Lexington. He and Otega Oweh could give the Wildcats the edge in perimeter fire power, but there might not be answers for Florida’s inside trio led by Thomas Haugh.

No. 12 Purdue at No. 25 Iowa

Time/TV: 5 p.m. ET, Fox

Like their in-state counterparts from Ames, the Hawkeyes also return home from a subpar road outing. Iowa’s loss at Maryland dinged an otherwise solid body of work, but a win against the Boilermakers would help repair the damage. Purdue is coming off a valuable victory at Nebraska, though the result was nearly a catastrophic collapse. The game features two of the league’s top floor leaders, Purdue’s Braden Smith and the Hawkeyes’ Bennett Stirtz. Both teams can be overly reliant on three-pointers, though the Boilermakers are better equipped to compensate with rebounds if the shots aren’t falling.

No. 16 Texas Tech at No. 1 Arizona

Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

The prime time headliner finds the Wildcats looking to bounce back from defeat for the first time. The Red Raiders were all business in their midweek tuneup against struggling Colorado, but the environs at the McKale Center won’t be nearly as friendly. Texas Tech’s inside-out tandem of J.T. Toppin and Christian Anderson will need someone else to help with the scoring load against Arizona’s balanced lineup. Wildcats forward Koa Peat will look to find his rhythm early after Monday’s rough outing against Kansas.

• Snowboarder Jake Pates advanced to the 2026 Winter Olympics halfpipe final after a four-year retirement.
• Pates retired from competitive snowboarding in 2020 due to mental health struggles and a concussion.
• He started the Happy Healthy Brain Foundation to help others after his own experience with a brain injury.
• Pates credits his return to the sport to the support of friends and fellow competitors.

LIVIGNO, Italy – As a pre-competition news conference was winding down for the United States men’s halfpipe snowboarding team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Jake Pates leaned toward the microphone:

“Can I say one last thing?”

Pates wanted to take advantage of the platform, he said, to send a message.

“I think it’s really important to try to find the gratefulness in life and believe in yourself,” he said. “I’ve been someone who’s gone through a lot, I think, in my own way. … When you do have those tough moments, if you do lose hope and you do lose belief in yourself, you can find it again and you will find it again. You’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Just wanted to throw that out there, he closed, “if anyone is listening, going through a struggle.”

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

Pates knows what he was describing. The fact that the 27-year-old from Colorado is even competing at these Olympics – much less having advanced to the 12-man Olympic halfpipe final – is one of the most improbable comeback stories in the 2026 Milano Cortina Games.

Once a fast-rising young star in the sport and an Olympian at age 19 in Pyeongchang in 2018, Pates ended up retiring from competitive snowboarding in 2020 for self-described mental health reasons.

“My reason for retirement was rooted in that loss of belief (in myself),” Pates said. “But it also had to do a lot with the presence of mental health issues that I was dealing with. Things like doubt, just negative spiraling, ruminating, depression. I had so much going on, so much anxiety.”

In 2019, Pates suffered a concussion in 2019 while competing, and according to the Team USA website, he initially lied to medical staff to avoid being sidelined. “When I did go back out, I was just all over the place with symptoms,” Pates later told Olympics.com. “Headache, dizziness, nausea, all the above. At the time, I never understood the impact that serious brain injuries could become.”

The ordeal led to Pates starting a non-profit in 2020, the Happy Healthy Brain Foundation, during a time when he also was stepping away from the sport.

“I took a full four years off of competing,” he said. “I would ride a little bit. I had probably two years where I only rode like 10 days each year. That amount of time, especially at the pace this sport progresses, is kind of crazy. … I just feel like I’m so blessed that I’ve been able to make this happen and come back. But I haven’t been able to do it by myself.”

He credits Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, a long-time friend and snowboard competitor (and 2022 halfpipe gold-medalist), and his brother Kaishu for helping convince him to return to the sport and helping train him to have a chance to do it successfully.

Pates returned to world cup competition about two years ago, gradually working to earn a place – through coaches’ discretion, per Team USA – on the 2026 Olympic team that was headed to Italy.

On a chilly Feb. 11 evening in Livigno, Pates fell on his first halfpipe run in Olympic qualifying. True to form, though, he bounced back. He scored a clutch 75.50 on his second run. Pates needed to surpass a 74 to climb into 12th place. A tense wait remained, but none of the final competitors passed him.

“It was kind of a nailbiter,” Pates said, “but we made it happen.”

