Kanter has been critical of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has revoked Kanter's passportNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Celtics C ENES KANTER met with U.S. Sens. ED MARKEY (D-Mass.) and RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) yesterday to "discuss the basketball player’s ability" to travel outside the U.S. for the upcoming NBA season. As a member of the Trail Blazers last season, Kanter, who is from Turkey, "skipped the team’s road game against the Raptors in Toronto in March." Kanter also played for the Knicks in '17-18 and remained in the U.S. when the team "traveled to London" for a game. Kanter has been "critical" of Turkey President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN. In '17, Erdogan "revoked Kanter’s passport and issued an arrest warrant for the 27-year-old." Kanter has "subsequently limited his international travel for fear of arrest" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/24).
LAW & ORDER: USA Swimming documents show MARCO VILLANUEVA, a former swim coach at California's Stockton Swim Club, sent sexually explicit messages "via Snapchat to a 13-year-old swimmer he was coaching" in '14. The messages were "part of a complaint" against Villanueva sent to the NGB in '17. Villanueva "acknowledged the messages as well as other violations of USA Swimming and SafeSport guidelines." However, he was "not suspended but instead given a written warning that allowed him to continue coaching young athletes" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/23).
THE GOOD STUFF: Free agent DE MIKE DANIELS and his wife, HEAVEN, on Monday in Green Bay threw their "Daniels Back to School Bash, an afternoon of music, fun and backpacks filled with school supplies." It was a "last-minute brainstorm," but within two weeks of putting the word out, Heaven had "sponsors, including Eastsport and Target, volunteers from Young Life Green Bay, and friends and family lining up to help make it happen." The 200 children who signed up could "choose from backpacks in every style imaginable ... and then load them up with coloring books, glue, crayons, scissors, rulers, folders and Play-Doh" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 7/24)....Golfers MAX HOMA, CHEZ REAVIE and BRYSON DECHAMBEAU were at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis yesterday "playing miniature golf with children and their parents" ahead of this week's WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 7/24).
NAMES: Eagles S MALCOLM JENKINS joined MICHELLE OBAMA at the Beating the Odds Summit yesterday at Howard Univ., where they spoke to a "group of students who had overcome everything from homelessness to special needs to be in a position to receive a post-secondary education" (ESPN.com, 7/23)....Japanese Emperor NARUHITO has accepted a role as "honorary patron" for the '20 Tokyo Games and is "expected to announce the opening of both the Olympics and Paralympics" (AP, 7/23)....World Golf HOFer HALE IRWIN will receive the '19 Payne Stewart Award, given annually to someone who "embodies character, charity and sportsmanship" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/23)....Brazilian MMA fighter ANDERSON SILVA yesterday "became a U.S. citizen along with thousands of others in a mass naturalization ceremony" at L.A. Convention Center (AP, 7/23).
IN MEMORY: Capital Sports Founder & Chair ROBERT ARRIX died on Saturday at 86 in Connecticut. He was instrumental in facilitating events such as the '80 Lake Placid Games, tennis' U.S. Open and the Tour de France, among others (THE DAILY).
