Latest news with #Bird
Time Out
16 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Time Out
This popular amenity is returning to NYC public pools for the first time in 5 years
Rise and shine, swimmers: Adult lap swim is finally back in New York, and it's ready to make waves. After a five-year, pandemic-induced pause, the city's beloved early morning swim program is resurfacing at public pools starting July 7. But before you grab your goggles and cap, there's a small catch: It's only happening at five locations across the five boroughs. From 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, adult swimmers can take to the lanes at Van Cortlandt Pool (Bronx), Kosciuszko Pool (Brooklyn), Hamilton Fish Park Pool (Manhattan), Astoria Pool (Queens) and Lyons Pool (Staten Island). The program—once a summertime ritual for fitness junkies, retirees and early birds alike—had been suspended since 2020, citing staffing shortages. This summer marks its splashy return. 'This is a very important community program,' said Emily Chase, assistant commissioner for public programs at NYC Parks, at a kickoff event Thursday. 'It's a great place to meet people and be part of an amazing, diverse New York City community.' Before the pandemic, lap swim was offered citywide with 'Early Bird' and 'Night Owl' sessions. Now, it's back, but still in a limited lane due to a lack of lifeguards. Though the city now boasts 680 certified guards—10% more than last year—it's still less than half of the 1,400 employed in 2019. Certification continues through July, so officials are hopeful more pools may dive in later this summer. Still, the revival is making a splash with locals. Swimmers can register for free right at the pool and even join the city's swim challenge. If you clock 15 miles or more this summer, you'll score a commemorative tee. The lap swim revival is just one part of the Parks Department's broader summer rollout, which also includes expanded Learn to Swim programs and the unveiling of the brand-new Gottesman Pool at Central Park's north end, a $160 million facility replacing the outdated Lasker Rink and Pool. The space can accommodate 1,000-plus swimmers in the summer and transforms into a turf field and skating rink in the fall and winter.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cooper Flagg Names His Favorite NBA Player Without Hesitation
Cooper Flagg Names His Favorite NBA Player Without Hesitation originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Former Duke Blue Devils star forward Cooper Flagg is widely projected to go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, scheduled for the 25th later this month. Advertisement He had a season to remember in his only year at the college level. After averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while leading Duke to the Final Four, he was named both the ACC Player of the Year and the National Player of the Year. As the draft gets closer, he took part in a "Get to Know" segment and answered several personal questions about himself in a video. Former Duke forward Cooper Flagg at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine.© David Banks-Imagn Images One of the questions was who his favorite NBA player is. While he could have gone with someone in the league currently, he opted to go all-time, naming Larry Bird. "Larry Bird, we had like the '85-'86 Celtics Finals games," Flagg said. "I think it was six games versus the Rockets. We had those in the car, and we used to just play them on repeat." Bird played 13 seasons in the NBA after being drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1978. He went on to average 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game for his career, winning three NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVPs. Advertisement The 6-foot-9 forward also won three league MVPs, was named to 12 All-Star Games, and was selected to nine All-NBA First Teams. Since retiring in 1992, Bird has been named to both the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams. If Flagg has a career anything like Bird, he'll go down as one of the game's all-time greats. Related: Former Duke Star Expected to Join 76ers in Latest NBA Mock Draft This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Heat makes roster decisions on Johnson, Mitchell and Smith ahead of free agency. What it means
