The Sports Report: How Pelé left an imprint beyond soccer

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Sad news with the death of Pelé, who our readers recently voted the greatest soccer player of all time.

From Dylan Hernández: Pelé was defined in last couple of decades by what he wasn’t — namely, Diego Maradona.

Pelé was the soccer’s straight-edged counter to Maradona, the outspoken cocaine addict who fraternized with Communist dictators. Pelé was the company man, Maradona was the outsider, their differences magnified by their petty long-standing quarrel over who was the better player.

To the generation whose formative years overlapped with Maradona’s prime, the Argentine’s off-the-field troubles were a byproduct of the same unpredictability that made the diminutive attacker the greatest player of his time.

In the wake of tactical evolutions that have increased coaches’ control over games, the triumph of an individual player is by definition a destruction of a system. Maradona’s behavior characterized this rebellion. Pelé’s tendency to smile and smile and smile some more was … what?

Maradona was more beloved, Lionel Messi has dominated superior competition, but no single player has influenced the world’s most popular sport as much as Pelé, who died Thursday of complications from cancer. “O Rei” was 82.

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Pelé, who rose from a Brazilian slum to become the world’s greatest soccer player, dies at 82

ROBERTO CLEMENTE

Baseball great Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve, 1972. Dave Bennett looks back:

When Roberto Clemente Jr. woke on the morning of Dec. 31, 1972, he immediately tiptoed to his parents’ bedroom to see whether his father was up.

The elder Clemente, one of baseball’s biggest stars, suffered from insomnia, so Roberto Jr., then 7, was always careful not to wake him — not to mention his father had been busy organizing relief efforts for victims of a catastrophic earthquake in Nicaragua. Clemente’s wife, Vera, had put in room-darkening window shades to help her husband sleep, so Roberto Jr. felt around on the bed to make sure his father wasn’t there.

He found his parents at the dining room table and offered them the traditional greeting that Puerto Rican children give their parents: “Bendicion.” A request for a blessing.

The elder Clemente responded as he always did: “Que Dios te bendiga.” May God bless you.

For reasons Roberto Jr. still doesn’t understand, he then told his father, “Dad, don’t get on the plane, because it’s going to crash.”

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LAKERS

From Bill Plaschke: You just knew he was going to say it.

And, sure enough, in a most demanding way at the most difficult of times, he said it.

While lugging around a pile of disappointment for a second consecutive season, LeBron James is claiming his arms are tired.

After realizing that the final fruitful years of his career could be spent mired in mediocrity, LeBron James is claiming his mind is wandering.

On Wednesday night in a postgame news conference in Miami, two days before his birthday, James carefully lined up 38 candles, pointed them in the direction of Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka, and blew.

“I don’t want to finish my career playing at this level from a team aspect,” James said.

His message is clear: Get me help or get me out of here.

The response from Lakers management should be just as clear: See ya.

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CLIPPERS

From Andrew Greif: The last time the Clippers faced Boston, in a victory that finally outlined their considerable potential, the Celtics didn’t have the size to keep the Clippers out of the paint.

Needing late baskets to complete a comeback Thursday, the Clippers were denied at the rim, twice, in the final moments.

After a jumper by Kawhi Leonard cut the lead to three with 62 seconds left, a defensive stop by the Clippers set up Paul George to dribble into the lane on the other end, the volume rapidly rushing out of TD Garden. Derrick White, a guard, met George as he rose and stuffed George’s shot.

Then with two seconds left, Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. tried a layup with the Clippers down five — a shot rejected by Al Horford, a loss sealed.

The Clippers fell to 21-16 after a 116-110 loss to Boston.

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CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: The Chargers are about to get Joey Bosa back — and then some.

The four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher practiced Thursday for the first time since suffering a torn core muscle in Week 3.

This was good news for the Chargers.

Even better news for the team: Bosa afterward revealed he had been dealing with pain over the last two years and that his recent surgery has him “feeling better than I have in years, honestly.”

Bosa explained that the chronic issues have been on his left side and the tear happened on his right side, likely the result of compensating. He said the surgery corrected both problems.

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RAMS

From Gary Klein: Most NFL defensive backs go entire careers without intercepting more than one pass in a game.

It took Rams rookie Cobie Durant 11 games to achieve the feat.

