Atlanta will host MLB ASG in 2025

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Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during a news conference after an owners meeting in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. The Oakland Athletics’ move to Las Vegas was unanimously approved Thursday by Major League Baseball team owners, cementing the sport’s first relocation since 2005. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

FILE - Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, left, and Spain’s Rafael Nadal pose ahead of their quarterfinal match at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, France, Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The Australian Open tennis tournament begins Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. Nadal is the defending champion and who owns a men’s-record 22 majors. It is Djokovic, though, who will draw the most attention. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

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FILE - Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges stands on the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks on Jan. 17, 2022, in New York. Bridges is set to make his return to the court on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, against the Milwaukee Bucks for an NBA In-Season Tournament game after sitting out all of last season and completing a 10-game league-imposed suspension this year for his role in a domestic violence case in 2022. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

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Atlanta will host MLB ASG in 2025

Major League Baseball will play its 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, four years after moving the event from Truist Park to the Rockies’ Coors Field in Denver over objections to changes in Georgia’s voting rights laws. The Braves were awarded the 2021 All-Star Game in May 2019, but MLB moved it in April 2021, just three months before the game was played. “I made the decision in 2021 to move the event and I understand... that people had then and probably still have different views as to the merits of that decision,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday following an owners’ meeting in Arlington, Texas. “What’s most important is that the Atlanta Braves are a great organization. ... With their great fan base and rich history, Atlanta deserves an All-Star Game.” Critics complained in 2021 that the voting rights changes in Georgia were too restrictive. Manfred, above, made the decision to move the All-Star events and the amateur draft from Atlanta after discussions with players and the Players Alliance, an organization of Black players formed after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Nadal to reveal comeback plans soon

Rafael Nadal is sure he’ll be returning to competition after missing nearly all of 2023 with a hip injury that required surgery. And now he says he’ll be revealing his comeback plans soon. Nadal wrote Thursday on social media: “I confirmed yesterday I’ll be back” and punctuated that message with a smiling emoji. “Stay tuned,” he continued in the Instagram post, which included a photograph of him about to hit a backhand. He said that in the coming days he will “decide and announce with my team when and where” everyone can expect to see him in action. Next season begins in late December, with the year’s first major tournament, the Australian Open, scheduled to begin Jan. 14. “For the world of tennis, no doubt that it’s amazing news that he’ll be back,” Novak Djokovic said at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. The 37-year-old Nadal, whose 22 Grand Slam singles titles rank second to Djokovic’s 24 for the most among men, hasn’t played on tour since January, when he hurt his hip flexor during a second-round loss at the Australian Open. He has said he expects 2024 to be his final season.

Hornets’ Bridges ‘anxious’ for return

Hornets forward Miles Bridges is “anxious” to make his return to NBA action, saying Thursday after practice that it feels “like the first day of school.” Bridges is set to return to the court Friday night for the first time in 583 days against the Bucks for an NBA In-Season Tournament game after sitting out all of last season and completing a 10-game suspension this year for his role in a domestic violence case in 2022. Bridges’ return comes even as he has a court date in February for allegedly violating a protection order stemming from the domestic violence incident that derailed his career more than 16 months ago. The NBA is allowing Bridges to play while the case remains in the courts. The league imposed a 30-game suspension this summer for Bridges, but he was given credit for 20 games time served after sitting out all 82 games last season. It may take some time for the 25-year-old forward to knock off the rust, as he last played for the Hornets on April 12, 2022, wrapping up a season in which he led the team in scoring at 20.2 points per game. — Associated Press