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Auto Racing
SHANGHAI – Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton set the early pace at the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday with the fastest times in the first practice session.
Rosberg had the quickest lap time at 1 minute, 38.037 seconds, just ahead of his teammate, Hamilton, at 1:38.183.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel had the third-fastest time of the session, a full half-second behind Hamilton.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top five.
NBA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento Kings fired coach George Karl after his first full season with the team, setting the stage for the team to hire its ninth coach since last making the playoffs in 2006.
General manager Vlade Divac announced the move Thursday, a day after the Kings wrapped up another disappointing season with a 33-49 record. Karl was given a four-year contract when he was hired in February 2015 to replace Tyrone Corbin but never worked out and finished with a 44-68 mark.
Karl was unable to improve the team’s defense, had frequent run-ins with star center DeMarcus Cousins and faced questions about his status as far back as November.
NEW YORK – The NBA had a record-setting season in the stands and on the screens.
The league said Thursday it broke its attendance mark for the second consecutive season, drawing nearly 22 million fans in 2015-16.
The average attendance of 17,864 also was a record, including the 723 sellouts and 94 percent average arena capacity.
NBA TV had its most viewers this season as part of a year of growth for NBA Digital.
The network averaged 345,000 total viewers during the regular season, a 19 percent increase over 2014-15. It drew a record number of viewers for its April 10 tripleheader, highlighted by Golden State’s victory over San Antonio in the nightcap.
That game drew an average of 2.6 million viewers, the most for a game on NBA TV.
NFL
ENGLEWOOD – Center Matt Paradis, who took every snap for the Denver Broncos from their opener through the Super Bowl, signed his exclusive rights tender Thursday, four days before they start their offseason program.
Paradis is the only member of the Super Bowl champs who played every snap from scrimmage last season.
He’ll anchor a retooled offensive line that includes new veteran tackles Russell Okung and Donald Stephenson and has lost Ryan Clady, Ryan Harris, Tyler Polumbus, Evan Mathis and Louis Vasquez this offseason.
Paradis, a 2014 sixth-round draft choice of the Broncos from Boise State, played for the league’s rookie minimum salary of $435,000 last year. He was also the top earner ($391,648) through the league’s performance-based pay program.
CENTENNIAL – A son of Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen was found guilty of harassment after he was accused of pushing his girlfriend during an argument last summer.
Thirty-year-old John Bowlen was convicted Thursday and sentenced to 24 months of probation.
He was also ordered to undergo evaluations for drugs, alcohol and mental health and get mental health and domestic violence treatment.
Bowlen had pleaded not guilty. The case was in Arapahoe County District Court in suburban Denver.
Associated Press