The Miami Heat has made some roster decisions ahead of this week's NBA Draft. On Tuesday, the Heat exercised the $2 million team option in forward Keshad Johnson's contract to guarantee his salary for this upcoming season and extended an $8.7 million qualifying offer to guard Davion Mitchell to make him a restricted free agent. The Heat faced a Sunday deadline to do both things ahead of the start of league-wide free agent negotiations on Monday at 6 p.m By extending this qualifying offer to Mitchell, the Heat is now allowed to match outside offers in free agency to retain him. If the Heat didn't extend this qualifying offer, Mitchell would have become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and Miami would have lost the power to have an opportunity to match outside offers. Mitchell can return to the Heat on the one-year, $8.7 million qualifying offer that Miami extended him. But the more likely scenario after Mitchell's strong finish to this past season with the Heat is for him to sign an offer sheet with another team when free agency begins next week, putting pressure on Miami to make a decision on how far it's willing to go to keep him. The Heat would then have a few days to decide whether it will match that offer to re-sign Mitchell. Mitchell could also simply negotiate a new contract with the Heat for any length and any amount in free agency this summer. Miami holds Mitchell's Bird rights, which allow the Heat to exceed the salary cap to re-sign him up to his maximum salary despite already being over the cap. Mitchell, who turns 27 on Sept. 5, is expected to get the biggest contract of his NBA career after standing out following the February trade to the Heat. With Mitchell making $6.5 million this past season in the final year of his rookie-scale contract after getting drafted with the ninth overall pick in 2021, he could draw offers around the $14.1 million full midlevel exception range this summer. After arriving to the Heat in the Jimmy Butler trade on Feb. 6, Mitchell averaged 10.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.4% from the field and 44.7% on 3.1 three-point attempts per game in 30 regular-season appearances (15 starts) for arguably the best sustained stretch of his NBA career. But Mitchell's calling card is his on-ball defense. Known as 'off night' for his ability to shut down opposing teams' top scorers, Mitchell's point-of-attack defense immediately helped the Heat. The Heat allowed 3.4 fewer points per 100 possessions with Mitchell on the court compared to when he wasn't playing after the February trade. As for Johnson, the Heat's decision to guarantee his $2 million salary for next season means he will likely get more time in the team's developmental program and likely be on the opening night roster unless he's involved in a trade before then. Johnson is eligible to be traded after Miami picked up his option on Tuesday. Johnson impressed in the G League with averages of 17.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game with the Heat's developmental affiliate (the Sioux Falls Skyforce) last season as an undrafted rookie. But Johnson's NBA playing time with the Heat was limited, appearing in just 16 NBA games as a rookie last regular season. He logged double-digit minutes in only three of those 16 NBA regular-season appearances. Johnson, who turned 24 on Monday, is expected to play for the Heat's summer league team for the second consecutive year this offseason. With the Heat exercising Johnson's option, the Heat's current salary-cap breakdown includes 12 players on standard contracts with partially guaranteed or fully guaranteed salaries for next season: Bam Adebayo ($37.1 million), Tyler Herro ($31 million), Andrew Wiggins ($28.2 million), Terry Rozier ($24.9 million of $26.6 million salary currently guaranteed), Kyle Anderson ($9.2 million), Haywood Highsmith ($5.6 million), Nikola Jovic ($4.4 million), Kel'el Ware ($4.4 million), Kevin Love ($4.2 million), Jaime Jaquez Jr. ($3.9 million), Pelle Larsson ($978,000 of $2 million salary currently guaranteed) and Johnson ($2 million salary for next season). If three-point shooting forward Duncan Robinson bypasses the early-termination option on his $19.9 million salary for next season, as expected, he would become the 13th Heat player on that list and put the Heat just two players short of the 15-man limit for an NBA standard roster. Robinson has until Sunday to exercise the early-termination option on his $19.9 million salary for next season and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. If Robinson doesn't exercise the early-termination option in his deal by the Sunday deadline, he would then have $9.9 million of his $19.9 million salary for next season guaranteed and the the final $10 million of his salary would become guaranteed if he's still on the Heat's roster after July 8. In addition, the Heat extended a two-way contract qualifying offer to guard Dru Smith on Tuesday, making him a restricted free agent and allowing the Heat to match outside offers. Smith, who closed last regular season on a two-way contract with the Heat and is