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Ex-Phillie Vance Worley will pitch for Britain (again) in the WBC. At age 38, he’s embracing the role of team ‘grandpa’

In December of 2021, Vance Worley received an unexpected email. He’d recently played parts of the minor league season with the Mets’ triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and heard from one of the organization’s scouts, Conor Brooks.

Brooks had ties to Britain’s national baseball team. The organization was interested in adding Worley to its roster ahead of the World Baseball Classic qualifier in Germany in September and told him that he was eligible to pitch.

As the former Phillie read the message, he started to laugh.

“I’m like, ‘How?’” he said. “‘Where is my lineage to Great Britain?’”

Worley had never been to England, Scotland, or Wales. Neither had anyone in his immediate family. But the team was able to find an unconventional loophole.

Worley’s mother, Shirley, was born in Hong Kong while it was under British rule. All Brooks needed was a birth certificate.

The right-handed pitcher called his parents. A few minutes later, he texted a screenshot of Shirley’s birth certificate to the scout.

By September, he was on a flight to Germany for a game against Spain. Great Britain won in a 10-9 walk-off, punching a ticket to the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Vance Worley’s 3.3 WAR in 2011 was better than both Craig Kimbrel (2.5) and Freddie Freeman (1.5), two probable Hall of Famers who finished ahead of him in Rookie of the Year voting that season.

For Worley, the timing was perfect. The swingman made his big league debut with the Phillies in 2010. He earned a spot on the team’s roster in 2011, when he pitched to a 3.01 ERA across 131⅔ innings and finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman.

But he bounced around after that. The Phillies traded him to the Twins in 2012. Minnesota placed him on waivers in March 2014, and outrighted him to triple A once he cleared.

At this point, Worley says he was in a dark place. He texted former Phillies teammate John Mayberry Jr. and said he was ready to quit. Mayberry quickly convinced him otherwise.

“You play until they rip that damn jersey off your back,” the outfielder told his friend.

Worley has been pitching ever since. He’s now 38, teaching baseball lessons out of a gym in South Jersey. He hasn’t thrown an MLB inning in nine years, but that doesn’t faze him.

The right-handed pitcher loves the game and has found a home with Britain’s baseball federation. Since 2024, he’s worked on the side as a pitching coach for the under-23 national team. In March, he’ll suit up for the WBC in what his could be his last appearance on the mound.

“This program has given to me,” Worley said. “So I said, ‘I’m going to stick around. I’m going to help you guys out, and I’m going to coach with you guys. And as long as you let me play, I’m going to keep playing.’”

Vance Worley (49) has been embraced by Great Britain teammates young and old.

‘I’ve been called Grandpa’

Worley still remembers stepping into the visitors’ clubhouse at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on a hot July day. It was 2010, and he’d recently been called up by the Phillies.

The right-handed pitcher arrived early and watched as his new teammates filtered on and off the field. He was starstruck, especially when he saw Joe Blanton, a player Worley rooted for as an A’s fan growing up in Sacramento, Calif.

He decided to introduce himself.

“I was like, ‘Hey Joe, it’s nice to meet you,’” Worley recalled. “‘I remember watching you when I was in high school.’

“[Blanton] just goes, ‘God, I’m getting old.’”

Worley had a similar experience when he joined Great Britain in 2022. One of his new teammates was Nick Ward, a longtime minor league infielder who was born and raised in Kennett Square.

Ward was brought up on the Phillies teams of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. But he’d had a special affinity for “The Vanimal,” a pitcher who’d never thrown the hardest but was a fierce competitor.

Vance Worley’s performance for Great Britain in the 2026 World Baseball Classic could be his last hurrah on the mound.

Similar to how Worley was with Blanton, Ward was in awe. The righty looked the same as he did on TV, back when he was donning black-rimmed glasses and a Phiten necklace.

“It was like, ‘Holy crap. That’s Vance Worley,’” Ward said. “I had to pinch myself. It was just really cool that one of the guys that I loved to watch play was actually a super good dude.”

Just as it did with Blanton, this reaction made Worley feel a bit old. But he has embraced his role as the team’s elder statesman.

“I’ve been called Uncle,” Worley said. “I’ve been called Grandpa. And I’m just like, ‘Whatever man, your uncle and grandpa, think about them barbecues, out there playing Wiffle ball. I’d be punching you out right now. I see things you don’t know yet.’”