So the final snowboarder on the U.S. halfpipe team (barely) was now the last finalist in Livigno (barely, again). Pates will be first to drop in a Feb. 13 finals field that’ll also include Ayumu Hirano.

“It’s unreal, man,” Pates said. “The journey has just been crazy. I’m blown away that I’m even at the Olympics, nonetheless being in the finals. Just filled with gratitude.

‘My heart is full.”

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@gannett.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

• Australian snowboarder Scotty James aims to win his first Olympic gold medal at the 2026 Winter Games.
• James seeks to revolutionize snowboarding by focusing on difficult backside riding techniques.
• The five-time Olympian has previously won a silver and a bronze medal in the men’s halfpipe.

LIVIGNO, Italy – Scotty James has gold-medal-level ambition at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. As a men’s halfpipe contender and potential favorite, that’s probably healthy.

The Australian’s larger goal entering the season, however, goes beyond the podium.

 “My goal this year was to revolutionize snowboarding in the way that I would interpret it,” he said during a Feb. 7 news conference. “It’s obviously subjective, but I wanted to push it in the way that made me full.”

Full, like his trophy case. The one thing that’s missing, though, is an Olympic gold medal. James topped the field with a score of 94.00 during his first run of qualifiers and will look to maintain that top spot during Friday’s halfpipe finals (1:30 p.m. ET, Feb. 13).

The five-time Olympian, who made his debut at the 2010 Vancouver Games at the age of 15, has a bronze (PyeongChang, 2018) and a silver (Beijing, 2022). James entered the 2026 Olympics at the height of his powers, with a record-tying — matching Shaun White — eighth X Games halfpipe victory. He also won the Laax Open in Switzerland in late January.

Beyond the accolades, James said, the most rewarding part is riding the way he wants to. He did that four years ago and lost in China, edged out by Ayumu Hirano, who landed a triple cork.

“Winning an Olympics would be amazing. I don’t think I need it to validate who I am as a snowboarder,’ James said. ‘I think I’m doing that just by the way I ride my board and how I interpret riding myself.”

NBC announcer Todd Richards mentioned during James’ news conference there are easier ways to reach the podium. That’s not James’ way. What James means when he says all of this is to advance backside riding – literally going backwards from the rider’s traditional stance from wall to wall.

“I plan to push it in the directions I want to push it,” he said.

The sport has evolved over James’ career. In 2010, double corks were introduced. Over the next cycle, the backside double 1400, created by White, was in vogue. By 2018, doing back-to-back double 1400s became the same standard. At the last Games, James said, he was surprised switch backside was not being explored. He’s still trying to convince the competition – through his riding that – backside, technical riding is the advancement the sport deserves. For these Games, he plans on having three backside hits compared to two frontside, while most others will do three frontside and two backside.

“I think history tells the facts of what’s actually hard,” said James, who is married to F1 driver Lance Stroll’s sister. “For me, it’s been really rewarding.”

Scotty James lets pressure, family fuel him

Driving through the Valtellina Valley and toward Livigno, James thought about the opportunity that awaited him at the journey’s completion.

“I think pressure is a beautiful thing,” he said, “if you let it. I’ll soak in that beauty. At least, that’s what I tell myself.”

The halfpipe is what he thinks about when he goes to sleep and when he rises. Not because it consumes him, James said, but because it is his passion.

Joining James in northern Italy are his siblings and parents, his wife and son, one-yea-old Leo. As they all crammed into an apartment here to make dinner one night, James said it screamed “Italian family” to him.

James admitted that Leo’s birth forced him to consider the danger of his sport in a different light. But having a son has only made him more passionate about pursuing greatness.

Should he retire? James didn’t scoff at the question but would have been justified had he. He looks after himself, mentally and physically, he said.

“Well, no one thought back-to-back 1440s is possible,” he said. “I’m 31 years old and I did it. I don’t think an Olympic gold medal is unattainable.

“It’s also not my last go-round, either.”  

The preparation of trick-to-snow, James joked, involves many sleepless nights, he said. A change of underwear or three, he joked.

James is not alone, as an elite snowboarder whose stat sheet induces boredom. The United States’ Chloe Kim, who took silver after back-to-back golds in the women’s halfpipe, felt similarly. For so long, Kim said, she won “doing the same runs over and over and over again.”

The winning didn’t feel good, she said.

