The Lakers cannot but be privately seething. Time and again, they’ve been thwarted in their plans to shore up their roster -- with the Clippers emerging as the beneficiaries. True, the rivalry has been around a while; when two franchises aren’t just vying for the hearts and minds of denizens of a single market, but do so in the same arena, fireworks become an inevitability. And, for a variety of reasons, the winners have invariably been adorned in purple and gold. Until, that is, the offseason and through the 2019-20 campaign to date, and the reigning kings of the city aren’t liking the developments one bit.

THE start of the volleyball tournament of Season 82 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) may have been postponed for a later date but last year’s women’s finals protagonists expressed readiness to make another competitive run in the tournament once the go-ahead is given.

UP, 1-0, in their best-of-three Chooks-to-Go/Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL)Lakan Season quarterfinal joust, North top-seeds San Juan-Go for Gold Knights seek to close out the Pasay Voyagers in Game Two today at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga.

LOS ANGELES -- Major League Baseball (MBL) commissioner Rob Manfred apologized Tuesday for his comments in which he referenced the World Series trophy as a “piece of metal.”

MARK GALEDO and 7Eleven Cliqq-Air21 by Roadbike Philippines will make a much-awaited return as they seek to reclaim their dominance in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10^th anniversary race unfolding Feb. 23 in Sorsogon and concluding on March 4 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Provincial Government of Sarangani recently jointly drafted the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 11224 (An Act Establishing the Sarangani Sports Training Center in Alabel) signed into law last year by President Rodrigo Duterte.

RECENTLY took part in the sixth annual Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Global Camp in Chicago in the United States, young Filipino hoops star Kai Sotto said he savored the opportunity given to him to further develop his skills in such a setup even as he hoped that more Filipino players get to experience such.

Winner of the “Best Game Prize” and £1,000 (about P66,000) was GM Anna Muzychuk, the older of the Muzychuk sisters of Ukraine. Born Feb. 28, 1990, she is the fourth woman, after Judit Polgar, Humpy Koneru and Hou Yifan, to cross the 2600 ELO rating mark. Until recently she had always been higher rated than her sister, and that says a lot, for Mariya Muzychuk was the 2015 World Women’s Chess Champion.

“Bizarre” is a word that seems appropriately applied to just about all aspects of Major League Baseball these days. For some time now, the organization that should stand for the best in the sport has instead been under a cloud showing its worst. It wasn’t simply that players on a team conspired to cheat. It was that those players found themselves rewarded with a championship for their efforts. And then, even after their transgressions were officially exposed, they somehow got to escape punishment AND keep the prize they shouldn’t have won in the first place.

THE Philippine squad that will be carrying the country’s flag in the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament next month in India is all set after the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas on Tuesday named the final roster.

BERLIN -- Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi were declared joint winners of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award in Berlin on Monday, with the voting tied for the first time in the awards’ 20-year history.

THE FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters is set to make its Manila return in May after five years and it has the world governing body excited, recognizing how the country has done its fair share in helping advance appreciation for the sport.