After he returned from Germany, Worley continued to throw. He used his day job, teaching baseball at Powerhouse Sports Arena in Sewell, Gloucester County, to help him stay in shape.

Once he arrived in Arizona for the WBC in 2023, he mentored the younger players around him. One was Harry Ford, Britain’s catcher, who was drafted by the Mariners in 2021 but has since been traded to the Nationals.

Worley asked his coaches if he could work with Ford one-on-one, and he started teaching the young backstop the minutiae: how to set up early, how to set up late, how to work quick.

Vance Worley

He showed him different pitch shapes, how they moved, and the strategy behind calling a game. The veteran pitcher served as a pseudo player-coach for the entire team, giving them words of encouragement on the field and off.

For Ward, this instruction made a big impact. Like Worley, he’d bounced around a lot in the lead-up to the 2023 WBC. But unlike Worley, he’d never played a big league inning.

Great Britain’s first game was scheduled on March 11 against Team USA, a roster stacked with prominent major leaguers. Worley was scheduled to start, which, years removed from MLB, was a daunting feat.

He threw 2⅔ innings, allowing three hits and no runs with three walks and a strikeout. While Worley was on the mound, Ward made a few big defensive plays at first base. The right-handed pitcher made his appreciation known, giving Ward a fist-bump or a point or a smile.

“It was just like, ‘Wow, if this guy that I used to really look up to is doing that … I’m good enough,’” Ward said. “And it wasn’t just me that he was doing this to. He was making all of us feel like we belong here.”

Worley exited the game early due to pain in his elbow. Great Britain lost, 6-2, and when he picked up his bag to get onto the bus, he felt the pain again. He would need bone chip surgery (the third of his career).

Worley thought this would be the last time he’d step on a mound. He was despondent that his time in baseball would come to such an unceremonious end.

Vance Worley’s passion for the game has not changed since his days with the Phillies, and has rubbed off on his young Great Britain teammates.

Before Great Britain’s game against Colombia on March 13, Ward noticed Worley standing alone on the top step of the dugout.

It was just before first pitch. The minor leaguer gave the big league veteran a hug.

“Thank you,” Ward told him. “I got to be your fan, first. Getting to share the field with you was one of the coolest moments that I could have ever dreamed about.”

A new chapter

Great Britain ended up defeating Colombia, 7-5, before falling to Mexico, 2-1, on March 14. Before they left Arizona, the players reminisced over what they’d done.

Worley reminded them that the British team wasn’t expected to be in the tournament in the first place. The players had come from all walks of life and had shown they deserved to be there.

“A lot of them were never in pro ball, or didn’t get an opportunity, or had an injury that shut them out,” Worley said. “And for them to be able to play in a big league stadium, playing big leaguers … I was like, ‘Hey, man, no matter what anybody says to you, you’re a big leaguer today.’”

The win over Colombia secured Great Britain’s berth for the 2026 tournament, which Ward and Worley will both be participating in.

Worley has gotten creative in his preparation. He’s integrated it into his day-to-day life, throwing in neighborhood sandlot games with his kids and also at the gym where he gives lessons.

He’ll report to camp in Arizona on Feb. 26. He has not officially retired and is unsure if this will be his last outing in a baseball game.

But the former Phillie is going to treat it that way, just in case.

“I’ve been through pretty much every situation as a player,” Worley said. “Trade, waive, claim, release, DFA. And I’m relentless. I’m not going to let something that should sidetrack me, or take me off the track, [prevent me from] being a baseball player, and what I enjoy.”

February 13, 2026
Her brother was killed in the Kingsessing mass shooting. Now her only son is dead from gun violence, too.

In December, Katrina Williams watched as the man who killed her brother was sentenced to decades in prison and felt, she said, as if a two-year nightmare was coming to an end.

But weeks later, another shooting took the life of her only son.

Williams’ brother, Lashyd Merritt, 21, was one of five people killed in a mass shooting in Kingsessing in July 2023, when Kimbrady Carriker walked through the Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood with an AR-15 rifle and fired at random passersby.

Then, in January, her 19-year-old son, Russell, was killed by a man who, like the Kingsessing shooter, committed a spree of crimes, police say.