In last Sunday’s victory over the Denver Broncos, Durant intercepted a first-quarter pass to set up a touchdown, and then put an exclamation point on the 51-14 win with an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“Two picks is not enough,” Durant said Thursday. “I’m trying to beat my record.”

While playing for South Carolina State in a 2021 spring game against Alabama A&M, Durant intercepted three passes in the first half.

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UCLA FOOTBALL

From Bill Dwyre: A tall, ruggedly handsome young man, proudly wearing his Bruin blues, stood up this week and told us that all is not lost in college football.

His name, Jack Landherr, won’t be familiar, even though he will be playing in his 42nd game for UCLA in Friday’s Sun Bowl in El Paso. Long snappers don’t make headlines, unless they screw up. In four seasons, Landherr never screwed up. His snaps to the holder or punter were always on target, some perhaps a hundredth of a second slower than he wanted, maybe six inches higher than the previous one. No harm, no foul.

He caused a fumble in punt coverage in a Nov. 25 game against Cal. That led to a Bruin recovery, probably the game’s winning points, joyful slaps on the helmet from his teammates along the sidelines and praise from his coach, Chip Kelly, in the postgame news conference. He even got his name in the paper. Those things, of course, happen to quarterbacks and wide receivers and running backs about every 10 minutes. For Landherr, never before and no matter. He was a student-athlete.

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How Chip Kelly and Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s mutual trust elevated UCLA

KINGS

Adrian Kempe scored the shootout winner and the Kings rallied from two goals down in the third period to beat Colorado 5-4 and snap a nine-game losing streak to the Avalanche.

Trailing 4-2 entering the the third, Alex Iafallo scored on the power play at 1:11. Then Sean Walker tied it from the slot with 5:40 left on Kevin Fiala’s 26th assist.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists in Colorado’s three-goal burst late in the second period, but the Avalanche faded in their second straight loss.

DODGERS

Results of our Trevor Bauer poll, after 19,193 votes:

Should the Dodgers keep Trevor Bauer or release him?

Keep him, 51.2%
Release him, 48.8%

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1956 — The New York Giants win the NFL title with a 47-7 rout of the Chicago Bears.

1962 — The Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 16-7 to win the NFL title for the second straight year.

1973 — The Minnesota Vikings beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-10 to win the NFC championship.

1973 — The Miami Dolphins, behind 266 yards rushing, beat the Oakland Raiders 27-10 for an unprecedented third straight AFC title.

1981 — In the 39th game of the season, Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, including his 50th into an empty net, to lead the Oilers to a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Gretzky betters the mark of 50 goals in 50 games held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy.

1990 — Orlando point guard Scott Skiles dishes out an NBA-record 30 assists in a 155-116 victory against the Denver Nuggets. Skiles breaks the record of 29 assists set by the Nets’ Kevin Porter in 1978.

2000 — Nebraska ends a disappointing season by setting a bowl record for points in a 66-17 victory over Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl.

2002 — TCU sets an NCAA record for fewest points allowed when the Lady Frogs beat Texas Southern 76-16. The 16 points allowed breaks the Division I record for fewest points. Prairie View scored 19 points against Jackson State in 1983.

2007 — Drew Brees sets an NFL record with 443 completions, passing the previous mark of 418 set by Rich Gannon in 2002. Brees completes 35 of 60 passes for 320 yards with three TD passes in New Orleans’ 33-25 loss to Chicago.

2010 — Top-ranked Connecticut’s record 90-game winning streak in women’s basketball ends when No. 9 Stanford outplays the Huskies from the start in a 71-59 victory at Maples Pavilion — where the Cardinal have their own streak going. Stanford hasn’t lost in 52 games at home. The Cardinal took an early 13-point lead, never trailed and didn’t let the mighty Huskies back in it.

2016 — Isaiah Thomas scores 29 of his career-high 52 points in the fourth quarter, setting a club record for points in a period and leading Boston to a 117-114 victory over the Miami Heat.

2017 — Alex Hornibrook throws four touchdown passes, three of them to Danny Davis, and No. 6 Wisconsin caps off the winningest season in school history by topping No. 11 Miami 34-24 in the Orange Bowl. Jonathan Taylor finishes his record-setting freshman season with 130 rushing yards on 26 carries for the Badgers (13-1). Taylor finishes the year with an FBS-freshman-record 1,977 yards.

2020 — San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is ejected in a 121-107 loss to the LA Lakers

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

LeBron James speaks to reporters after Wednesday’s loss. Watch and listen here.