Homan wins, Dunstone upset to kick off curling’s PointsBet Invitational

Derrick Rose’s last act as an NBA player came in the form of a letter to the game of basketball, addressing the highs and lows that he experienced over a 16-year pro career.

And with that, his career ended on his terms.

Rose, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by his hometown Chicago Bulls and the league’s MVP in 2011, announced his retirement on Thursday. He was, and still is, the youngest MVP winner in NBA history, claiming that award when he was just 22.

“You believed in me through the highs and lows, my constant when everything else seemed uncertain,” Rose wrote as part of his letter to the game, serving as his retirement announcement. He posted the letter online, as well as taking out full-page newspaper advertisements in each of the cities where he played in his NBA years.

“You told me it’s okay to say goodbye, reassuring me that you’ll always be a part of me, no matter where life takes me,” he wrote.

Rose was the league’s rookie of the year in 2008-09 for the Bulls, was the league’s MVP two seasons later and was an All-Star selection in three of his first four seasons. A major knee injury during the 2012 playoffs forced him to miss almost two full seasons and he contemplated stepping away from the game several times following other injury issues, but always found ways to get back onto the floor.

Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf said Rose “represents the grit, resilience, and heart” of Chicago.

“He’s one of the toughest and most determined athletes I’ve ever been around, constantly fighting through adversity that would have broken most,” Reinsdorf said. “Watching him grow from a Chicago Public League star to becoming the youngest MVP in NBA history as a Bull has been nothing short of an honor.”

Besides the Bulls, Rose would also play for New York, Detroit, Minnesota, Cleveland and Memphis. He spent last season with the Grizzlies, returning to the city that he called home for his one season of college basketball.

He played in 24 games with the Grizzlies last season and when it ended Rose spoke at length about what a return to Memphis meant to him.

“It’s all full circle,” Rose said in April. “Coming back here, having my family here, my wife’s family is from here, being back in this arena, having some of the people that came to my college games actually come to my professional games here, it’s all love.”

Added the Grizzlies in a statement Thursday where they offered Rose congratulations on his career: “We are grateful for your meaningful contributions to this team and this city, and wish you all the best in this next chapter of life.”

Rose dealt with multiple knee surgeries over the years, took time away during the 2017-18 season to contemplate his future while dealing with ankle issues and sat out nearly two full seasons — after the knee injury in 2012 — when he should have been in his prime.

Rose averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 regular-season games. He averaged 21 points per game before the ACL tear 12 years ago, and 15.1 per game in the seasons that followed.

“With D-Rose, it was never a question of his talent,” Basketball Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, a former Rose teammate, said in 2018. “It was always about his health. And when he was healthy, everyone saw all the talent.”

Rose still flashed that MVP-level talent plenty of times over the years that followed the knee troubles. He had a career-high 50 points for Minnesota in a 128-125 win over Utah on Oct. 31, 2018 — a game that moved him to tears. He had a 12-assist game for Detroit in a 115-107 win over Houston on Dec. 14, 2019, his first such game in nearly eight years.

“I know the person that he is, the character that he has,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Rose in Chicago, Minnesota and New York, said in 2018 when he was leading the Timberwolves. “And it shines through.”

Rose was a serious candidate for the league’s sixth man of the year award in three straight seasons — 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 — and even got a first-place MVP vote again in that 2020-21 season, a decade after winning that award.

He announced his presence as a star quickly, winning the league’s skills challenge — as a rookie — at All-Star weekend in 2009, then winning rookie of the year and scoring 36 points in his playoff debut. It was a meteoric rise for someone who grew up amid poverty in a Chicago suburb, then saw basketball as an escape route and way to take care of his mother and family. In 2006, he hit a shot to win an Illinois state high school championship. Only five years later, he was MVP of the NBA.

“The kid from Englewood turned into a Chicago legend,” the Bulls posted on social media Thursday, along with a video of Rose’s highlights with the team.

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AP NBA:

CALGARY – Kevin Koe will skip a three-man curling team for now.

The four-time Canadian and two-time men’s world champion dropped second Jacques Gauthier from his Glencoe Club team on the eve of the PointsBet Invitational that started Wednesday in Calgary.

Koe opened the event that offers $50,000 in prize money to each of the men’s and women’s winners with an 8-4 doubling of national university men’s champion Josh Bryden.

Koe, who also represented Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics, says there wasn’t enough time to find a replacement for Gauthier for the PointsBet, and there won’t be enough time before next week’s first Grand Slam of the season, which is the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown.

“We haven’t talked to anyone yet,” Koe said. “We’ll see who can come and play an event or two. I don’t think we’re going to rush out and grab someone right away, but come to an event with us and see how it goes.

