LeBron James goes up for a dunk over Carlos Delfino during the Men's Basketball semifinal (Getty Images)LONDON – Kobe Bryant and the United States will meet Pau Gasol and Spain for the Olympic gold medal, a historic rematch of the 2008 Beijing Games when Bryant helped Team USA hold off the Spaniards in a fierce, thrilling … wait … what? Oh. Never mind.

Dwight Howard was traded to the Lakers!

London Games organizers still decided to play Friday's semifinal games for the Olympic men's basketball tournament, but all anyone wanted to talk about – the U.S. press, at least – was the titanic trade that sent Howard to the Lakers and potentially shifted the NBA's balance of power. Gasol helped rally Spain past Russia 67-59, and Bryant helped Team USA roll past Argentina 109-83 to deliver the gold-medal rematch, but that was a story for another day.

Inquiring minds wanted to know what Bryant and Gasol thought of their new Lakers teammate. Gasol had barely stepped onto the court when he was hit with his first question about Howard. TNT's Craig Sager, working as a sideline reporter for NBC,

Read More »from Team USA advances to Olympic gold-medal game on Dwight Howard's day

LONDON – These Olympics have not been Kobe Bryant's finest work. At 33, he is Team USA's oldest player by four years, and he's looked like it for long stretches of the tournament. He missed all but one of his seven shots in Team USA's too-close victory over Lithuania last week, and Wednesday's quarterfinal game against Australia didn't start much better. After stepping out of bounds for one turnover, he dribbled his way into another. Kobe Bryant (10) puts up a shot as Australia's Matt Nielsen (14) defends on Wednesday. (AP)

Perhaps Bryant had just been waiting for these London Games to give him some drama. After the Aussies scored 11 straight points to open the second half – giving the fans at North Greenwich Arena a few fleeting thoughts of witnessing a monumental upset – the ball inevitably found its way into Bryant's hands. Bryant, as he often has in such tense moments, delivered.

Bryant buried a 3-pointer over Australia's defense, came up with a steal then quickly pulled up to drill another 3-pointer. The rout was on, and Team USA was well on its way to a 119-86

Read More »from Kobe Bryant scores 20 second-half points as U.S. holds off Australia to reach Olympic semifinals

WIMBLEDON, England – Serena Williams has cheerfully talked about how much she's enjoyed her week here during the London Games. No longer is the All-England Club all-white. Its pomp and circumstance have been painted over with a splash of bright colors. The crowds have been louder and the tennis brisk and entertaining. In a word, Williams said, her Olympics experience has been fun.

And, yet, when Williams took the court for her gold-medal match against Russia's Maria Sharapova, there was nothing cheerful about her performance. It was the type of brutish dominance tennis fans have long been accustomed to watching. Sharapova never stood a chance, as Williams blasted her way to a 6-0, 6-1 victory that took all of 62 minutes, making her the first woman to complete the career Golden Slam since Steffi Graf.

[ Photos: Serena Williams crushes Sharapova to win gold ]

Williams blistered one more serve past Sharapova to close out the match, raised her arms in triumph then began hopping

Read More »from Serena Williams completes Golden Slam, beating Maria Sharapova in Olympic gold-medal match

WIMBLEDON, England – They had fought some four hours and 26 minutes, an epic duel on the fabled grass at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club that ranked as the longest three-set match in Open history. It was an exhausting, thrilling afternoon on Centre Court that neither Roger Federer nor Juan Martin del Potro seemed willing to let end, and somewhere in the midst of the madness, tennis's greatest player allowed himself a small moment of clarity.

"I got a sense," Federer would later say, "that this was something special."

In an Olympics that have been staged at some of England's most historic venues, Federer and del Potro delivered a match for the ages, an exhausting 3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17 battle that gave the first week of these London Games one of their most memorable moments. Once del Potro scuffled a backhand into the net in the eighth point of the 58th game to finally close the match, Federer looked over to the stadium box holding his wife and raised his arms in

Read More »from Roger Federer keeps gold-medal hopes alive with epic win over Juan Martin del Potro

LONDON – It wasn't long into their opening game at these London Olympics that Team USA's stars realized they were being forced out of their comfort zone. Not so much by France. It was the Olympic basketball arena that made the Americans adjust.

The 12,000-seat facility is much smaller than NBA arenas, most of which hold 19,000 to 20,000 fans. Thefans also are set back from the court at the Olympic venue, giving it a more spacious feel and confusing the sight lines for the Americans.

U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said teams were only allowed to spend about an hour of time in the venue before the walk-up to the Games. And Team USA forward Kevin Love admitted that both teams' poor shooting in the opening quarter probably had something to do with them getting acclimated to the arena.

"The fans are pretty removed," Krzyzewski said. "You'd think they would want to put more people closer."

The facility is temporary and might even be used for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The unique

Read More »from Fresh Take: U.S. men's basketball

LONDON – Kevin Durant fell short trying to win his first NBA championship this summer. He looks determined to make up for it with his first Olympic gold medal.

Durant delivered 22 points and nine rebounds in his Olympic debut as Team USA crushed France 98-71 to open the London Games with a dominating performance that had First Lady Michelle Obama on her feet and cheering.

Durant led the U.S. to the gold medal at the 2010 world championships, and quickly took center stage from LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in his first Olympic game. He drove through the middle of the lane early in the first quarter and threw down a vicious dunk that brought a smile from the First Lady. Moments later, James threaded a stunning cross-court bounce pass to Durant for another dunk.

Bryant had only five words of advice for Durant before his first Olympic game: "Just shoot the damn ball."

Durant did that, making six of his 13 shots, including three of his five 3-pointers as he rose up over France's

Read More »from Kevin Durant leads Team USA past France in Olympic opener

Tim Duncan will sign a three-year contract with the Spurs this week, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Duncan's representatives and the Spurs are finalizing a few items in the contract, but the structure has been agreed upon. The contract has a player option for the third season and is fully guaranteed. The deal also has a no-trade clause, sources said, and should take Duncan to the end of his playing days.

The Spurs have reached agreements with free agents Danny Green (three years, $12 million) and Boris Diaw (two years, $9.2 million). They also have struck a deal to re-sign guard Patty Mills, who opted out of his contract after last season, and intend to add French guard Nando De Colo.

Duncan, 36, declared himself "a Spur for life" during the Western Conference finals, and showed little interest in testing the free-agent market. He averaged 15.4 points and nine rebounds last season.

MIAMI – Kevin Durant walked off the court and into his mom's arms. He stood there, all 6-foot-whatever of him seemingly folded in half, sobbing in the embrace of his parents as the Miami Heat's championship celebration thundered down the tunnel behind them. In these swollen-eye moments – mother consoling child – it's easy to remember Durant and so many of the Oklahoma City Thunder are still so young. No one buys you a snow cone after you lose the NBA Finals, and Durant let the emotion wash over him.

Tears dried, head held high, Durant walked out of the arena about an hour later. His innocence had given way to the cool detachment of a man who knew where he was headed. He would be back, if not here in Miami, then Chicago, Boston. Somewhere. Durant didn't exit the Finals stage for good. This week – this championship – belonged to LeBron James, but Durant isn't done fighting.

Kevin Durant averaged 30.6 points for the Thunder in the five games of the NBA Finals. (AP)"This is not the last time we'll see Oklahoma City," James said.

Durant isn't done growing. Nor are many

Read More »from Kevin Durant moved to tears after OKC's NBA Finals loss to LeBron James, Heat