“I’ll never understand it,” said Williams, 43. “There’s no reason for it.”

A high school photograph of Russell Williams being held by his father and mother, Katrina and Russell Williams Sr. at their home in Southwest Philadelphia on Feb. 6.

For Williams, the trauma of Merritt’s violent death never fully dissipated, she said, and the fatal shooting of her son only compounds her pain.

It’s a cycle of violence that is not unfamiliar in the city.

For others with relatives killed in the Kingsessing attack, the traumatic impact of gun violence did not end on that July day. Nyshyia Thomas lost her 15-year-old son, DaJuan Brown, to the gunfire and, while she was still mourning, her 21-year-old son, Daquan Brown, was arrested last year in connection with another mass shooting in Grays Ferry.

Asked about the evening of Jan. 28, when she and her husband, Russell Williams Sr., learned of their son’s death, Williams said two things came to mind:

“Déjà vu,” she said, and “hell.”

A seemingly random crime

Around 10 p.m. near 64th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, police said, 19-year-old Zaamir Harris stepped off a SEPTA bus and stole a bike from the vehicle.

He rode up to Russell Williams, who was walking home from night school, where the teen was studying to become a commercial truck driver. Harris then pulled a gun and fired at Williams multiple times, striking him in the throat, police said.

Williams collapsed near 66th Street and Dicks Avenue, just three blocks from home. After the shooting, Harris ditched the bike and stole an e-scooter before fleeing, according to police.

Police tracked Harris to a Wawa at 84th Street and Bartram Avenue, where he was arrested. He was charged with murder and gun crimes. Investigators recovered three fired cartridge casings from the scene, as well as a 9mm handgun, according to police.

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department declined to say whether investigators have determined a motive for the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

Katrina Williams said her son did not know Harris, and a police detective told her the shooting was random.

After he was shot, Russell Williams was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. It was the same hospital where Williams’ brother, Merritt, was taken after being shot in Kingsessing, she said.

Katrina Williams, whose son, Russell, 19, was shot and killed not far from family home in Southwest Philadelphia.

Russell Williams had recently graduated from Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter School and dreamed of an entrepreneurial career in stock trading.

Like her son, Williams said, Merritt was a hard worker who wanted to better his life. He worked for the IRS, had a girlfriend, and wanted to travel the world, she said.

“We lost two great people,” Williams said. “Two of them.”

That police made an arrest in the slaying of their son has brought little solace, Williams and her husband said as they sat in their Southwest Philadelphia living room on a recent February day. Family photos filled the space, and a portrait of Russell, smiling and wearing a tuxedo, hung on the wall.

As the case against her son’s accused killer proceeds, Williams said, she will be in court every step of the way, just as she was when Carriker pleaded guilty in the death of her brother.

In December, as Carriker faced sentencing, Williams said, she could not bring herself to address the judge and ask for a long prison sentence, as relatives of other victims did. She was so overcome with anger, she said, that she feared she might physically attack her brother’s killer.

But she was in the room when Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson sentenced him to 37½ to 75 years in prison. In Williams’ view, Carriker should have received a life sentence for each person he killed, she said, even if no punishment could make up for the loss of Merritt.

Now, Williams is preparing to head back to court as she once again seeks justice.

Since her son’s death, Williams said, she has taken comfort in the kindness of friends and family. She was touched, she said, to see a “block full of people” gather to honor his life and release balloons in his memory. But the ache of her loss remains.

“It’s like pain on top of pain — it’s just always gonna be hard,“ Williams said. ”I just gotta deal with it the best way I can.”

February 13, 2026
Letters to the Editor | Feb. 13, 2026

Resilience is key

Is it fair that our attorney general is a Donald Trump sycophant who refuses to take action on the revelations of the Jeffrey Epstein files? No. But am I the first person in your life to tell you the world isn’t fair? The question is, what can we do about it?

I see a lot of anger and frustration that the powers that be aren’t doing enough in response to the Epstein files, especially compared to the resignations and firings going on in other parts of the world, and that’s right; they aren’t. But it is literally our job as citizens in a representative democracy to hold our elected representatives’ feet to the fire until they do what we want them to do. If Pam Bondi isn’t doing what she needs to do, and Congress isn’t doing what we’re telling them to do, then we must not be telling Congress what to do hard enough.