‘I really started to resent snowboarding because it wasn’t satisfying in the way that I had wanted it to be, and I think I had to make that shift and start snowboarding for myself and not worry too much about the medals and the awards and whatnot,” Kim said. “I wanted to do what felt good for me, and in doing so, it allowed me to fall in love with the sport again.’

Watching her competitors helped Kim see how far she could go as a snowboarder. For example, she didn’t think she could land a double cork. But once other women started landing it, she wanted to join the party.

‘I think that seeing this new shift and progression has inspired me to push my limits and try things I’ve never done before … so, happy camper,” she said.  

The key, though, is bringing the judges along for the ride. James said he thinks they’ve joined him on the journey, but he understands that this is a subjective sport, with a sizable portion of the results beyond his control.

“I think that this time around it was important for me to take them on the journey of where I want to push the sport without, obviously, having that conversation, just taking them on the runs that I’m doing this year,” James said. “It’s obviously nice when you get affirmation in being able to win two big events before this. Hopefully they perceive what’s difficult the same way I do, but that’s never a sure thing.”

Float like a butterfly, sting like a … boarder?

At James’ home, he has a ‘pool room,’ which is really an office with his stacked memorabilia collection. The ‘GOAT room,’ he sometimes calls it, with artifacts, signatures and famous quotes from elite athletes he admires. There are signed Kobe Bryant journeys and items from Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and more.

His prized possession, though, is a piece of cardboard signed by Muhammad Ali. Two years ago, as James told it, he told his memorabilia dealer that he felt like he was ‘on the back foot’ of life. He was feeling OK. But maybe not like his normal self. The seller said he had something special to show him.

Ali had a signing event with this dealer in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2002. The photos he was signing for fans were placed in a cardboard folder. During a lunch break, Ali started doodling – two mountains, an ocean between and a tiny boat floating on the water. A lighthouse stands on one of the coasts. It’s drawn in Sharpie. He signed it in the corner, and the dealer had never planned on parting with it until James’ mood and honesty somehow moved him to sell it.

Ali titled it ‘Guiding Light.’ James won X Games the weekend after he purchased it.

‘It’s literally a piece of Muhammad Ali’s brain onto a piece of paper, which I own, in my office, which is amazing,” James said.

A gold medal next to it would also look amazing. And if James can place it there one day, it will be on his own terms.

PHOENIX — They are hated.

They are loved.

They are ruining baseball.

They are great for baseball.

They are the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers will open their spring training camp on Friday morning at Camelback Ranch as the first team in more than a quarter-century as repeat World Series champions, and the first in baseball history to have a payroll exceeding $400 million, $406.5 million to be exact.

If you include their estimated luxury tax penalties, their payroll will exceed $550 million.

Their payroll is so immense that their mere luxury tax penalties is greater than the entire payroll of 10 teams.

Why, if you consider the 110% tax penalty they’re paying for new right fielder Kyle Tucker’s $60 million annual salary, their tax bill is greater than the payroll of the Milwaukee Brewers, who won a major league-leading 97 games last season.

They are Exhibit 1-A for why the owners want a salary cap in the next collective bargaining agreement, and while they are willing to shut down the sport to obtain it.

Oh, and just in case the non-Dodger fans aren’t angry enough, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a proclamation on Feb. 12 that will have them screaming into the night and flooding MLB fan sites.

‘This team, looking at the guys in their prime, the experience, the talent, the starters, the pen, the depth of the young players that we have coming behind them on the pitching side,’ Roberts said, ‘this probably is the best team we’ve had on paper yet.’

Yep, once again the Dodgers will treat the regular season as a dress rehearsal for their gala performance in October, using a six-man pitching staff in which $1 billion worth of players — Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — likely will pitch just once a week.

What other team in baseball has the resources to make two free-agent blunders with closer Tanner Scott and outfielder Michael Conforto in free agency a year ago, and then replace them with the best player on the free-agent market in Tucker, and the best reliever on the market in Edwin Diaz?

Indeed, the best team in baseball got even better.

‘When we played them in the playoffs last year,’ Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona said, ‘I didn’t know whether to try to get them out or get their autographs. They just keep running guys at you.

‘I don’t blame them. They’re trying to win, and they’ve got the resources to do it. I’m just glad we’re in a different division.’

Really, it’s similar to the same mantra heard throughout the land during the Yankees’ dynasty and their payroll. Where was the outcry when Atlanta won 14 consecutive division titles? Did the Oakland A’s ruin baseball during the Charlie Finley days?

