A Los Angeles Dodgers fan was awarded $11.8 million by a federal jury over a lawsuit alleging the Los Angeles Police Department partially blinded him during a World Series celebration in 2020, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Isaac Castellanos was 22 years old and a student at Cal State Long Beach when he drove to downtown L.A. with a group of friends on Oct. 27, 2020, the night the Dodgers clinched their first World Series in 32 years in six games against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Castellanos said he and his friends were peacefully celebrating around 1 a.m. the next morning when LAPD officers confronted the crowd. Per the Times, LAPD officials have claimed the officers were responding to violent groups that were vandalizing and breaking into downtown businesses.

The end result was Castellanos getting hit in the right eye by a less-lethal projectile, permanently losing vision in that eye. He was reportedly struck by a 37-mm “skip trace” launcher, which fires hard foam projectiles intended to bounce off the ground and strike targets in the lower body.

Per the Times, LAPD policy says those weapons are supposed to be fired at close range. Castellanos’ legal team reportedly showed evidence they were fired at a distance of approximately 145 feet, allowing the projectile to rise to eye level.

Castellanos sued, alleging excessive force and a violation of his due process rights. Adding to the potential damages was Castellanos’ career as an esports player. He reportedly won $20,000 at a gaming competition months before the incident.

The trial, which occurred nearly six years after the incident, reportedly consisted of six days of testimony and evidence, then less than two hours of deliberation by the jury.

The eight-figure sum requires approval from city leaders and could be changed during the appeal process. Castellanos’ attorneys have reportedly pushed to triple the jury award under a state law allowing for increased damages in such cases.

The Los Angeles Lakers are about to enter a playoff series without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. So we can probably expect a lot of LeBron James, and perhaps some LeBron James Jr. (a.k.a. Bronny) as well.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick signaled Wednesday, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, that the younger James could see real minutes for the Lakers against the Houston Rockets in the first round:

“We’re going have to have all hands on deck for the series, that’s just when you’re short-handed. He’s got to be ready. Nick [Smith Jr.] will have to be ready. I think Bronny’s improved a lot. I think we trust him. The shooting piece, I’m a believer in, because of how well he shot it in the last two years in the G League.

“I know there was a stretch recently where he didn’t shoot it well and of course, he had a nice shooting game against Utah. He’s improved a ton defensively in terms of his body positioning, both on and off ball. We want him to continue to evolve as a disruptive defender as well.”

James, the Lakers’ second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has appeared in 42 games (1 start) for the Lakers in his sophomore season, with most of his minutes coming in garbage time. His 40.9% shooting and 38.6% shooting from 3-point range have been a significant increase from his numbers last year (31.3% and 28.1%).

In the Lakers’ five games since Dončić and Reaves went down, he has averaged 6.6 points and 2.0 assists in 17 minutes per game. In 14 G League games, he has averaged 15.6 points, 3.7 assists and 3.1 rebounds with strong shooting numbers.

All of that adds up to a player deserving of postseason minutes, according to his father:

“Me being on the floor with him — postseason, regular season, training camp, practices — is the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my career, above everything that I’ve accomplished. The fact that he’s put himself in the position to get his number called for a postseason game is pretty remarkable and pretty cool, given the circumstances that he’s been through the last couple years. He earned and he deserved, he’ll be ready.”

Bronny also spoke of his emotions going into the series:

“It’s insane. I mean, I’ve literally watched his [father’s] whole career. And now I’m a part of it. So it’s a great experience. I’m appreciative of it. but I’m part of the job too, so I have to do my job as well. I got to lock in.”

The pair have already achieved plenty of firsts together, and they could now become the first father-son duo to log playoff minutes together.

Ezra Shaw via Getty Images

The absence of Dončić and Reaves takes away two of the Lakers’ top three players in scoring, assists, minutes, usage rate and a ton of other statistics, leaving plenty of workload to move around. Luke Kennard, Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura have all seen increased minutes since those two went down, in addition to James.

It’s unclear how long the Lakers will have to make do, provided they even have games to play after this round. Should they make it past the Rockets, who are -550 favorites to advance, they can expected to face the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.

OKC went 4-0 against the Lakers this season, with an average scoring margin of 29.3 points.

The Los Angeles Clippers’ season is over. There’s one guy in particular who seems quite happy about that.

Chris Paul, the twice-over former Clipper who retired from the NBA after an acrimonious divorce with the team during the season, responded to the team’s 126-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament on Wednesday with a single meme.

There were no words, but Paul didn’t need them to convey his message when he posted a certain image on his Instagram story. The internet is quite aware this image comes with the caption, “I stopped by one of my biggest haters funeral today just to make sure that n**** was dead.”

Instagram

Time does not appear to be healing any wounds so far.

In case you need a refresher on Paul might be enjoying the Clippers’ demise, this season saw him sign with the team for his final NBA season, fall out with leadership after they didn’t appreciate his presence in the locker room, get permanently exiled from the organization, get dealt to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline and finally retire rather than try to hop onto a contender.

Paul, the Clippers’ all-time assists leader and one of the best players in franchise history, has not been shy about his displeasure with the franchise ins retirement. Soon after retiring, he was airing grievances on his friend Carmelo Anthony’s podcast. And now both parties are done for the season.

