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OAKLAND -- The i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. Kevin Durant has signed with the Warriors.

Before the Warriors introduced their new superstar forward Thursday afternoon, the team announced that Durant had formally signed his contract. They didn't disclose terms, but it's a two-year maximum deal worth $54.3 million that includes an opt-out clause after one season.

 

As soon as the introductions ended, coach Steve Kerr went to his well of jokes.


Asked how Durant would fit in with the team, Kerr said, "I haven't made the decision yet, but he might start."


The coach was being sarcastic, and his crack drew a good laugh from Durant, who took the stage to a standing ovation.



Kerr wasn't done with the quips. He said he was on vacation in Hawaii when he learned that Durant had agreed to join the team. He was sleeping when he was jolted awake by his wife Margot.

"It was 5:30 in the morning and she started hitting me in the leg, 'He's coming! He's coming'," Kerr recalled. "So that's how I found out. She saw it I guess online.

"Obviously thrilled (at) the opportunity to coach him and to see him play with our current guys. Pretty amazing."


After finishing his monologue, Kerr explained why he feels Durant's addition is so important.

"When we were showing our offensive clips, he said 'What happened in the Finals?'" said Kerr, whose team blew a three-games-to-one lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers. "It's a great question."


The Warriors shot only 38.3 percent from the field -- after shooting 48.7 percent during the regular season -- and their 4 minute, 39 second scoreless stretch to close Game 7 denied them a second straight title.

While crushing at the time, it may have helped the Warriors secure Durant by giving him a good reason to come to the Bay Area.

"I answered him truthfully and told him that, 'Look, this is something that, we need you'," Kerr said. "It's not like, 'Hey, we're going to add you cause it's great. We need you.'"


"It gets harder and harder every year to win a title and you lose players and guys get older. So next year was going to be really hard regardless. It wasn't like, 'Hey, you're waltzing in here to get a ring. We would want you here to help us, to help us get over the top.'"

PARIS (AP) — The Latest from the French Open (all times local):

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6:30 p.m.

More matches in the women's draw have been postponed at the French Open because of the bad weather and the Williams sisters won't be stepping onto the court before Wednesday.

Four more fourth-round singles ties have been scrapped from Tuesday's program: defending champion Serena Williams vs. No. 18-seed Elina Svitolina, No. 9 Venus Williams vs. No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky, Kiki Bertens vs. No. 15 Madison Keys and No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Yulia Putintseva.

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5:25 p.m.

The weather is not expected to improve In Paris and French Open organizers have announced that the two first men's quarterfinals scheduled Tuesday have been postponed.

Second-seeded Andy Murray is now set to take on No. 9-seed Richard Gasquet on Wednesday. Defending champion Stan Wawrinka, who was scheduled to play Albert Ramos-Vinolas, has also been given an extra day off.

All matches which have already started won't resume before 6:00 p.m.

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5:10 p.m.

Play is again being delayed by bad weather at the French Open.

After dropping his first set at Roland Garros this year, top-ranked Novak Djokovic has recovered and leads 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 4-1 when their match was suspended.

Although play has been stopped on all courts, stadium workers have not put the covers back and matches could resume soon.

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4:20 p.m.

Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is out of the French Open, losing to Tsvetana Pironkova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 Tuesday in the fourth round.

Radwanska, who held a 6-2, 3-0 lead when her match resumed on Court Suzanne Lenglen, lost 10 consecutive games to put herself in deep trouble.

She asked for a medical timeout after the third game of the decider to receive treatment on her right forearm and hand. It didn't have an immediate effect as she dropped her serve at love in the next game.

Radwanska finally managed to stop the downhill spiral when she broke in the fifth game but could not stop Pironkova from advancing to the quarterfinals.

Their match was suspended on Sunday night and could not resume on Monday because of the rain that washed out play at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Pironkova advanced to her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2010 and making it to quarters at the All England Club the next year.

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4:10 p.m.

Samantha Stosur has reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the fourth time.

The 32-year-old Australian, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2010, beat sixth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 7-6 (0), 6-3.

The players were pulled off court in the first set on Sunday evening because of rain and darkness and could not play Monday when the entire day was washed out for the first time in 16 years.

Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion, will next play either Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria or Agnieszka Radwanksa of Poland.

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3:30 p.m.

Novak Djokovic is back on court at the French Open, where play has resumed after a rain delay of more than 2½ hours.

Before the break, Djokovic lost the first set of his fourth-round match against No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3.