“You always have to have somebody that teams and fans enjoy disliking,’’ Roberts said, “and that’s good for sports. I was one of those guys that didn’t like the Yankees, but saw their value within the sport, certainly.

“I think what gets lost is all of the things that we do well, the scouting and player development, I think we do as good as anyone in baseball, and all of that to get superstars to play well every night, to put out a good product every single night.

“But when you’re talking about the Yankees, if you be put in the same vein of the Yankees in the 90s, you’re doing something right?’’

While MLB is using the Dodgers to argue for a salary cap, and fans will either scream at the Dodgers for their payroll or bash their own ownership for not spending, general managers and players surveyed in the Cactus League refuse to criticize the Dodgers’ extravagant spending.

They might be jealous over the Dodgers’ resources, but they rave about the Dodgers’ front office and coaching staff, recognize their ability to scout and develop players, and praise the way they play the game.

“They’re the juggernauts of the major leagues right, but you’re not going to fault the team for spending money,’’ Brewers ace Brandon Woodruff told USA TODAY Sports. “As a player, that’s what you want to see. So why would anyone get mad at them for spending money. I mean, if they can do it, they can do it.

“They have good players, and a lot of money, but what’s so impressive about them is that they play the game the right way. You go play them, and you see all of these superstars … Freddie Freeman, Mookie [Betts] and those guys, and they’re all out doing early work. They put in their work.

“They just don’t show up when the game starts. They’re good, but they put their work in. You’ve got to respect them.’’

What folks conveniently forget is that while the Dodgers are consistently picking last or next-to-last in the draft, they still are a team filled with homegrown stars, from catcher Will Smith to recently retired Clayton Kershaw, and they used their own prospects to trade for All-Star shortstop Mookie Betts, infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman and starter Tyler Glasnow.

Sure, their enormous resources allow them to supplement their roster with whatever free agents they desire, enabling them to retain their own prospects without having to trade them away, but a team like the New York Mets have spent more than the Dodgers the past five years and are still seeking their first World Series title since 1986.

“Hey, it’s not necessarily who has the best players, but who plays the best,’’ Los Angeles Angels GM Perry Minasian said. “Anybody can beat anyone on any given night. That’s the beauty of baseball. It’s 162 games. There are no Cinderella stories in 162 games. You have to earn it.

“They’ve earned it.’’

Said J.J. Picollo, Kansas City Royals president of baseball operations: “They’ve done this strategically, and have done it well. They’re capitalizing on things that are perfectly within what’s permitted. What they’re doing is fascinating, and it’s really impressive.’’

Chris Young, Texas Rangers president of baseball operations, added: “Whether somebody is having a problem with what they’re doing and questioning whether or not it’s good for the game, are two different things in my opinion. What they’re doing is completely within the rules. They’ve operated with the resources they have in a tremendous matter.’’

Really, if you want to feel sorry for anyone, you can sympathize with the other four teams in the NL West, particularly the San Diego Padres. The Padres have been to the postseason in four of the past six years, winning 183 games the past two seasons, but the Dodgers are that roadblock that keeps them from greatness.

Yep, just like the days when no matter what the Boston Red Sox did, the Yankees stood in their way.

“The difference between the Yankees teams and the Dodgers is the financial component of it,’’ said A.J. Preller, Padres president of baseball operations. “I mean, you’re talking over $500 million, and all of the deferrals. So that’s a different level.

“But we understand they’re a great team. They’ve got star players that are impactful. They just set up super high bars. If you want to get to that championship level, you’ve got to get past them.’’

Year after year after year.

So you can complain, can get mad and can scream, but in the end, the Dodgers’ rivals will tell you that there is respect, like it or not.

“The Dodgers are unquestionably awesome,’’ said Jerry Dipoto, Seattle Mariners president of baseball operations. “There are superstars all around the field. They have awesome role players. They have depth everywhere you look. So to have a team like that, and to sustain it, is so impressive.

“Really, there’s always been that team that dating back to as long as I watched or have been a fan of baseball. Look at the Yankees in the 90s and early 2000s. You had [Mariano] Rivera, [Jorge] Posada, [Andy] Pettitte and [Derek] Jeter. They were homegrown players. It was the with those great Braves’ teams. And it’s the same with the Dodgers.

“The team costs a lot more money to field, but that doesn’t take away from anything they’re doing.’’

The Dodgers aren’t about to apologize.

They plan to keep on winning.

And they dare someone to stop them.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.

• Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the silver medal in ice dance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
• The American duo believes the confusing results do a disservice to figure skating and its fans.
• Judges’ scores, particularly from the French judge, have been scrutinized following the event.
• Despite the controversial finish, Chock and Bates said they felt they delivered a winning performance.

MILAN — After a controversial ice dance finish at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Madison Chock and Evan Bates said they believe it’s not good for figure skating when fans don’t understand the results.

“Any time the public is confused by results, it does a disservice to our sport,” Chock said on Thursday, one day after settling for the silver medal behind the French team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron, stirring sharp reaction from American fans.

“It’s hard to retain fans when it’s difficult to understand what is happening on the ice. I think there needs to be a lot more clarity for the skaters, for the coaches and for the audience, in order to just have a solid fan base moving forward. People need to understand what they’re cheering for and be able to feel confident in the sport that they’re supporting.”

Watch Winter Olympics on Peacock

Fans and fellow figure skaters have voiced support for Chock and Bates, arguging they delivered a flawless free dance while Beaudry and Cizeron weren’t as clean. Still, the French duo went on to earn a better score and secure gold.

There were nine judges for the free dance, and their scores have been scrutinized, particularly the scores French judge Jezabel Dabouis submitted. She awarded Beaudry and Cizeron a 137.45 and Chock and Bates a 129.74. That more than seven-point differential was the largest among any of the judges, and the 129.74 was Chock and Bates’ lowest score. Chock and Bates said they haven’t studied the scores, but they spoke to their coach and Bates said: “We know how we felt on center ice after we skated.’

“We felt like we delivered our absolute best performance that we could have. It was our Olympic moment. It felt like a winning skate to us, and that’s what we’re going to hold on to,” he added.

In the initial aftermath on Wednesday, the couple were flooded with emotion and tears, calling it a “bittersweet” moment to just fall short of gold. Now that they’ve had time to process the results, they are happy they were able to finally capture an Olympic medal in ice dance.

“At the end of the day, a medal is a medal, but the Olympic dream is alive, and it’s not something that is tangible,’ Chock said. ‘It’s something that lives within us and really is the driving force for our motivation and intrinsic goals. I think that’s what’s special about the Olympics, and that’s a real win for us.’

There’s been an outpouring of sympathy for Chock and Bates, who have now competed in four Winter Olympics together. The pair said they appreicate all of the support and love, including some demanding answers and voicing frustrations with the result.

“It means a lot that people are voicing their opinions on our behalf,” Bates said. “The way that we skated and the way that we’ve approached chasing these goals, hopefully has resonated with people at home even in our response. I think hopefully that, too, can reflect the Olympic spirit.”

With their Winter Olympics schedule complete, next comes a decision on their future, if the 36-year-old Bates and 33-year-old Chock will continue skating. Although they have not committed to the 2026 world championships in March, they do “have plans to remain on the ice” for now. The pair also plan to stay in Milano Cortina through the closing ceremony.

• Deion Sanders and his girlfriend Karrueche Tran revealed their Valentine’s Day weekend plans on his Tubi talk show.
• The couple’s plans include an early dinner, or ‘linner,’ because Tran says Sanders gets cranky after 6:30 p.m.
• Sanders expressed his discomfort with the idea of a couples massage, stating he would not watch another man give Tran a massage.

Colorado football coach Deion Sanders won’t be going to Red Lobster for Valentine’s Day, as he might prefer, but he otherwise does have a special weekend planned with his girlfriend Karrueche Tran.

It includes an early dinner at 4:30 p.m. because Tran says he gets “cranky” after 6:30. It also includes a date at a spa. Just don’t expect Sanders to sit there while Tran gets a massage from another man.

“That’s not gonna happen,” Sanders said.

Tran and Sanders revealed these Valentine’s details Thursday, Feb. 12, on “We Got Time Today,” a weekly talk show on Tubi co-hosted by Sanders and Rocsi Diaz. Sanders put Tran on the phone during the show to talk about it.

“If I left it up to you, we would be at Red Lobster,” Tran told Sanders.

“For the seafood lover in me,” Sanders replied.

In lieu of that, Tran said, “We have a cute little weekend planned.’

They plan to enjoy “jazz night” at 6 p.m. Friday, which comes after “linner,” a meal that comes in the traditional time between lunch and dinner — about 4:30.

“I have to eat linner,” said Sanders, who likes to go to bed early and also hates late football games. “I can’t do dinner. Because if I do dinner, it ain’t gonna be no more. So we do linner, like a late lunch.”

