Digest

Basketball

Water giant makes a splash on court

FIBA, basketball's world governing body, on Thursday announced a global partnership with Ganten, Asia's leading mineral water supplier.

The deal will help Shenzhen-based Ganten build its brand as it expands into new markets worldwide and strengthens links between FIBA and the dynamic Chinese business sector ahead of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the sport's biggest showcas event which will be played across eight Chinese cities next year (Aug 31-Sept 15).

The partnership comes into immediate effect and includes next month's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup as well as other leading FIBA national team competitions until December 31, 2019.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ganten has key commercial rights and exclusivity in the water category across the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018. It will supply mineral water at both competitions.

Warrior West calls time on career

David West, a key big man off the bench for the Golden State Warriors' past two championship seasons, has retired.

West's Twitter announcement on Thursday - one day after his 38th birthday - wasn't a surprise as he made it clear he would take some time after the team's latest title run to contemplate calling it a career. He left the San Antonio Spurs following the 2015-16 season for a chance to chase a championship with the Warriors, and wound up winning his first career title and then a second one this past June.

He averaged 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists over a 15-year career with New Orleans, Indiana, San Antonio and the Warriors.

Soccer

Modric named UEFA player of year

Luka Modric of Real Madrid and Croatia was named UEFA Player of the Year on Thursday in Monaco.

"My father always pushed me to fight for my dreams, I owe him a lot for everything," said Modric, whose silky midfield skills helped Real to a third straight European crown and then propelled Croatia to the World Cup final.

"It's an incredible moment for me, I feel really excited and proud of this great award," said the 32-year-old, who started out at Dinamo Zagreb and then had four years with Tottenham before moving to Real in 2012.

Modric, whose success sets him up as a favorite to win the Ballon d'Or world player of the year accolade, saw off former Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, now at Juventus, and Liverpool's Egyptian attacker Mo Salah.

NFL

Patriots beef up Gronk's bonuses

The New England Patriots have restructured tight end Rob Gronkowski's contract to boost his potential 2018 earnings by $4.3 million, according to agent Drew Rosenhaus.

Gronkowski has a base salary of $8 million and can earn up to $1 million in roster bonuses if he is active for all 16 games, with $3.3 million achievable in additional incentives. The new deal has a max value of $13.05 million this year.

The incentives will pay Gronkowski $1.1 million for hitting each of the following benchmarks (maxing out at three benchmarks for $3.3 million): playing 80 percent of the offensive snaps, making at least 70 catches, gaining at least 1,085 receiving yards or scoring at least nine touchdowns. The latter three figures are each exactly one unit more than he had in 2017 (69 catches, 1,084 yards, eight TDs).

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 09/01/2018 page11)