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During a news conference on Wednesday, Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams was asked about the most pressing topic in the NBA: Kevin Durants impending free agency.How will the 22-year-old New Zealander follow Durants free-agent frenzy? Oh, thats easy. [I will] just flick him a text and see what hes [going to] do, I guess, Adams said.As the Thunders breakout star during the 2016 NBA playoffs, one would think Adams might have some influence over Durants decision. But Adams seems happy just to have Durants phone number.I aint trying to pressure him, Adams said. And by the way, Im real low on the totem pole. Im lucky enough to get his number.Durant will meet with the Thunder on Thursday before flying to Long Island to meet with the five other teams on his free-agency list over the weekend. Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Cheap Jersey Website . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. Wholesale Jerseys Online . PETERSBURG, Fla. RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Lily Zhang, the American table tennis ace, decided she wanted to make her sport a priority, she took a year off from college to devote to practice, including three months playing with pros in Austria. It paid off, landing her on the Olympic team for the second time.But her decision -- leaving behind friends, family and studies at the University of California at Berkeley to put in grueling six-hour-a-day sessions for months -- highlights an unfortunate truth for U.S. table tennis: In the quest to build a team of professionals to challenge powerhouse China, school is the enemy.To succeed in a sport like table tennis that demands obsessive practice but provides little financial support, young athletes often must give up their education, at least temporarily.Many end up eventually choosing college, even if theyre good enough to make the Olympics.It was very hard to balance, Zhang, 20, who lost in the third round in singles and plays in the team event on Friday, said of her freshmen year at Berkeley. I found myself only practicing once every two weeks or even once a month.Zhang, who hunched over a PC after a recent practice session in Rio registering online for classes for her delayed sophomore year, knows that her practice time will plunge again when she returns to school later this month.I definitely cannot play professionally during university, she said. It would be very difficult to play six hours a day.And theres the dilemma.Its natural, though often painful, for young athletes playing under-funded, less popular sports like table tennis to choose college. But it puts the Americans perpetually in the hole against China, Japan and Europe, where table tennis often enjoys government support.The two things in the U.S. are currently not compatible, Massimo Costantini, the U.S. table tennis coach, said of college and high-level table tennis.To be a professional table tennis player, he said, you cant do anything else. But to do so you need support. ... What if we had the same support as other countries?A good example of the quandary table tennis faces in the United States can be seen with Arieel Hsing, a young player who made a run at the London Olympics, losing a hard-fought game in the third round to the eventual gold medalist from China.ddddddddddddBut when she started at Princeton, Costantini said, education took over. You cant make a living from table tennis for the rest of your life. Several good players, they suddenly stop because of college. ... I understand, but it is hard. I have regrets for what might have been.Kanak Jha, a 16-year-old American who was the youngest male ever to qualify for table tennis in Olympic history, takes online classes and trains with professionals in Sweden.Table tennis is a sport where you have to play many hours every day to get better, and when youre so focused on school and table tennis it gets really tough mentally and physically, Jha said.Money can be as big a problem as finding practice time.Another young American, Yijun Feng, 19, who, like Jha, lost in the first round in Rio but will play in the team event Friday, took a year off after graduating from high school to practice six hours a day in China.Feng, who will attend the University of Georgia after the Olympics, says he may take time off again after his freshman year to train and hopes to get an equipment sponsorship; in the meantime, he and his parents pay for everything, including expensive equipment and tours that can cost as much as $5,000.Leaving the sport can sometimes bring as much relief as grief.Michael Landers, a promising young table tennis talent who ultimately failed to make the 2012 Olympic team, is shown in the documentary Top Spin weeping after missing his chance for those games. Later, after enrolling at New York University, he described the intense pressure of juggling friends, family, school and table tennis.Everything I felt was just riding on my back. And then just to be finished with that, he said of his tears after the loss. I was really, really happy to just be done with it, even though I was crushed.---Follow Foster Klug at www.twitter.com/apklug ' ' '