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The New York Knicks face the Charlotte Hornets in an NBA preseason game on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

How to watch: Fans can watch the game for free via a trial of DirecTV Stream or fuboTV. You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV.

Here’s what you need to know:

What: NBA preseason

Who: New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Hornets

When: Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Where: Spectrum Center

TV: NBA TV (Regionally Bally Sports Southeast)

Live stream: DirecTV Stream (free trial), fuboTV (free trial)

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Here’s a recent NBA story via the Associated Press:

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers were hitting golf balls into a lake and some people couldn’t figure out why. Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat played dominoes in the Bahamas until the wee hours of the morning. The Golden State Warriors sprawled out on a Hawaiian lawn for some morning yoga.

No, NBA training camps are not all about basketball.

With about half the league going on the road for at least part of their training camps that started this week — destinations include the Bahamas, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Nashville and Montreal — it can seem like the first few days of the season have a vacation feel to them. Hard work in the gym is happening, of course, but teams obviously are seeing value in bonding and experiences off the court as well.

“I was honestly sick of traveling from the summer,” Warriors guard Stephen Curry, part of the team that won gold for the U.S. this summer at the Paris Olympics and then spent time last month in China, said after he got to Hawaii. “But this is not a bad vibe, for sure.”

Sentiments like those are being heard in plenty of NBA camps this week — whether it was after the Warriors did yoga to start a morning, some members of Cleveland’s camp got some fishing in or after Boston and Denver got settled in Abu Dhabi for preseason games this weekend.

The Cavaliers, who are in Bradenton on Florida’s Gulf coast for camp, have four courts and tons of amenities available to them for practices at IMG Academy — a sports training high school. But being at a posh Florida resort also gives the Cavs the opportunity for things like team meals outdoors, including one where passers-by wondered why players were splashing golf balls into the water. (The golf balls were biodegradable, with no harmful effect on the environment or marine life.)

“We’re obviously working, working hard, but doing a lot of team-building stuff,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It’s been really cool.”

The Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are in Hawaii. Miami and Philadelphia are training a few miles apart in the Bahamas, at different resorts. Dallas headed to Las Vegas for a few days at UNLV. Toronto went to Montreal, where the Raptors will eventually be joined by Washington for a preseason game. Memphis and New Orleans both went to Nashville.

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse’s hat this week has the image of palm trees embroidered on the side, a nod to the tropics. It seems entirely possible that those are the only palm trees he’s seen so far this week; it’s no vacation for him.

“We really like to just get out and get away and get on our own. That’s the big thing,” Nurse said. “I think the Bahamas had been on the radar for a few years in the organization and it was the turn to come here. The main thing is, ‘Can we get away? Can we get a great facility where people are really going to welcome us and give us everything we need?’ ... I haven’t done anything except go back to my room and do stuff. I haven’t even walked outside yet.”

Milwaukee is having camp in California — it was something coach Doc Rivers started planning shortly after he took the Bucks job midway through last season — and Brooklyn will have the second half of its camp out there as well. New York went to South Carolina, while Atlanta and Charlotte both hit the road but kept it drivable; the Hawks went to Georgia’s campus in Athens, the Hornets went a couple hours away to Duke.

“Sometimes it’s just good to be somewhere else,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “There’s no magic other than the fact that you get a chance to be together and have kind of a change of scenery.”

The Heat have been in the Bahamas for camp multiple times and this year, that meant Butler got to be in three countries, on two continents, in the same day. Travel issues kept him from leaving France — the last stop of his summer journeys — until Monday morning, but he got to Miami that afternoon for medical tests and other duties, then made it to the Bahamas that night.

Evidently, all that travel didn’t tire him out. He said he didn’t go to bed Monday night (or Tuesday morning) until 4 a.m. because he was playing dominoes, a game he is openly and happily obsessed with.

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“The people are so great here,” Butler said. “The food, the cuisine, off the charts. They play dominoes at a high level. ... And I won.”

