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SALT LAKE CITY — Three more stories from the world of sports.
1. Obama’s hilarious plea to Cavs head coach
The Cavaliers snapped Cleveland’s long 52-year drought and also won their first NBA title Sunday, and Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith’s shirt has practically been missing ever since during all of Cleveland’s celebration.
So when President Barack Obama called Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue to give the customary presidential congratulations and invite to the White House, he made sure he didn’t hang up before giving at least one plea for Smith to put on his shirt.
“Tell J.R. (Smith) and everybody to put on a shirt, though,” Obama said, laughing in the conversation. The team recorded video of Lue receiving the phone call and posted it to social media Thursday. “You can’t be just walking around without a shirt for … for like a whole week. Now (Iman) Shumpert is taking off his shirt and Kyrie (Irving) taking off his shirt. C’mon man.”
Smith retweeted the video Thursday night, but didn’t say if he planned on complying with Obama’s request.
2. America’s new ‘most depressing sports city’
Speaking of Cleveland’s title, there’s now a new most-depressing sports town in America (and Toronto) after the Cavaliers win, according to USA Today: Buffalo, New York.
The ranking of 40 sports city in America (and Toronto) consisted of cities that had at least one current NFL, NBA or MLB team.
Buffalo edged out San Diego, though both had no championships under USA Today’s grading guidelines. Atlanta, Cincinnati and Minneapolis-St. Paul rounded out the top five. Salt Lake City ended up No. 14 on the list.
Boston was rated the least-depressing sports town, just ahead of San Francisco. Pittsburgh, Denver and Seattle rounded out the top five on that side.
3. LeBron, Lillard and Hayward pass on Olympics
The U.S. men’s basketball team’s roster options for the 2016 Olympics have thinned over the past week, and that continued Thursday.
On Thursday, Finals MVP LeBron James, Jazz forward Gordon Hayward and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard joined two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and James Harden as NBA stars avoiding the Summer Olympics in Rio.
James told cleveland.com he wasn’t going to participate.
"I could use the rest," he told the newspaper. James helped lead the U.S. team to gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Hayward released a statement Thursday about turning down the opportunity to fulfil “family obligations.” Hayward and his wife, Robyn, are expecting their second child this summer.
He added he hoped to receive another opportunity in the future.
Portland Trail Blazers star and former Weber State Wildcat Damian Lillard reporedly also backed out of the Olympics Thursday.
According to The Vertical, Lillard will instead continue rehabbing from plantar fasciitis.
The official 12-man U.S. roster is expected to be released next week.