eligible to sign another two-way deal with the Heat for next season, became a consistent contributor for the Heat last season before suffering a season-ending torn Achilles tendon during a Dec. 23 win over the Brooklyn Nets. But the Heat is not planning to extend a qualifying offer to guard Isaiah Stevens before Sunday's deadline, which means he'll become an unrestricted free agent next week. Stevens, who closed last season on a two-way contract with Miami, is still expected to play for the Heat's summer league team this offseason and a return to Miami on another two-way deal for next season hasn't been completely ruled out. Along with Johnson and Stevens, Ware and Larsson are expected to be part of the Heat's summer league roster for the second consecutive year this offseason. The Heat opens summer league action on July 5 in San Francisco before taking part in Las Vegas Summer League in mid-July. Guard Josh Christopher, the other player who ended last season on a two-way contract with the Heat, is not eligible for another two-way contract next season because he's entering his fourth NBA season and two-way contracts are only for players with three or fewer years of NBA experience. Christopher will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. This leaves the Heat with all three of its two-way contract slots still open. Two-way contracts, which pay half the NBA rookie minimum and do not count toward the salary cap or luxury tax, allow for players to be on their NBA team's active list for as many as 50 regular-season games with other game action having to come in the G League. Two-way deals do not come with playoff eligibility. The list of players from the Heat's season-ending roster who will be free agents this summer includes Christopher (unrestricted free agent), guard Alec Burks (unrestricted free agent), Mitchell (restricted free agent), Smith (restricted free agent) and Stevens (unrestricted free agent). Robinson could join that list and become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he exercises the early-termination option in his contract before Sunday's deadline. The Heat holds the 20th pick in Wednesday's first round of the two-round NBA Draft. The Heat does not currently have a pick in Thursday's second round.
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Mets Advised To Swing Much-Needed Trade For Pair Of Breakout Pitchers
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The New York Mets are one of the best teams in baseball this season, but they're still in a dogfight for the National League East. With that in mind, it's clear the Mets are going to need to make some moves to add more talent to their roster. One of the bigger glaring holes to upgrade is the bullpen. The Athletic's Jim Bowden recently proposed the Mets swing a huge trade with the Colorado Rockies. In this deal, Bowden suggested the Mets send outfielder Drew Gilbert and utilityman Chris Suero to the Rockies in exchange for pitchers Jake Bird and Seth Halvorsen. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 04: A logo on the seats is seen before the home opener between the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays at Citi Field on April 04, 2025... NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 04: A logo on the seats is seen before the home opener between the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays at Citi Field on April 04, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City."The Mets are going to be in a dogfight all season with the Phillies, and in their rear-view mirror, the Braves could start creeping closer and closer," Bowden wrote. "To prevail in the NL East, the Mets need to improve their bullpen depth at the deadline. In this trade proposal, they would land the Rockies' two best high-leverage relievers, Bird and Halvorsen. "Bird has had the better season statistically (2.06 ERA in 33 appearances, 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings), but Halvorsen has more upside, and with the help of the Mets' pitching and analytics departments, might develop into an impact closer in time. Bird, 29, is under team control through 2028; Halvorsen, 25, through 2030." While the pair of prospects the Mets would lose in this deal would hurt their farm system, it would be well worth it to bring in two talented relievers. Both Bird and Halvorsen are under team control for the next few seasons, which only adds to their value. They've both been excellent this season while playing in a very hitter-friendly park in Coors Field. Adding this pair of pitchers to the roster would arguably take the Mets' bullpen near the top of the league. More MLB: Dodgers Emerging As Landing Spot For $56 Million Ace to Regain 'Former Glory'?
