Wemby scores career-high 50 points

Victor Wembanyama scored a career-high 50 points in a performance that left his teammates and the opposition in awe. Wembanyama shrugged, wondering when he will do better after the Spurs’ 139-130 victory over the Wizards on Wednesday night. “Really, my first thought is, eventually I want the rest of our performances, the rest of our games to overshadow this one,” said Wembanyama, the top pick in the 2023 draft. “I wish, I want to make it so that in the future it’s just another one.” It’s the pragmatism that has enabled Wembanyama to blossom into one of the league’s youngest superstars. “Very impressive,” Spurs point guard Chris Paul said. At 20 years 314 days, Wembanyama is the fourth-youngest player to score 50 points. Wembanyama was 8 for 16 on 3-pointers, establishing a career high after setting and tying that mark with six 3s in his previous two games. Wembanyama wasn’t the only player to reach the 50-point mark Wednesday: Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 59 the Bucks’ 127-120 OT victory against the Pistons on Wednesday night in Milwaukee.

At 40, Vonn returning to the slopes

Lindsey Vonn is coming out of retirement to rejoin the U.S. Ski Team, she announced Thursday, intending to race again at age 40 — and six years after her last Olympics. Vonn is a three-time Olympic medalist, including a downhill gold and super-G bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games, and a bronze in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She’s also a four-time overall World Cup champ and owns eight world championships medals. Her 82 World Cup race victories stood as the record for a woman until that total was eclipsed in January 2023 by American Mikaela Shiffrin, who’s still active and is now up to 97 wins — more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport. Vonn’s last competition came in February 2019, after she dealt with a long series of injuries throughout her career. Vonn has been training in recent months, U.S. Ski & Snowboard said Thursday. “Getting back to skiing without pain has been an incredible journey,” Vonn said. It’s not yet known which particular races Vonn will be aiming to enter or whether she will try to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

More trouble for suspended EPL ref

UEFA started another investigation into English match official David Coote on Thursday after a video allegedly showed him using cocaine during the European Championship. “A UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by the referee, Mr. David Coote,” UEFA said in a statement. Coote worked as a video review specialist at Euro 2024, where match officials stayed at a hotel near Frankfurt. The 42-year-old assistant supported the lead VAR official at eight games. British daily The Sun published a video late Wednesday appearing to show Coote snorting the drug using an American banknote. The report said the incident was filmed one day after Coote’s last match duty, the quarterfinal between France and Portugal. France won a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw. Coote was suspended on Monday after a different cellphone video circulated of him making offensive comments with friends about former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. —AP