Wednesday was a brutal night for the Clippers

As awkward as Paul’s exit was, it was less embarrassing than what happened to the Clippers on Wednesday. Facing a diminished Warriors team that only got Stephen Curry back a week ago, the Clippers seemingly had 10 different opportunities to turn a big lead into an insurmountable one.

They failed at that every single time, and then got ripped apart by a vintage Curry and the Warriors’ other aging veterans down the stretch. They led for 85% of the game, at home, and lost.

It gets even worse, though, as the Clippers won’t even get to enjoy a lottery pick. They owe their unprotected 2026 first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to the Paul George trade, which could now land in the top 4. They do have the Indiana Pacers pick thanks to the Ivica Zubac trade, but that only goes to them if it lands between No. 5 and 9.

Oh, and the team is also still awaiting the results of the NBA’s investigation into their Leonard-Aspiration scandal, which could come with significant repercussions if the league finds they circumvented the salary cap.

The Paul situation was another chapter of dysfunction in the Clippers’ recent history, but it might only be one part of a bad 2026 for them.

The worst injury of Wednesday’s NBA play-in tournament game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers might have been to a ref.

Veteran official Ben Taylor exited the game in the third quarter with an apparent injury, limping off the court in some discomfort. Alternate ref Sean Corbin entered the game to replace him after a brief break in play.

The 40-year-old Taylor is in his 11th season as an NBA ref and has officiated 31 playoff games in his career.

This article will be updated with more information

Since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani has played as a designated hitter 347 times and a designated hitter/starting pitcher 20 times (including playoffs). On Wednesday, he will play his first game as a pitcher only.

Ohtani was not in his usual leadoff spot in the lineup against the New York Mets for the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson Day game, but was penciled in to make his scheduled start on the mound.

Kyle Tucker, the team’s usual No. 2 hitter, took over leadoff duties, while Freddie Freeman got bumped up from cleanup to No. 2.

The last time Ohtani started as a pitcher without hitting was May 28, 2021 during his career with the Los Angeles Angeles. That start also predated the Ohtani rule, which allows him to remain in the game as a DH after being done as a starter.

Once he’s finished throwing Wednesday, he’s out of the game.

The decision to give Ohtani a break as a hitter comes two days after he took a hit-by-pitch to the shoulder from Mets pitcher David Peterson. He went 0-for-7 at the plate after that between Monday and Tuesday.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday that Ohtani is still sore from the HBP, but it didn’t play a factor in Ohtani not hitting. Instead, he said the set-up “gives him the best chance to stay loose during the outing.”

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

There were also complaints from the Toronto Blue Jays during Ohtani’s last start over how much time he was given to warm up between innings after coming off the basepaths, continuing a debate from last year’s World Series. Again, it’s unclear if that has any bearing here, but it at least illustrates that being a two-way player requires more than the already formidable task of becoming elite at both hitting and pitching.

Ohtani entered Wednesday as the only real starting pitcher to have not allowed an earned run so far this season. He has looked like a somewhat different pitcher in his two 2026 starts, but most important for the Dodgers is he remains healthy.

Ohtani playing as a pitcher only also won’t endanger his MLB-best 48-game on-base streak, already a record among Japanese-born players.

Tatsuya Imai’s career with the Houston Astros has so far consisted of a bad start, a good start and a start that landed him on the 15-day IL with arm fatigue. That might not be what the Astros had in mind when they guaranteed him $54 million out of Japan.

Now sidelined until at least late April, the right-hander spoke to reporters via interpreter on Tuesday and has some rather interesting things to say when discussing his arm fatigue. Per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome, Imai admitted having trouble adjusting to the American lifestyle in baseball and outside of baseball.

When asked for an example, Imai reportedly pointed to when and where the players eat compared to how teams in Japan operate.

It’s unclear how eating in the Astros clubhouse can cause excess arm fatigue. It’s also quite possible something is being lost in translation here as well.

This isn’t the first time Imai has pointed to something surprising after a disappointing development. After his last start against the Seattle Mariners — in which he walked four out of seven batters and got only one out — he complained that the mound at T-Mobile Park was unusually hard and he wasn’t used to pitching in cooler temperatures compared to Japan.

He also spoke of adjusting to the MLB baseball and mound slope after getting roughed up in spring training.

Jack Compton via Getty Images

That’s a long list of issues for a player to have two-and-a-half weeks into his MLB career. There are, of course, adjustments that every player needs to make while moving from Japan to the U.S., but this is also stuff they should be aware of while considering teams and preparing accordingly.

The biggest adjustment for Japanese pitchers is usually the schedule, where Nippon Professional Baseball starters usually pitch once a week while MLB arms are asked to go out every five days. The Astros have so prevented Imai from having to pitch on less than five days rest.

Imai is on a contract that guarantees him $54 million through the 2028 season, though he can also opt out after 2026 or 2027.

As much as he’s struggled, his injury was still bad news for a Houston organization that has already seen fellow starting pitchers Hunter Brown (shoulder strain) and Cristian Javier (shoulder strain) hit the IL this season. It’s unclear when any of these pitchers will return, which isn’t ideal considering the Astros have lost eight straight games and are in last place in the AL West with a 6-11 record.