How will we know when we’re pushing hard enough? When we see these Epstein monsters in handcuffs doing the perp walk. Until then, keep up the pressure on Congress to issue their own subpoenas and conduct their own investigations of the multiple credible leads and tips in the file. Call. Write. Put a sign in your front yard. Talk to your friends and ask them to do those things.

The survivors deserve it. We deserve it. But we’re going to have to fight to get it.

Linda Falcao, Baltimore

. . .

Donald Trump’s chosen attorney general filibustered, dodged, and prevaricated her way during the disgracefully run and much-anticipated House Judiciary Committee hearing (chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio) on Wednesday. I challenge anyone to recall any other attorney general who conducted themselves in such an ugly manner. Americans were subjected to an incompetent, irrelevant, and disingenuous performance by a sworn witness in Congress. Jordan did nothing (naturally) to rein in Bondi, who serially refused to answer direct questions but invoked her fealty to Donald Trump ad nauseam. Bondi was 100% political, hyper-emotional, and insulting to nearly every interrogator who was a Democrat. What I took away from Bondi’s performance was that she really doesn’t know much and was unprepared — and unwilling — to testify honestly. Bondi is a bush league lawyer — trying desperately to survive in Washington — who has turned her agency into the Department of Injustice.

David Kahn, Boca Raton, Fla.

National debt

It is hard to get a handle on the Trump administration’s America First agenda because the president is constantly deflecting concerns about any specific policy by bad-mouthing the previous administration or by suggesting new outrageous proposals to mask any real problems. At the beginning of his first year, he unleashed the Department of Government Efficiency to cut waste in the budget by eliminating thousands of jobs that Elon Musk considered unnecessary in order to help pare down government spending. Early on, the president also began to impose tariffs with the promise that these vehicles would provide America with unimaginable wealth. What happened? After one year in office, Donald Trump’s policies have increased the national debt by about $2 trillion. At this pace, he will have increased the national debt by at least $8 trillion at the end of his term. It seems his economic policies are not producing the desired results. Perhaps he and his Republican colleagues should rethink what is best for the average American. And the average American should rethink who is best serving his or her interests.

Anthony Munafo, Warminster

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

February 13, 2026
Horoscopes: Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’re observant. You’ll notice when people are stressed, and there’s an opportunity there. Even if you can’t fix it, you can use it to steer things along. You’ll notice what people are attracted to, and that helps even more.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). It feels like you can’t be happy until the picture matches your vision. The best route to improvement starts with appreciating what’s already good. Building on that will be quick, painless and cheap — much more efficient than a tear-down renovation.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Cut to the chase. For the sake of time and clarity, communicate directly. You can play the politics, move with diplomacy and worry about people’s feelings another day. Today the action moves because you get right to it.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Your connections will open doors, but not always through conversation. People feel you in the pauses. So let your calm, attentive presence do the work for you. Your listening skills will take you further than any verbal pitch ever could.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re not looking to add things to your schedule or please anyone with your compliance. You want to solve a problem, and that will mean engaging with deeper forces. You’ll discover useful answers that meet the realities in play.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You are exactly where you belong, doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Go with it. No analysis necessary. Once you assume this is true, what else might be true? That you can trust the instincts that brought you here?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You don’t have to be an expert to teach. A 5-year-old has quite a lot to teach a 4-year-old. Whatever you’ve acquired, you’re generous with it, and this will come back to you in the future.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). For the famous, distant and historic characters, we interact only with the ideals of a curated image. There are no missed calls, sharp remarks, bad days or conflicting needs to complicate the narrative. Dealing with real people in real time will require some grace.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Without a target, any shot that lands could be considered a bull’s-eye — or a miss, for that matter. The goal is what makes this a game. So the question is: Do you feel sporting? Or is this better approached as an open exploration?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You have a natural lightness and wit, and people usually enjoy your humor. Still, there’s a fine line between playful and cutting. Tone and context matter more than usual today because sensitivities are dialed up. Favor kindness over cleverness.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). There’s an ample portion of life that can’t be bent to human will, but to some extent, today offers you moments of feeling like the controller of the universe, and in those moments you really are. Enjoy!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). There is something better for you, and because you’re willing to ask for it, search for it, or if need be invent it yourself, you’ve a very good chance of making it happen — if not today, then soon.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 13). Welcome to your Year of the Golden Touch, when everything you nurture grows — ideas, projects, plants and people. Your devoted efforts to really learn the nature of things combined with your intuitive care produces thriving beauty. More highlights: You’ll celebrate a joyful milestone on a decade’s long endeavor. You’ll add to your legacy in an unusual way. Relationships across generations and backgrounds make you richer — and so does a cash windfall. Pisces and Leo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 30, 9, 18, 37 and 28.

