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Sports

NBA retires Bill Russell No. 6 jersey in league first after legend dies at 88

The NBA will honor Celtics great and civil rights activist Bill Russell by retiring his No. 6 jersey throughout the league, making him the first player to receive the honor.

A patch commemorating the 11-time champion will be worn on the right shoulder of player jerseys and a shamrock-shaped logo with the No. 6 on courts will be used across the league as well for the 2022-23 season, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association said on Thursday.

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“Bill Russell’s unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserve to be honored in a unique and historic way,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.

“Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill’s transcendent career will always be recognised.”

Russell, the cornerstone of a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA titles and a powerful voice for social justice during and after his career, died on July 31 at the age of 88.

US President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama — who awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 — were among those who paid tribute to Russell’s contributions on and off the court.

NBPA executive director Tamika Tremaglio said the union was proud to support the “momentous honor” of retiring Russell’s jersey.

“Bill’s actions on and off the court throughout the course of his life helped to shape generations of players for the better and for that, we are forever grateful,” Tremaglio said.

Russell wore the No. 6 for his entire 13-season career from 1956-69. It will not be issued again by any NBA team to any player, although players who currently wear No. 6 — a group that includes Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and the Washington Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis — can retain it.

The NBA said the Celtics plan to “separate and unique recognition” for Russell on their uniforms, which will be revealed at a later date.

While the league-wide jersey retirement is a first for the NBA, it has happened in other North American leagues.

Major-league Baseball permanently retired No. 42 in 1997 in honor of Jackie Robinson, who broke the big leagues’ color barrier.

The NHL said upon Wayne Gretzky’s retirement in 1999 that his No. 99 would be retired league-wide.

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Categories
Entertainment

TV presenter Erin Molan is spotted with mystery man after split from husband

TV presenter Erin Molan has been spotted with a mystery man at an event in Canberra.

Todd Selby was spotted alongside Ms Molan at a book launch for her father Jim Molan at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday before the pair stopped to pose for a photo together.

Newly welcomed onto Sky News with her show ‘Erin’, the mum-of-one told media earlier this year that she was ready to share more about herself and her private life.

Ms Molan confirmed she had met a special someone in May after revealing she was back on the dating scene earlier this year following her shock break-up with finance Sean Ogilvy in September 2021.

The 39-year-old told the Hughesy, Ed and Erin radio show that happy with her new man, but that dating with a kid was “complex.”

The pair were pictured together as Mr Molan launched his new book Danger on our Doorstep in Parliament House.

“It’s still early-ish days. It’s really nice actually. I think anyone who’s been in a long-term relationship, when that ends – particularly if you’ve got kids – you kind of go through this stage where you don’t know if you’ll ever meet anyone again,” she said.

The presenter also revealed the unexpected way she met her partner, saying it seemed like ‘fate’.

“I was driving into the car park, he was driving out. That’s the first time we saw each other but we didn’t meet until a couple of months after that,” she said.

“I’m not a believer in fate… but the timing of it was pretty incredible. We locked eyes and I felt something.”

Erin’s co-host Hughesy described the mystery man as looking “like he might have played rugby league.”

“He’s tall and strong and fit. He’s handsome and he’s got a very deep voice. He’s got a great sense of humour,” he said, adding that the pair look really happy together”.

The former sports reporter who has had her fair share of controversies.

In 2020, Ms Molan put a spotlight on the harms of cyber bullying, tearing up on 60 Minutes as she recounted the horrifying abuse she experienced at the hands of online trolls.

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Categories
Business

Cadillac Lyriq: review, pricing, specifications

This is the car that will spearhead a new assault on world markets for the famed Cadillac brand.

The Lyriq electric SUV will form the foundation for a Cadillac return to Europe and other markets – potentially including Australia.

A mid-sized SUV similar in size to BMW’s X3 and Audi’s Q5, the Lyriq’s a handsome looking thing in the metal. It has a long bonnet, muscular haunches and daring detail work on the headlamps, grill and tail lamps.

The door handles fold flush with the door panels – much like Tesla’s Model Y – and the cabin is dominated by a huge curved digital screen that houses a driver display and center touchscreen.

Bright chrome highlights lift the cabin and there’s an abundance of storage space, thanks to the fact that there’s no transmission tunnel running through the center of the vehicle.

Second-row passengers will find more leg and knee room than they would in a mid-size German luxury SUV, while the read load area is a decent size.

It’s on the road that the Lyriq impresses, though.

A 250kW rear-mounted electric motor moves things along swiftly and silently, although there’s not the brutal launch off the line that you’d feel in a Tesla Model Y.

Once you’re on the move, though, there’s an impressive surge at most speeds when you floor the throttle.

The venue for our brief test drive was GM’s huge Milford Proving Ground outside of Detroit and we put the Lyriq through its paces on a variety of surfaces designed to replicate public roads. That included large bumps and dips, a simulated rail crossing and some sweeping, high-speed corners.

The Cadillac impressed with its composure, setting well after larger bumps and sitting flat through corners, even when confronted with broken, corrugated bitumen.

Precise steering and reassuring grip add to the driving enjoyment, although you can feel its considerable weight shift when it is asked to change direction in a hurry.

Cadillac claims the Lyriq is good for a range of 500km, although that may come down once the more realistic WLTP standard for range is applied.

In the US, the Lyriq starts from $62,990 in rear-drive form. A dual-motor version will launch early next year with roughly 370kW of power for just $2000 extra.

GM won’t confirm whether the Lyriq will be available in right-hand-drive but it would appear likely, as it seems the most logical fit for a Cadillac rebirth in European and international markets.

The president of GM International, Shilpin Amin, says designing vehicles for either left or right-hand drive is “much more simple” on an electric vehicle platform.

“Because of how efficient it is to build it upfront with left and right-hand-drive markets in mind no longer do you need the volumes to justify it. You can actually do it pretty efficiently at all volumes for markets around the world,” he says.

That is encouraging news for Aussie Cadillac fans.

Christian Soemmer, managing director of GM strategic markets, alliances and distributors, says the brand has “ambitious goals” in overseas markets, including Australia.

“We want to grow our international scale. Australia and New Zealand is an absolute key pillar of that region. We are always looking into more opportunities,” he says.

Cadillac will lead GM’s transformation to a leading EV maker, taking the fight to Tesla.

It will not launch any new petrol vehicles after 2026 and will become EV-only by 2030.

Cadillac interior design manager Tristan Murphy said the shift in focus to electric cars gave the design department an opportunity to reimagine the once-storied brand.

“I think it was a good opportunity for us to take a step back and say OK as we move forward into the future what do we want Cadillac to be? It was a chance to reinvent it,” he says

The design team was also mindful of its duty to honor the heritage of the badge.

“I don’t want to say it’s retro by any means but there are some retro cues because there are some things in our history that we want to hold on to. There are these little winks and nods at our history because that is something that an EV Start-up company doesn’t have,” he says.

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