“We’ll get through these next two weeks and start talking about it and seeing what our options are.”

A big-name curling free agent without a team in Koe’s home province is Brendan Bottcher. The skip of the No. 2 men’s team in Canada last season was supplanted on his team by Brad Jacobs.

When asked if it was a possibility Bottcher would join his team, Koe replied “no, it’s not.”

After skipping his own team for four years and representing B.C. in the 2023 Brier, Gauthier joined Koe, his cousin Tyler Tardi and Karrick Martin to play second for the 2023-24 season.

The team won a pair of tour events and made five finals with Gauthier on the squad, but didn’t qualify for playoffs in five Grand Slam appearances and went 2-6 at the Canadian championship in Regina to miss playoffs.

Koe went 2-3 in the ATB Okotoks Classic last week before Gauthier was axed.

The 25-year-old son of Canadian champion and television commentator Cathy Gauthier, said Wednesday in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Elephant in the room. I got cut yesterday.”

“I wasn’t sure if I should make a public comment on it, but I wanted to provide some clarity,” Gauthier wrote.

“The team decided I wasn’t performing to their standard and decided they’d pursue alternative options moving forward.

“It happens. Nothing is a given in this sport, and although I am surprised at the timing, I know I can be better as a player. I plan on using this as an opportunity to grow both as an individual and a curler, looking to improve in all areas.

“For now, it’s back to the lab.”

The 49-year-old Koe wants to skip a team that can qualify for, and win, next year’s Olympic trials, which he says is likely his last trials.

“We struggled at the end of last season and we had some good talks and meetings and thought we could turn it around at the start of the year,” Koe said.

“If the trials were a couple years away we probably would have been a little more patient. They’re 14 months away basically.

“They’re never easy, these moves. Jaques was a great teammate, great curler, best person, but we felt we needed to do what was best for the team.”

Koe finished last season ranked fifth in the men’s Canadian Team Ranking System.

Four teams ranked higher — Brad Gushue, Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone — have pre-qualified for the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C.

Koe will have to win Alberta provincials to join them. Since Koe, Tardi and Martin live in Alberta, the team can recruit a player from outside the province.

“We’ve had a few people kind of inquire, but this was yesterday, right?” Koe said. “It’s a big week for us. We need some better results.

“We’ll start talking about it in a week or two. Maybe we’ll get some offers we weren’t expecting.

“We’re better than kind of the last half-year has shown, but it’s time for us to prove it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have won their third straight Canadian Championship title, defeating Toronto FC 0-0 (4-2 on penalties) in the final at BC Place on Wednesday.

Defender Bjorn Utvik scored the decisive penalty for Vancouver, firing a shot into the left side of the net in the fifth round of kicks.

Goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer stopped seven on-target shots for the ‘Caps and Sean Johnson made two saves for TFC.

Toronto was the dominant side for much of the game, but Boehmer made a series of critical saves, including a penalty-kick stop on Toronto star Federico Bernardeschi in the 38th minute.

Vancouver earned its way into the final after edging Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC 2-0 in the tournament’s two-legged semifinal.

Vancouver, which hoisted the Voyagers Cup for the fourth time in its history, is now assured a place in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League tournament.

Bernardeschi proved tough for the ‘Caps to handle from the opening minute.

Thirty seconds into the match, the Italian launched a left-footed rocket that Boehmer tipped out of harm’s way.

Toronto controlled much of the play across the first half while Vancouver struggled to connect on passes early.

Boehmer kept the game scoreless in the 21st minute after Bernardeschi dished off to Richie Laryea. The Canadian defender fired a quick shot on net, only to see Boehmer knock it down.

Vancouver settled into the game and, in the 34th minute, got a prime opportunity when Brian White and Fafa Picault broke away from the Toronto defence. The duo raced into the penalty area, where White was taken down without a call.

Minutes later, TFC was awarded a penalty kick after Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda hauled Laryea down near the goal line.

Loud boos emanated from the announced crowd of 12,516 as Bernardeschi lined up his shot. He took a few steps, then blasted a left-footed kick on net as Boehmer dove and punched the ball away to ecstatic cheers.

The score remained level at 0-0 as both sides headed to their locker rooms after the first 45 minutes. The first half saw Toronto control 71 per cent of the possession and outchance Vancouver 3-1 in shots on target, though the ‘Caps held a 6-5 edge in total shots.

The visitors came into the second half with renewed vigour.

TFC appeared poised to open the scoring in the 53rd minute when an unmanned Laryea collected the ball inside the penalty area. Boehmer came well off his line to challenge and when Laryea sent a rolling ball toward the net, the ‘keeper got a hand in its path for another save.

With neither side able to find the back of the net in regulation, the game went to penalties — and Vancouver pulled it out for a three-peat.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

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