February 13, 2026
Dear Abby | Angry wife continues to wait for husband’s apology

DEAR ABBY: I have been married 50 years and recently remembered that my husband cheated on me with several different women. He admitted to one affair but swears he saw her only twice and they had sex only once. He says I’m imagining the other two. He hasn’t apologized for the one he admitted to and refuses to discuss it or the other two, though I can see them in my mind’s eye and feel it in my gut.

At this point, I’m more angry about his lying than I am about something that happened decades ago. Am I wrong to want the truth so I can get angry, deal with it and then forgive him? I also want a heartfelt apology.

— HEARTSICK IN TEXAS

DEAR HEARTSICK: You do not need “the truth” so you can get angry. You are ALREADY as mad as heck. What you want is an apology from your cheating husband, and you aren’t going to get it. Discussing this with a licensed marriage and family therapist may help you dissipate some of your anger and move on.

** ** **

DEAR ABBY: Two of my mom’s best friends ended their friendship with her after almost 50 years because of political differences. I grew up spending every holiday with these ladies and their families, in addition to summer lake and winter ski vacations and everything in between.

One of them is my godmother, and they both were like second moms to me. Can it be that simple to act as if they were never friends in the first place? Must Mom just accept the change, or can she try to repair the friendships?

— SAD SON IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR SON: When political differences run so deep that close friendships are destroyed, I am sorry to say they are often not salvageable. I am not sure that time can heal the rift when someone is so entrenched in their political beliefs that they would jettison a 50-year friendship. Suggest to your mom that rather than look backward, she may try to cultivate friends who are less contentious.

** ** **

DEAR ABBY: I am a 75-year-old therapist who was virtually a single parent. I still struggle with the guilt that I didn’t do a good enough job with my three grown children, despite my trying with what energy and resources I continue to have. Their father has been pretty much absent since our divorce 35 years ago.

How can I get rid of the feeling that I am disrespected by my ungrateful adult children, and how do I stop trying to compensate them for their missing parent? There is minimal chance that they will change their attitude or beliefs at this point.

— STRUGGLING IN NEW JERSEY

DEAR STRUGGLING: Thank you for asking. By now you must have realized that you can’t buy love. As a psychotherapist, surely you are aware that therapists have therapists of their own (and many need this support). Because you are in pain over something you can’t change by yourself, recognize that it’s time to become proactive on your own behalf and consult one.

February 13, 2026
Drexel starts slow and can’t keep pace with Monmouth in 93-73 loss

Drexel came out flat vs. Monmouth on Thursday.

The Dragons were dominated by Monmouth from tipoff, losing 93-73. The Hawks’ 93 points were the most points allowed by Drexel this season.

The Dragons trailed by as many as 27 points in the second half.

“Today, it stings, and frankly … I want it to sting because hopefully that adversity can propel us forward. So we need to sit in this a little bit. That’s how you grow,” said Drexel coach Zach Spiker.

Is Drexel a sneaky NCAA Tournament contender? A big final month will tell the tale.

Drexel has lost two of its last three and have dropped to fifth in the Coastal Athletic Association standings. The top four seeds in the CAA receive a bye in the conference tournament.

Monmouth’s McLain shows out in return

Entering Thursday’s game, Drexel (13-13, 7-6 CAA) boasted a balanced offense with five players scoring at least nine points a game. Their leading scorer in the blowout loss was not one of their usual five.

Sophomore guard Dillon Tingler, who was averaging 3.6 points before facing Monmouth, led the way for the Dragons with a career-high 19 points and six rebounds. Sixteen of Tingler’s points came in the second half.