“You get cranky after like 6:30,” Tran told him.

The couple also plans a train ride through the mountains this weekend, plus another dinner and a “beautiful hotel at an undisclosed place.”

“And I’m forcing you to go to the spa,” Tran told Sanders. “Because he doesn’t love the spa.”

“I don’t need nobody rubbing on me, I’m straight, I’m good” Sanders said.

“OK, but you’re gonna get a facial,” Tran said.

“I don’t mind a facial, but ain’t nobody rubbing on me,” Sanders told Tran. “Like, you want to get a couples massage? So… you want me to sit there and watch a dude rub on you? That’s not gonna happen…. I don’t get down like that.”

“He’s just doing his job,” Tran said.

“He won’t do his job while I’m sitting there,” Sanders said. “You buck naked right beside me, and a dude rubbing on you. And I supposed to be good with that? You lost your mind.”

“I feel like every man has had this conversation when it comes to massages,” Diaz said.

Tran tried to reassure Sanders.

“You’re my man,” she said.

“She better be a woman,” Sanders replied.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschroten@usatoday.com

Busch had the fastest time of qualifying overall in his first run with a 48.933. He was the only driver to break 49 seconds at all during qualifying; his eventual pole lap came in at a 49.006.

Busch will lead the field on Sunday. The two-time champion has never won the Daytona 500 and could add that feat to his storied Cup Series career. First, he led Duel 1 Thursday night to set the grid for the inside lane order for the Daytona 500.

Hours later, Briscoe led the way for the Duel 2 race to set the grid for the outside lane order in the race. Those two locked out the front row ahead of time and it was up to the other 43 drivers to sort out how things will look on Lap 1 on Sunday.

After the two Duel races Thursday night, here’s how the starting grid looks:

Daytona 500 starting grid

1. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing
2. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske
4. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports
5. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske
6. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports
7. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
8. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
9. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing
10. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports
11. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club
12. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
13. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing
14. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing
15. Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports
17. Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66
18. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports
19. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing
20. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing
21. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports
22. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
23. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team
24. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club
25. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports
26. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing
27. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing
28. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing
29. Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing
30. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports
31. Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club
32. Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing
33. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing
34. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing
35. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing
36. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske
37. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing
38. Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports
39. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports
40. Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports
41. Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing

• Chloe Kim earned a silver medal in the women’s halfpipe Olympic final, falling short of a third consecutive gold.
• South Korea’s Gaon Choi, 17, won the gold medal with a score of 90.25 on her final run.
• Kim competed with a dislocated shoulder that will likely require surgery after the Olympics.
• Many competitors struggled with falls during the final, which took place in snowy conditions.

LIVIGNO, Italy – Chloe Kim stood at the top of the hill, staring down through the falling snow. At those United States flags. And the signs bearing her name. And Myles Garrett. And Snoop Dogg. And all the cameras and media there to document a special Olympic story. Her Olympic story.

For everyone else, this was a happening night.

For her, it was in that stare.

These were no longer the bright eyes of a fashion mogul or a global celebrity. This was the competitor, still there, showing up when the moment called for it. And, boy, this was that moment. It was about to produce snowboarding’s first back-to-back-to-back gold medalist. Or it wasn’t.

All the pressure was on Kim. She was in second place. Gaon Choi of South Korea had just posted a 90.25 to move ahead. So Kim’s coach told her she had two options. She could try to do her first run – a relatively safe one that earned an 88 – a little bit better. Or she could go for it.

“I said that I wanted to go for it,” Kim said, “because that’s what I do.”

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In one sense, it was fitting that this snowy mess of a women’s halfpipe Olympic final, during which more runs seemingly resulted in scary falls instead of celebrations, ended with another fall.

But because of who it was, it didn’t seem fitting at all. Once Kim, one of the greatest snowboarders in history, didn’t come through, an odd quiet fell over Livigno Snow Park. Not disappointment, necessarily, as much as just a hollow shock. The collective, instinctive letdown when a sports venue – dotted with celebrity vibes – expects to see something special, only to suddenly realize that wouldn’t be the case.

That quiet seemed unfair to Choi, a 17-year-old who was tenacious on this evening, bouncing back from an especially scary fall on her first run to unearth a gem of a finale, forcing Kim to beat it.