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

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OPINION AND COMMENTARY

Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.

Letters to the Editor

From our readers

The recent apocalyptic destruction across North Carolina has been billed as a once-in-a-lifetime event. Sadly, it won’t be. Global warming driven by atmospheric carbon levels continues to rise steadily. Scientists now agree that these storms will become more frequent and more intense, unless we address climate change immediately. To ensure a secure future for the next generation of Carolina residents, please remember the devastation you see today when you go to the polls in November. Vote with the changing climate in mind.

Sandra O’Neill, Cornelius

As tragic as Helene was in North Carolina, it provided the stage to demonstrate the better side of human nature. One example - our next-door neighbors. We are in our eighties and live in a nice neighborhood with most residents in their mid to late fifties. But not our next-door neighbors, who are a young couple in their mid-thirties. Our yard contains five large, mature trees that have stood the test of the storms, but not without some loss of limb and leaves. After this storm, our front yard looked like a battle zone. Too much for me, so I planned to contact our yard service to take care of it. Well, our younger neighbors beat me to it. While taking a nap I woke to hear a leaf blower. Our young neighbors were clearing the debris. Tragedy sometimes brings out our best.

Albert Guy Dancy, Jr, Charlotte

The author has a background in urban design.

I am heartbroken about the damage in western North Carolina.

Over the past 15 years, state lawmakers have rejected limits on construction on steep slopes, which might have reduced the number of homes lost to landslides; blocked a rule requiring homes to be elevated above the height of an expected flood; weakened protections for wetlands, increasing the risk of dangerous storm water runoff; and slowed the adoption of updated building codes, making it harder for the state to qualify for federal climate-resilience grants.

When appropriate, an independent investigation should be conducted to see how current building codes may have contributed to the loss of homes and to determine if these codes need to be changed or modified. We need to take politics out of building codes when it impacts the safety of our community.

Stephen Berg, Chapel Hill

It is remarkable that Trump consistently polls better as to who would be more trusted with the economy. Of course people felt better five years ago. Everything was cheaper. What people are responding to is inflation and corresponding high interest rates which were driven primarily by the pandemic, not the economic policies of the Biden administration. The entire world saw inflation spike. Our present economy is the envy of the world. Trump’s plan is to cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations and to impose tariffs across the board. Most economists agree that this will increase inflation, increase spending deficits and hurt everyday Americans.

Willard Osburn, Cornelius

Why would Clemson University hold its homecoming football the day after Hurricane Helene hit the town of Clemson? Eighty thousand fans descended on the town using up scant resources. The stadium lights blazed while many in the town were without power. Its power lines are buried. Clemson University has just told the people in the area a football game is more important than your survival.

Compare this response to Appalachian State University. It canceled its football game and offered free food to people in the area. Also the university donated as many additional supplies as possible and many of its students volunteered to deliver food to Helene victims and served free food at various locations.

I wonder which experience is more meaningful? Having a homecoming football game or serving the community?

Augie Beasley, Charlotte

OPINION AND COMMENTARY

Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters.

Opinion

Tomorrow will mark the anniversary of the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust. On Oct. 7 last year, the Jewish people experienced a pogrom in which Hamas terrorists attacked 24 communities, two cities and the Nova music festival — murdering nearly 1200 individuals, torturing and sexually assaulting others and abducting almost 250 individuals to Gaza. As Jews, we thought pogroms, violent riots against Jews that mostly occurred in Europe, had ended by the mid-1940s. We were wrong.

As Jews in North Carolina, we were shaken to our core when we witnessed the panic and horror through videos and texts. My second cousin was murdered that day. The violence triggered memories of intergenerational Jewish trauma of persecution and exile.

As war has been waged to uproot terrorists and prevent another attack — which has been explicitly threatened and prepared for by Hamas, Hezbollah and Iranian leaders — this past year’s battles have wrought displacement, devastation and the immense loss of civilian life in Israel, Gaza and Lebanon.

