Maria Sharapova's Sugarpova

NEW YORK -- Maria Sharapova launches her candy business, Sugarpova. The four-time Grand Slam title winner launched her Sugarpova brand of 12 types of sweets on Monday.

Sharapova said that Sugarpova is ''the most exciting project that I've ever done because it's my own business, my own investment, my own money.''

Sharapova is ranked third heading into the U.S. Open, which starts next week.

U.S. basketball team Wins against Spain for the Olympic gold medal

LONDON – U.S. basketball team defeated Spain 107-100 in a game like the 2008 Beijing final, a thrilling shootout which the U.S. won 118-107. The Spaniards had closed to within four points in the last three minutes of that game, and pulled to within six with 3:20 to go on Sunday before a Lebron James dunk and three-pointer gave the Americans a bit of breathing room.

James scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds and hit a late 3-pointer to finish off Spain. He only strengthened his reputation as the game's greatest player during these Olympics. He now joins Michael Jordan as the only players to win the NBA regular-season MVP, NBA Finals MVP, NBA title and Olympic title in the same year.

Lebron was the undisputed leader of this Olympic team, at the heart of every late-game surge. He even took charge of the final duty on the championship night: Dousing Coach Mike Krzyzewski with Gatorade. James and the coach shared a long embrace during the post-game celebration.

James found himself on the bench for four minutes of the fourth quarter after picking up a fourth foul by accidentally poking Pau Gasol in the eye. When he returned to the game, he drove into the lane off Kevin Love's pick and dunked for a 99-91 lead with 2:49 left. His three-pointer on the next possession gave the U.S. a 102-93 cushion with 1:59 to go.

Spain wasn't helped by a couple of curious decisions by its coach, Sergio Scariolo. Scariolo left Marc Gasol on the floor too long after his third foul in the first half. And with Marc Gasol then saddled with four fouls at halftime, Scariolo didn't play him at all in the third quarter. Pau Gasol also said Spain's defensive breakdowns in the final minutes could be attributed to the team going to a scheme it had not practiced.

Kevin Durant have 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds. With the U.S. leading by just one point with 9:25 to go, Paul hit a three-pointer and layup to make it 90-84. Kobe Bryant added 17 in the matchup against his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Gasol, who led Spain with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Juan-Carlos Navarro added 21 for Spain and Marc Gasol had 17.

Russia won the bronze medal with a 81-77 win over Argentina.

NBC airs water polo nip slip

NBC aired a water polo nip slip in London Olympics. The underwater cameras caught American water polo player Kamie Craig pulling down a Spanish opponent’s swimsuit that exposed the Spaniard’s right breast in the process. It was visible for only a split second.

Dwight Howard To LA Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are finalizing a blockbuster four-team trade to acquire Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Dwight Howard will become a free agent at the end of this season. Agents with players that are involved in the deal said the teams are expected to complete the trade on a call with league officials on Friday. Orlando Magic officials had yet to inform Howard a deal had been consummated.

With the trade, the LA Lakers will send center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers, and will also receive shooting guard Jason Richardson from the Orlando Magic. The Sixers will send guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets. The Magic will receive Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, rookie Moe Harkless, three first-round draft picks and a 2013 second-round pick from the Nuggets (by way of Golden State). In addition to Howard, the Lakers will also receive Earl Clark and Chris Duhon from the Magic.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol's representatives said that he's not included in the deal.

Orlando, Los Angeles and Philadelphia had discussed a three-way deal, but needed a fourth team to take Iguodala and also provide Orlando with the necessary future draft picks, sources said.

Howard's contract ends after this season. He isn't expected to immediately sign an extension with the Lakers because he can get a longer deal in free agency.

yahoo sports

Olympics: Disqualified Chinese player Yu quits badminton

Yu Yang has decided to quit badminton after being disqualified from the Olympics

BEIJING - Disgraced Chinese Yu Yang has decided to quit badminton while national officials have told their Olympic team leaders and disgraced players to make a public apology for throwing matches at the London Games.

Yu was among eight women's doubles players expelled from the Games on Wednesday. The others were teammate Wang Xiaoli, South Korean pairs Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung, plus Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari of Indonesia.

"This is my last competition. Goodbye Badminton World Federation (BWF), goodbye my beloved badminton," Yu wrote on her Tencent microblog. "We ... only chose to use the rules to abandon the match.

"This was only so as to be able to compete better in the second round of the knockout [stage]. This is the first time the Olympics has changed the [event's format]. Don't they understand the harm this has caused the athletes?

"You have heartlessly shattered our dreams," said Yu. "It's that simple, not complicated at all. But this is unforgivable."

Yu and Wang were the top-seeded pair.

The eight players were turfed out of the Olympics by the BWF for throwing matches in a bid to secure more favorable draws later in the tournament.

The sight of four pairs deliberately easing off disgusted a crowd of 4,800 packed into Wembley Arena expecting to see the best of badminton's best.

Instead the fans were treated with disdain as the Chinese, Korean and Indonesian players sprayed hopeless shots into the net and beyond the lines. Their antics were also beamed around the globe to a disbelieving audience.

The Xinhua state news agency said Chinese officials were demanding their disgraced players make a public apology.

"The delegation has already severely criticized and educated the responsible badminton leaders, team and relevant players and demanded they profoundly recognize the seriousness and the harmfulness of this matter, reflect deeply on it, publicly apologize and resolutely prevent such incidents from happening again," Xinhua quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.

Li Yongbo, chief coach of the Chinese badminton team, said the poor behavior of his players reflected the shortcomings of the new regulations in the sport.

"I feel that no matter whether it is the rules or something else, that's no excuse," said Li. "The key point is we did not behave professionally as athletes and did not treat each match seriously.

"We didn't strive with all our might in the Olympic way. From that point of view we really didn't grasp this point thoroughly ... as chief coach I really feel I must say sorry to fans and viewers nationwide," Li told Xinhua.

The issue has generated heated debate on Chinese microblogs.

While some people said the players deserved to be thrown out, others expressed sympathy.

"They should certainly be punished but the burden should not fall on those two players. The trainer was the mastermind behind this. The players are only scapegoats," wrote one user on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo. - Reuters

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