Sports News Roundup: Lakers emerge victorious in turbulent season; Athletes bring fight for equality into sporting arena in 2020 and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Lakers emerge victorious in turbulent season

LeBron James and the Lakers overcame the death of Kobe Bryant, widespread social unrest and the isolation of the Orlando bubble to emerge victorious in an NBA season marked by tragedy and triumph. The loss of Bryant, who perished alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others when their helicopter crashed into a hillside near Los Angeles on a gray January morning, led to an outpouring of emotion that stretched beyond the basketball world.

Athletes bring fight for equality into sporting arena in 2020

A big part of sport's appeal is that when you buy a ticket or turn on the television for a few hours it provides a respite from the turmoil engulfing the outside world. But in 2020, from the soccer pitches of the English Premier League to the U.S. Open tennis hardcourts, there was no ignoring the fight for racial equality as athletes rushed to the front lines of what became a global movement.

Thiem breaks 'Big Three' hold on Grand Slams in virus-hit 2020

Tennis welcomed a first men's Grand Slam champion from outside the 'Big Three' since 2016 in Dominic Thiem during a 2020 campaign with compelling storylines despite the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out almost half the season, including Wimbledon. The women's tour also found new young champions in American Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek of Poland, while world No. 1 Ash Barty's season came to an abrupt halt in February as she opted not to travel out of Australia for the rest of the year because of the pandemic.

Cleveland to drop 'Indians' name after 2021 season Major League Baseball's (MLB) Cleveland team will drop its "Indians" name, following persistent criticism that it was offensive to Native Americans, the franchise said on Monday, but will continue to use it during the 2021 season. The Cleveland team said in a statement it would begin the process of "determining a new, non-Native American based name for the franchise" 105 years after adopting the name, citing a desire to unify its community.

Olympics-A third of Japanese want Tokyo Games cancelled: NHK poll A third of Japanese residents want the Tokyo Olympics to be scrapped amid fears that an influx of foreign arrivals may cause a further spike in COVID-19 cases, a poll by public broadcaster NHK showed on Tuesday. The Japanese government and International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided in March to postpone the 2020 Olympics by a year due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, with the global showpiece now slated to take place from July 23-Aug. 8.

Top 25 roundup: Marquette upends No. 9 Creighton D.J. Carton scored 20 points and Dawson Garcia registered a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as visiting Marquette navigated a back-and-forth finish to upset No. 9 Creighton 89-84 on Monday night at Omaha, Neb. The victory over a top 10 Bluejays team came 10 days after the Golden Eagles (5-2, 1-0) defeated No. 4 Wisconsin.

Goodell: NFL won't jump ahead in COVID-19 vaccine line With the COVID-19 vaccine starting to make its way across the United States this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday said that the league will not use its influence jump ahead in line with the Super Bowl less than two months away. "We are not planning on any of our personnel being vaccinated in advance of the Super Bowl," ESPN quoted Goodell as saying. "That's obviously being done at higher levels and given priority to obviously health care workers, first responders and those that are in the riskiest state. We don't fall into those categories, so we don't anticipate that and we're not planning for that."

Olson deals with tragedy, ties for second at U.S. Women's Open Attempting to earn your first career LPGA victory at the U.S. Women's Open is challenging enough, but Amy Olson faced an even more demanding task on Monday after the unexpected death of her father-in-law on Saturday night. The 28-year-old Olson traversed Champions Golf Club in Houston with the tragedy on her mind while intent on keeping a steely focus on the task at hand. The difficult circumstances didn't prevent Olson from tying for second place at the prestigious event.

Golf-Kim in no hurry to leave Houston after US Women's Open triumph U.S. Women's Open champion Kim A Lim likes the Champions Golf Club venue so much she said she wants to put up a tent and stay a few more days. With two weeks quarantine awaiting her back in South Korea it is no surprise she is reluctant to leave Houston. Kim, making her U.S Women's Open debut, rallied from a five-stroke deficit in the final round to seal her first major title with a one-shot victory, tying the record for the biggest comeback in the tournament's history.

Golf: Kim storms back to win U.S. Women's Open South Korean Kim A Lim birdied her final three holes to come from behind and win the U.S. Women's Open by one stroke and claim her first major title in Houston on Monday. Kim started the final round five strokes back and was trailing leader Amy Olson by two shots through 15 holes when she caught fire on a cold morning to finish the final round with a 67.