Shortly before the action on Court Philippe Chatrier returned, Djokovic wandered out into the arena for a look at the conditions, borrowing a green-and-orange Roland Garros umbrella from a fan.

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3 p.m.

Three-time French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario's pick to take home the title from Roland Garros this year?

Serena Williams.

Says Sanchez Vicario: "I think she's the favorite to win. She's always the favorite."

That doesn't mean it's a lock, though.

"Definitely she is a human being," Sanchez Vicario added Tuesday, when she was announced at Roland Garros as an ambassador for the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore, "so she's beatable. ... At other tournaments that people (didn't) expect her to lose, she lost."

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12:55 p.m.

Novak Djokovic is not having an easy time in the rain at the French Open, dropping the first set of his fourth-round match against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain by a 6-3 score.

It is the first set Djokovic has lost in this year's tournament as he tries to win a fourth consecutive major title and complete a career Grand Slam.

Djokovic has already been broken three times in four service games against Bautista Agut, who is trying to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Right after the opening set ended, play was suspended on Court Philippe Chatrier because of the weather, and Djokovic and Bautista Agut headed to the locker room.

Rain is delaying play in all singles matches at the moment.

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12:45 p.m.

The damp conditions don't suit Agnieszka Radwanska on Court Suzanne Lenglen, where the second-seeded Polish player has just lost six games in a row and the second set against Tsvetana Pironkova.

The 102th-ranked Pironkova trailed 6-2, 3-0 when the match resumed. She got off to a strong start and overpowered Radwanska with aggressive shot making to force a decider before play was suspended.

Matches on other courts continued, though.

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12:10 p.m.

Players have finally stepped out on court at the French Open.

There has been a break in the weather and second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska is hoping to quickly complete her fourth-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Radwanska is trying to reach the quarterfinals for the second time in Paris as she holds a 6-2, 3-0 lead over her 102th-ranked Bulgarian rival. Their match was suspended on Sunday night and could not resume on Monday because of the rain that washed out play at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is on Court Philippe Chatrier against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarterfinals.

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11:00 a.m.

Play is again being delayed at the French Open.

After stadium workers swept rain off the covers to make the courts ready for play, the tarps are back and organizers say there will be no match before 11:30 a.m.

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10:45 a.m.

With more bad weather expected Tuesday, French Open organizers are trying to get as many matches as possible out of the way before the rain.

After Monday's complete washout at the clay-court Grand Slam, matches will start at 11:00 a.m. — three hours earlier than initially planned — and be spread over more courts.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic takes on 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier, playing for a place in the quarterfinals.

They will be followed by defending champion Serena Williams in her delayed fourth-round match against 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina.

The first men's quarterfinals are also scheduled: Second-seeded Andy Murray against Richard Gasquet, and defending champion Stan Wawrinka against Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The Lions will have plenty of talent to call upon but the key for them will be getting across exactly what is needed to go and win in New Zealand.

ONE brilliant fight deserves another and Nonito Donaire Jr., the newly-crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-bantamweight champion, is not one to back out from a great challenge.

The 33-year-old Filipino said he’s willing to slug it out once more with tough Mexican hombre Cesar Jaurez following their action-packed 12-round title duel over the weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Donaire came away with a unanimous decision win against the tough-fighting Juarez, who refused to go away until the final bell despite being knocked down twice in the fourth round.

“I will definitely give him a rematch,” said Donaire in the aftermath of the Fight of the Year candidate. “I’m not taking anything away from him.”


Juarez, 24, believes Donaire won the match, but not in the way the three judges scored it at 116-110, 116-110, and 117-109.

“The judges were not fair. It was much closer, like a one or two-point fight,” said the Mexican. “But I do think Donaire won.”

Juarez was inactive for the entire 2014 and didn’t fight until March of this year when he scored a majority decision over Cesar Seda at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

He saw action once more in July against Juan Carlos Sanchez who he beat via unanimous decision in Sinaloa, Mexico before taking the bout against Donaire.

Juarez (17-4, 13 KOs) said if he prepared longer for Donaire, he could have beaten the ‘Filipino Flash.’

“If I had more time to train and more experience, I would have won,” said Juarez from Distrito Federal, Mexico.

Donaire improved his record to 36-3, with 23 KOs and won his fifth world title.

The choice to award Serena Williams with the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year has prompted both celebration and contention, with some arguing that the prize had a more deserving victor: racehorse American Pharaoh.