Drexel’s usual suspects also made their way into the box score. Junior guard Shane Blakeny, the team’s leading scorer, notched 17 points and forward Victor Panov added 14.

Meanwhile, the Hawks (13-12, 7-4) were willed by a new face to the lineup.

Kavion McClain, a shifty 5-foot-10 point guard, led the way for Monmouth with 20 points, six assists, and three steals. Thursday was just McClain’s second game of the season. The NCAA forced McClain to sit out until now due to a former teammate at Abilene Christian being indicted in a point-shaving scandal.

“They have good basketball players, right?” said Spiker. “And they’ve added another good basketball player to that lineup. When you do that, you become more dynamic.”

Drexel doomed by drought

Drexel played without fifth-year big man Garfield Turner. Although the center has only started in three games this year, he averages 19 minutes — the most by a center on the team.

St. Joseph’s AD Jill Bodensteiner is leaving to become the commissioner of the Horizon League

Spiker did not comment on Turner’s absence, but noted the team “hope[s] to get him back soon.”

Without Turner, Monmouth consistently outrebounded Drexel. The Hawks outrebounded the Dragons 23-12 in the first half, with 11 of their 45 points coming on second chance buckets.

With just over 12 minutes to go in the first, Drexel senior guard Eli Beard made his second three-pointer to bring the Dragons’ deficit to 21-14. After Beard’s bucket, Drexel did not score for the next seven minutes while Monmouth continued to build its lead.

Drexel forward Victor Panov (left) loses the ball while being defended by Monmouth guard Kavion McClain during the second half on Thursday night.

Defensive breakdown

From a Jan. 8 win over Stony Brook through the end of the month, Drexel allowed just 56.3 points per game, winning six of seven in the process. The Dragons also had the best defensive effective field goal percentage in the NCAA in January .

Through their first three games in February, Drexel is allowing 85.3 points. Despite missing Garfield’s defensive presence , it was the Hawks’ starting backcourt that made Drexel pay.

“Defensively, we did some things [well],” said Spiker. “Anything that we did well, we didn’t sustain. And to win a game, you got to sustain.”

Up next

Drexel goes back on the road to face Stony Brook on Monday (8 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

February 13, 2026
Tankers beware: Jazz fined $500,000, Pacers $100,000 by NBA for player participation policy breach

Utah appeared to find a loophole in the NBA’s player participation policy, but the league sent a message Thursday by hitting the Jazz with a $500,000 fine.

The NBA also docked the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for holding out Pascal Siakam and two other starters in a Feb. 3 game against the Jazz.

The policy was put in place in September 2023 to try to discourage clubs from purposely losing in order to improve their chances with the draft lottery. This year’s draft is considered the strongest in several years, possibly incentivizing clubs like the Jazz to position themselves for a high pick.

The Jazz did not play stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter of recent close games. Both played three quarters in recent road games against Miami and Orlando. The Magic rallied from 17 points down to win 120-117, but the Jazz defeated the Heat 115-111.

Jazz coach Will Hardy was asked after the game at Miami whether he considered playing Markkanen and Jackson in the fourth quarter.

“I wasn’t,” Hardy said succinctly.

In fining the Jazz said, the NBA said in its release “these players were otherwise able to continue to play and the outcomes of the games were thereafter in doubt.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement the competition committee and team owners will work “to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” Silver said.

Silver likely will further address the topic when he meets with the media Saturday during All-Star weekend in Los Angeles.

“Agree to disagree …,” Jazz owner Ryan Smith posted on social media. “Also, we won the game in Miami and got fined? That makes sense …”

The NBA fined Utah $100,000 last season after the Jazz rested Markkanen in multiple games.

He and the recently-acquired Jackson are the building blocks for the Jazz to try to get back into contention. They traded with Memphis on Feb. 3 for the two-time All-Star and 2023 Defensive Player of the Year.

Jackson, however, will be out for the foreseeable future. He will undergo surgery over the NBA all-star break to remove a growth from his left knee, discovered by an MRI in a physical following the trade. Jackson averaged 22.3 points in 24 minutes per game after joining the Jazz.

Utah has prioritized player development with younger players on its roster at the expense of chasing wins. The front office is motivated to hold onto a first-round pick in this year’s draft that is top-eight protected. Falling outside the bottom eight in the standings means Utah would lose that pick to Oklahoma City.