And the quiet, truthfully, felt a bit unfair to Kim as well. Most athletes get to celebrate a silver medal.

It wasn’t bad result for Kim in these Olympics. Not really. Not considering the fact she’ll likely need surgery when she gets back to the United States, she said, to repair the dislocated shoulder that hindered her Olympic prep and keeps “popping out all the time.”

“There was a lot of conversation happening about the three-peat and what not,” Kim said, “and I was thinking about it, for sure. But I think the minute I injured myself, I was like ‘That doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just get there and see how far we can go.’

“This feels like a win to me because a month ago it didn’t seem too possible.”

Lofty expectations for another gold medal, perhaps muted when Kim arrived in Livigno, amped back up again when she crushed it during qualifying on Feb. 11, posting the same 90.25 score that ended up earning the gold medal the next day.

For most of the final, it didn’t appear as if there was an equal to Kim. More so, this thing was turning into an exercise in attrition. There were just so many falls. Longshots. Contenders. It didn’t matter. Everyone was struggling to make it through a clean routine.

The conditions – thick snow was falling heavy most of the event – probably had something to do with that. Same, too, for the pressure of the moment, with an entire field thinking it had to gamble on difficult feats, pretty much just to be able to beat Kim.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Team USA’s Bea Kim (eighth place) of all the falls, “but I think it’s the Olympics, and everybody is feeling the energy and wants to throw down their biggest tricks and put on the greatest show and show everybody what they’ve been working on for the past four years. Heart goes out to all the girls who’ve kind of crashed a little bit and taken a beating.”

Among the 12 first runs in this competition, seven resulted in falls.

Chloe Kim’s wasn’t one of them, in part because she’d observed what happened to the others.

“I’ll admit I went pretty safe on it,” she said. “Didn’t go as big as I was in practice. Mainly because I was watching all these girls take slams, and I was like, ‘Let’s just get to the bottom.’”

That initial score of 88 was good enough to keep her in front until midway through the final stage, but it proved beatable. Choi finally was able to exceed it after Chloe Kim, too, fell on her second run.

Leaving that one final chance for one of snowboarding’s all-time greats.

“I couldn’t come through,” Chloe Kim said. “But all good.”

In this instance, both things can be true.

Reach sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@gannett.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social

Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA sent a forceful message on Thursday about tanking, hitting the Utah Jazz with a $500,000 fine and handing the Indiana Pacers a $100,000 fine for recent game management and roster decisions, the league announced.

Utah’s fine was related to a Feb. 7 game against the Orlando Magic and Feb. 9 game against the Miami Heat.

‘During those games, the Jazz removed two of the team’s top players, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., before the beginning of the fourth quarter and did not return them to the game, even though these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt,’ the NBA said.

Utah entered the fourth quarter of its Feb. 7 game with a 94-87 lead but scored just 23 points in the final frame and lost 120-117. It won the game against Miami, 115-111, and won Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings to move to 18-37 on the season, third-worst in the West.

The Pacers, the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference at 15-40, were found to be in violation of the Player Participation Policy for a Feb. 3 game against the Jazz, per the league statement.

‘Following an investigation, including review by an independent physician, the NBA determined that Pascal Siakam, a star player under the Policy, and two other Pacers starters, neither of whom participated in the game, could have played under the medical standard in the Policy, including by playing reduced minutes. Alternatively, the team could have held the players out of other games in a way that would have better promoted compliance with the Policy,’ the NBA said.

The Pacers lost that game to the Jazz, 131-122.

The league’s statement on the fines was capped by a strong message directly from Silver.

‘Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,’ Silver said. ‘Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.’

 LeBron James continues to add his name to the NBA history books.

In his 23rd season, the 41-year-old became the oldest player to produce a triple-double.

James produced 28 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, leading his team in all three categories as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 124-104, at home on Thursday, Feb. 12.

It’s also his first triple-double of the season. James finished the 2024-25 season with 10.

He is fifth on the NBA’s all-time regular-season triple-doubles list with 123. He trails just Russell Westbrook (207), Nikola Jokic (184), Oscar Robertson (181) and Magic Johnson (138).

LeBron James stats vs. Mavericks

• Points: 28
• FG: 10-for-20 (2-for-7 3-point shooting)
• Free Throws: 6-for-7
• Rebounds: 10
• Assists: 12
• Steals: 0
• Blocks: 1
• Turnovers: 4
• Fouls: 0
• Minutes: 35

Lakers vs. Mavericks highlights

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