LeBron ties

Robert Parish

MIAMI (AP) — LeBron James started for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat, making it the 1,611th regular-season game of his career and tying Robert Parish’s all-time NBA mark.

Parish held the record for nearly 30 years. He has now been caught by James, someone who now has yet another record on what seems like an endless resume of accomplishment within the game.

James is also the NBA leader in, among many categories, points, seasons played, All-NBA nods and All-Star selections.

Duke gets

by Siena

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Duke barely avoided a shocking upset to open the NCAA Tournament before beating Siena 71-65. The No. 1 overall seed having to rally from 13 down and go ahead for good in the final 5 minutes to beat the 16th-seeded Saints.

Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Gavin Doty scored 21 points for Siena.

The Saints led by 11 at half and 61-56 with 7:56 left before Duke had an 11-0 run to go ahead for good.

WNBA deal

reviewed

NEW YORK (AP) — WNBA players are having information sessions over the next day or two to learn more about the new collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to in principle early Wednesday morning. Through zoom calls and one-on-one conversations the players are hearing about some of the details of the transformational new deal that will last for the next seven years with an opt-out after six, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

FIFA fines

Israel

GENEVA (AP) — FIFA has fined the Israeli soccer federation for breaching anti-discrimination regulations but it took no action on a Palestinian request to suspend Israel from global soccer for allowing clubs based in West Bank settlements.

Also, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has further dampened Iran’s attempts to move its World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico, saying global soccer’s governing body wants the tournament “to go ahead as scheduled.” I

nfantino reiterated FIFA is not moving toward granting Iranian requests to move the team’s three World Cup group games in June from the United States to Mexico.