A number of teams, including the Jazz, would seem to have a great interest in securing a high selection for this year’s draft.

One of those top prospects plays just south of Salt Lake. BYU’s AJ Dybantsa is considered a likely top-three and potentially franchise-changing pick along with Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Kansas’ Darryn Peterson.

But it’s also a deep draft where simply getting into the lottery could mean still getting a shot at a difference-making player.

The Jazz, 18-37 entering Thursday night’s game against Portland, will miss the postseason for the fourth year in a row. This comes after a six-year stretch in which the Jazz made the playoffs each season.

Under the direction of CEO Danny Ainge and his son and team president, Austin, the Jazz ultimately are trying to return to the glory days when they didn’t just make the playoffs. The John Stockton-Karl Malone teams in 1990s were regular championship contenders, making the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998.

February 13, 2026
Search for Nancy Guthrie now seeks nearby security videos from the month before she vanished

TUCSON, Ariz. — Investigators in Arizona want residents near Nancy Guthrie ‘s home to share surveillance camera footage of suspicious cars or people they may have noticed in the month before she disappeared.

The alert went across a 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) radius in neighborhoods close to where the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie went missing 12 days ago, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday.

It asked for video of “anything neighbors deem out of the ordinary or important to our investigation” since the beginning of January.

Federal and local officers have been going door-to-door in Tucson neighborhoods around 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s house while also looking for clues around her other daughter’s nearby home, which she had visited just hours before disappearing.

Investigators have recovered and are analyzing several pieces of evidence, including a pair of gloves, the sheriff’s department said.

Authorities on Thursday briefly put up a tent in front of Nancy Guthrie’s entryway where her blood was discovered in the early days of the investigation, and where a doorbell camera captured images of a masked person the night she went missing. The FBI released descriptors of that person Thursday, whom it now calls a suspect, in a post on X.

The post describes the suspect as a 5-foot-9-inch or 5-foot-10-inch male with an average build, and included photos from multiple angles of a black, 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack, which the agency said is the brand and model the suspect was wearing.

“We hope this updated description will help concentrate the public tips we are receiving,” the FBI said, noting the thousands of tips it has gotten since Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.

FBI Phoenix also announced it has hiked its reward to $100,000 for information on Guthrie’s disappearance.

Authorities have said Guthrie was taken against her will. She’s been missing since Feb. 1, and authorities say she takes several medications and there’s concern she could die without them.

While much of the nation remains engrossed by the mysterious disappearance, Savannah Guthrie on Thursday shared on Instagram a vintage home video of her mom with two children sharing pink flowers, writing “we will never give up on her. thank you for your prayers and hope.”

On Wednesday, FBI agents carrying water bottles to beat the desert heat walked among rocks and vegetation at Nancy Guthrie’s home. They also fanned out across a nearby neighborhood, knocking on doors and searching through cactuses, brush and boulders.

“They were just asking some general questions wondering if there was anything, any information we could shed on the Nancy Guthrie issue. Wanted to look around the property and after that, cameras and such,” Ann Adams, a neighbor of Nancy Guthrie’s oldest daughter, Annie Guthrie, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

“They did ask specifically for the 31st of January and the morning of the first of February and then they wanted to know if we saw anything suspicious on cameras since then,” Adams said.

Several hundred detectives and agents are now assigned to the investigation, which is expanding in the area, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.

Two investigators emerged from daughter Annie Guthrie’s home Wednesday with a paper grocery sack and a white trash bag. One, still wearing blue protective gloves, also took a stack of mail from the roadside mailbox.

Adams, the neighbor, said she was out walking her dog earlier this week when, “it started to get really busy and then I heard about them searching, looked down the street, I saw them slowly moving this way.”

Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have indicated a willingness to pay a ransom. But it’s not known whether ransom notes demanding money with deadlines that have already passed were authentic.

February 13, 2026
Palestinian protester, detained for nearly a year, says ‘inhumane’ jail conditions prompted seizure

A Palestinian woman who has been held in an immigration jail for nearly a year after she attended a protest in New York City said she suffered a seizure after fainting and hitting her head last week, an episode she linked to “filthy” and “inhumane” conditions inside the privately run detention facility.