Williams posted the cover on her Instagram, writing, "This year was spectacular for me. For Sports Illustrated to recognize my hard work, my dedication, and my sheer determination gives me hope to continue on and do better."

The award was seen by many as a welcome celebration of both Williams' impressive career, and as an achievement for women and people of colour in the sport.

"#Serena won 53 of 56 matches this year, was ranked no. 1 every week. Grand Slam run aside, best year of her career at 34. #SISportsperson," wrote one user.

It is the first time an individual woman has been given the title since Mary Decker in 1983. Since its creation in 1954, Williams is the third woman to win it alone, and the only black woman to gain the title.

Image copyrightSports Illustrated

However, not everyone was happy with the results. Horse racing fans pointed to a readers' poll created by Sports Illustrated, where the racehorse American Pharaoh, who was the first American Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, had taken first place.

Brian Zipse, editor of Horse Racing Nation tweeted, "Very disappointed to see Sports Illustrated editors ignored the fans vote, and chose Serena Williams over American Pharaoh".

Another twitter user wrote "American Pharaoh overwhelmingly won online poll and yet you pick someone else? What a joke."

These claims were met with confusion by many on social media. One user wrote, "My bad. Since when did the definition of a 'person' constitute having four legs and cannot talk? #Serena."

Another said, "Only a black woman could achieve a 53-3 record in a calendar year at the highest level of sports and have her greatness doubted."

Courtney Nguyen, former Sports Illustrated writer and journalist for the Women's Tennis Association, says the decision has to be a subjective one.

"There's a knee jerk reaction to look at stats. People try to compare apples and oranges, how does she compare to a horse? How does she compare to a basketball player? Or even [current top-ranked male tennis player Novak] Djokovic? There are just so many things that speak to her as an athlete that numbers don't necessarily capture."."

Journalist Jessica Luther says the controversy is part of the racism and sexism that has shadowed Williams' career.

"She's a black woman comfortable in her own body that is playing a sport that is famously white," Luther told BBC Trending. Williams was able to defy her critics not only by winning the title, but by choosing the way she appeared on the cover.

"She chooses to sit on a throne, looking directly at us, and you can see the definition and power of her body. But she's also a woman, and specifically a black woman. She controlled the shoot, and knowing the history of the criticism of her and her body, I think that's really powerful."

Jose Aldo's 13-second knockout defeat to Conor McGregor at UFC 194 has caused a great deal of distress in the losing fighter's native Brazil, where the media hold concerns over the new champion, whom they call a "myth."

McGregor took the UFC's featherweight championship on Saturday after disposing of Aldo in record time for a title fight. The result led Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo to proclaim the "golden years" of Brazilian mixed martial arts are over, while newspaper O Globo called the loss "a stain on the career" of Aldo (h/t Irish Independent's Declan Whooley).

Aldo reigned undefeated in the Octagon for 10 years before McGregor blew that record away with a swift left hook that's sure to go down in the UFC's history books.

In a state of disbelief over how abruptly the fight came to an end, O Globo (via the Irish Independent) went on to elaborate upon "jester" McGregor's new status at the peak of the featherweight division, hinting he didn't deserve the victory:

"One day you're the king. Next, the jester takes his crown. The outspoken athlete [McGregor] who won more recognition from his provocations than by knockouts, will now be treated as a sport myth until the day that is defeated in the UFC."

Or perhaps it was merely that Aldo wasn't deserving of such a quick loss, considering the hype and anticipation surrounding one of the most advertised fights in UFC history, which turned into a passing of the torch.

John Locher/Associated Press
Not all sections of the Brazilian media were as vindictive in judging McGregor's work, however, and Estado de Minas, a newspaper published in Belo Horizonte, was quicker to heap praise on the "new king" (via the Irish Independent):

"Maybe Conor McGregor said too much, but he did everything he said. Now the featherweight champion who dispatched Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds at UFC 194 in Las Vegas has demonstrated his first act as king."

Speaking to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting after his UFC 194 triumph, McGregor described the first-round knockout as a "dream come true:"


It's true The Notorious was happy as ever to take on the role of loudmouth for much of the press tour leading up to UFC 194, but it's all the more difficult to rally against such personalities when they have results to back them up.

That late spike might have suggested the dethroned champion could prevail over the fastest-rising force the UFC has ever witnessed, but those hopes were extinguished all too quickly.

Love him or hate him, McGregor is here to stay, and while it's unknown at this point whether calls for a rematch will be answered, there's no arguing over who deserves to hold the championship belt.