Aug 3, 2020 4 min read

‘The Rock” buys XFL

Former wrestling star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said he has acquired the XFL.

The 48-year-old Johnson made the announcement Monday on Twitter. The price reportedly is $15 million.

The XFL had eight franchises and played five games out of a planned 10-game schedule before canceling the remainder of its season in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It drew decent TV ratings early on and had deals with ESPN and Fox.

The league suspended operations and laid off all of its employees on April 10 and filed for bankruptcy protection on April 13.

Since ending his wrestling career, Johnson has became a movie star, including in the “Fast & Furious” and “Jumanji” franchises.

Spring football is a difficult challenge, as the Alliance of American Football found out in 2019, not lasting a full season, either.

A previous version of the XFL also played one season in 2001.

2 Raiders opt out

Las Vegas Raiders defensive back D.J. Killings and defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga have chosen to opt out of the 2020 season over concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Raiders announced the decision Monday. They are the first two Raiders to choose to sit out this season because of the coronavirus.

Killings has spent time on practice squads in Indianapolis and Green Bay but hasn’t played in a game.

Valoaga has played 13 games for Detroit and San Francisco.

The Raiders will play their first season in Las Vegas without any fans at their home games because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team sent a letter to season ticket holders on Monday saying that after discussion with health care officials and local leaders, the decision was made not to allow fans.

Officials last week declared “substantial completion” of 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium after nearly 1,000 days were spent building the $2 billion home for the Raiders.

Both the New York Jets and Giants previously announced they would play without fans this season. Most other teams are hoping to be able to have at least limited crowds.

• Right tackle Ja’Wuan James informed the Denver Broncos on Monday that he’s opting out of the 2020 season over coronavirus concerns.

The Broncos were counting on their headliner from last year’s free agent class to bounce back from a balky right knee that limited him to just three appearances in 2019 after signing what was at the time the biggest contract ever for a left tackle, $51 million over four years.

In the NBA

T.J. Warren kept up his red-hot restart with 34 more points, helping the Indiana Pacers pull away from the Washington Wizards for a 111-100 victory Monday.

Two nights after scoring a career-best 53 points in the Pacers’ first game at Disney, Warren had 16 points in the third quarter to spark a 22-2 run after Washington had fought back into the game.

• Michael Porter Jr. scored a career-high 37 points and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double to help the Denver Nuggets top the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-113 in overtime.

Jokic had 30 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help Denver strengthen its hold on third place in the Western Conference standings.

Porter, who averages just 7.5 points, had the big performance in only his third start of the season. His previous career high was 25 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.

• Fred VanVleet made another case for a big payday later this year

VanVleet scored a career-high 36 points and made seven 3-pointers, and the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors added to their strong restart with a 107-103 victory over the Miami Heat.