Leqaa Kordia, 33, was hospitalized for three days following the seizure, which she said was the first of her life. She has since returned to the Prairieland Detention Facility in Texas, where she has been held since March.

In a statement released through her lawyers on Thursday, Kordia said she was shackled the entire time she was hospitalized and prevented from calling family or meeting with her lawyers.

“For three days in the emergency room, my hands and legs were weighed down by heavy chains as they drew my blood and gave me medications,” Kordia said. “I felt like an animal. My hands are still full of marks from the heavy metal.”

Her doctors, she said, told her the seizure may have been the result of poor sleep, inadequate nutrition and stress. Her lawyers previously warned that Kordia, a devout Muslim, had lost 49 pounds and fainted in the shower, in part because the jail had denied her meals that comply with religious requirements.

“I’ve been here for 11 months, and the food is so bad it makes me sick,” the statement continued. “At Prairieland, your daily life — whether you can have access to the food or medicine you need or even a good night’s sleep — is controlled by the private, for-profit business that runs this facility.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, but said in a statement to The New York Times that Kordia wasn’t being mistreated and was receiving proper medical care.

A resident of New Jersey who grew up in the West Bank, Kordia was among about 100 people arrested outside Columbia University during protests at the school in 2024.

The charges against her were dismissed and sealed. But information about her arrest was later given to the Trump administration by the New York City police department, which said it was told the records were needed as part of a money laundering investigation.

Last year, Kordia was among the first pro-Palestinian protesters arrested in the Trump administration’s crackdown on noncitizens who had criticized Israel’s military actions in Gaza. She is the only one who remains jailed.

She has not been accused of a crime and has twice been ordered released on bond by an immigration judge. The government has challenged both rulings, an unusual step in cases that don’t involve serious crimes, which triggers a lengthy appeals process.

Kordia was taken into custody during a March 13 check-in with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. At the time, federal officials touted her arrest as part of the sweeping crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists, pointing to her 2024 arrest outside of Columbia as proof of “pro-Hamas” activities.

Kordia said she joined the demonstration after Israel killed scores of her relatives in Gaza, where she maintains deep personal ties. “My way of helping my family and my people was to go to the streets,” she told The Associated Press in October.

Federal officials have accused Kordia of overstaying her visa, while casting scrutiny on payments she sent to relatives in the Middle East. Kordia said the money was meant to help family members whose homes were destroyed in the war or were otherwise suffering.

An immigration judge later found “overwhelming evidence” that Kordia was telling the truth about the payments. Attorneys for Kordia say she was previously in the U.S. on a student visa, but mistakenly surrendered that status after applying to remain in the country as the relative of a U.S. citizen.

In her statement on Thursday, Kordia said the detention facility was “built to break people and destroy their health and hope.”

“The best medicine for me and everyone else here is our freedom,” she added.

February 13, 2026
Jeanine Pirro files a $250,000 negligence suit in New York over a trip-and-fall

RYE, N.Y. — Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, has filed a $250,000 negligence lawsuit against her suburban hometown north of New York City and a power utility after claiming she tripped and fell while out walking.

Pirro said she tripped over a large wooden block protruding from a steel plate in a roadway on Aug. 28 in the Westchester County city of Rye, just weeks after she was confirmed as the Trump administration’s top prosecutor for the District of Columbia.

The plate was covering excavation related to gas-main work for Consolidated Edison, according to an amended complaint filed Wednesday in state court.

“As a result of defendants’ negligence, Ms. Pirro sustained serious personal injuries, including but not limited to bruises and contusions to the head, eye, face, and shoulder areas, together with pain, discomfort, and limitation of movement,” according to the complaint, initially filed last month.

The 74-year-old former Fox News host was confined to bed, required medical attention and “continues to experience pain and suffering,” according to the filing.

Representatives for Pirro, Con Ed, and Rye declined to comment on the pending litigation Thursday.

In a motion to dismiss the claim, an attorney for Rye wrote that it “can hardly be said that the City was negligent in a duty to pedestrians at a location that was not a pedestrian walkway.” An attorney for Con Ed wrote in a separate court filing seeking dismissal that all the dangers and risks related to the incident “were open, obvious and apparent.”

Pirro has served as both a judge and the district attorney for Westchester County.

February 13, 2026