Kuwait Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
Picasso on a plate: Unseen ceramics up for auction
A clutch of one-off and hitherto unseen ceramic plates and dishes by Pablo Picasso are going under the hammer in Geneva on June 19. Emblematic motifs from Picasso's artistic universe - pigeons, fish, a goat, a bull, and a bird adorn the colourful plates and dishes. It's a truly exceptional collection. The plates and dishes we have here are real Picasso works,' Bernard Piguet, director of the Piguet auction house in Geneva, told AFP. 'These unique pieces belonged to Picasso's estate, and in the early 1980s, his heirs gave them to one of their friends,' he said. The close friend, a French art lover whose name has not been revealed, kept them until his death. His heirs have decided to put the ceramics up for sale. Made between 1947 and 1963 in the Madoura workshop in Vallauris on the southeast French coast, the ceramic artworks are being exhibited to the general public for the first time ahead of Thursday's auction. The peinted brick 'Head of a Bearded Man' (12.8.1956). An original Picasso print seen on the back of a ceramic plate representing a goat (circa 1950). The white earthenware plate 'Bird' (2.6.1963) by Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer Pablo Picasso. An auction house employee sets on a wall the 'Untitled Blue Monochrome IKB 328' (1959) a pure pigment and synthetic resin on cardstock art work by French artist Yves Klein. 'Reasonable' prices The seven pieces are being sold in separate lots. Two large platters decorated with pigeons are both expected to fetch between 30,000 and 50,000 Swiss francs ($37,000-$61,500). A third plate depicting three blue, pink, and brick-coloured fish on a white background, resembling a child's drawing, is estimated at 20,000 to 30,000 francs. A thin brick, titled 'Head of a Bearded Man', and painted with ceramic pastels in yellow, white, garnet, brown, blue orange and green, has the same estimate. Glazed on a painted background in shades of grey, brown, and black, a terracotta plate depicting a goat's head bears the prestigious stamp 'Original Picasso print' on the back. It is valued at 20,000-30,000 francs. The two others feature a bull on a hexagonal terracotta tile (15,000-20,000 francs), and a stylised bird on a plate painted in black and white (15,000-25,000 francs). 'It's a lot,' Piguet said of the price. 'But don't forget that these are works of art in their own right and unique pieces' without replicas. If you step back from Picasso's work and his drawings, which are becoming practically unaffordable today, you have here original works by Picasso that command a reasonable estimate.' An employee of the Piguet auction house holding the hexagonal painted terracotta floor 'Bull' (6.2.1957), showing its creation date on the back, by Pablo Picasso. This photograph shows seven unique and never-before-seen ceramic works by Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and theatre designer Pablo Picasso, prior to its auction at the Piguet auction house in Geneva, prior to the sales of seven unique and never-before-seen ceramic works by Picasso.--AFP photos The terracotta plate 'Goat' (circa 1950) by Pablo Picasso. An auction house employee sets on a wall the 'Untitled Blue Monochrome IKB 328' (1959) a pure pigment and synthetic resin on cardstock art work by French artist Yves Klein. New outlet Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. The prolific Spanish painter died in 1973, aged 91. He created thousands of plates, platters, vases, pitchers, and other earthenware utensils in the Madoura ceramics studio, run by the pottery couple Georges and Suzanne Ramie. After World War II, 'Picasso was already an internationally-renowned artist,' said Adeline Bisch Balerna, head of paintings and sculptures at Piguet. 'He had already opened up a huge number of avenues for all artists; the great, well-known works had been created, and he was seeking new means of expression for his art.' Picasso would visit the Madoura studio, meet Georges Ranie, and be 'captivated by all the possibilities offered' by this new artistic outlet, she explained. Piguet is also auctioning two Picasso works 'never before seen on the art market', from the same family friend's collection: 'Serenade' (1919), an Indian ink and watercolour painting estimated at 20,000-30,000 francs, and the pencil drawing 'Famille balzacienne' (1962), valued at 80,000-120,000 francs. Unseen Klein Meanwhile, the contemporary art in Thursday's sale includes one of French artist Yves Klein's first blue monochromes, in what is its first appearance on the art market, according to Piguet auction house. From 1959, 'Monochrome bleu sans titre (IKB 328)', estimated at 100,000-150,000 francs, is painted in International Klein Blue, the deep blue hue developed by the artist himself. 'In daylight, it really has this luminous blue, this completely fascinating Klein blue. And when you put it indoors, you see it as a dark blue, almost midnight blue,' said Bernard Piguet. Klein died in 1962 aged 34, following a series of heart attacks. The work comes from the collection of the Swiss artist couple Muriel and Gerald Minkoff, who liked to exchange their works with their contemporaries. It was discovered by their successors in their Geneva apartment, according to Piguet. — AFP