I belong to three Charlotte synagogues (Reform, Conservative and Orthodox) and am past co-chair of our North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association. The war has left Jews across the state and across the denominational spectrum exhausted and emotional. Expressions of pain and grief, the mentioning of the hostages’ names and plight and prayers for peace have been constant.

For many of us, the war is personal and our souls are not settled. There are 15.8 million Jews globally with 7.3 million Jews living in Israel. For the North Carolina Jewish community, this past year has been marked by sleepless nights, anxious days and interfaith relationships stressed, stretched and, at times, broken. There has been a tsunami of antisemitism, flooding every avenue of Jewish life in schools, jobs and governments. There is intense security at every place and time Jews gather. Our Islamic neighbors, too, are experiencing rising Islamophobia.

At the same time, this year has been marked by an empathy that has moved me. Neighbors, acquaintances, academic and interfaith colleagues have shown they deeply care. The year has been highlighted by an enormous amount of Jewish pride even in the face of physical and emotional peril — the wearing of Jewish stars and the sharing of support for Israel. We are experiencing Jewish renewal — a resurgence of Jews wanting to reconnect with their Jewish community.

The milestone marking 365 days of misery falls at the exact midpoint of our Jewish High Holidays, our ten days of intense reflection and prayer. Wednesday, we welcomed a new Jewish year, and Friday, we will commence our 25-hour Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement, fast and earnest self-reckoning. These days of introspection come at a time when the war is expanding. We pray for its quick end.

In 2008, at the time of an event hosting Israelis and Palestinians in Charlotte, Robi Damelon of Israel taught me: “Fighting here does not create peace there.”

Now, I ask the opposite — could creating partnerships for peace here advance peace there?

I pray that this anniversary moves us to transform polarization into peace-pursuing partnerships and inspires community healing in which Jews, Muslims and people of all faiths, as well as the secular, can hear each other’s pain and lift up each other’s prayers.

I pray that this anniversary and new Jewish year will hasten a reality where the 101 remaining hostages in Gaza will come home, where the war will end and the rebuilding of the Middle East can begin with new Israeli and Palestinian leaders committed to peace. I pray that we, as North Carolinians, will do our part in making it so.

Rabbi Judy Schindler is Rabbi Emerita of Charlotte’s Temple Beth El and immediate past co-chair of the North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association.

Mecklenburg County is now part of the federal disaster declaration issued in the wake of Hurricane Helene, unlocking more aid for homeowners impacted by the storm.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced the designation Saturday while in Charlotte to meet with state and local officials about the recovery from Helene, which last week made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane.

Downgraded to a tropical storm when it reached North Carolina, it still brought widespread flooding, wind damage and power outages across much of the state, with areas in Western North Carolina bearing the brunt.

Mecklenburg wasn’t among the 25 counties included in the federal declaration initially — meaning the federal government wouldn’t have helped with home repairs, temporary housing, property damage or other expenses in the same way as communities to the west.

That drew the ire of residents and leaders in north Mecklenburg, where flooding along the Catawba River near Mountain Island Lake damaged multiple homes.

“All the water from the mountains makes its way here, or a significant amount,” County Commissioner Elaine Powell said previously. “I feel like a lot of people forgot, and it makes sense, there’s so much trauma in Western North Carolina ... but this neighborhood was underwater, and four houses went down the Catawba River.”

Now, individuals in that neighborhood and the rest of the county can apply for federal aid. Additional public assistance will also be available to state and local governments.

“We’re going to be getting substantial resources in to help folks,” Harris said Saturday.

Also announced Saturday: $100 million in federal funding to repair and reopen roads and bridges damaged by Helene in Western North Carolina.

But some Charlotte-area counties — Iredell, Rowan, Stanly and Union — are still left out of the disaster declaration, according to FEMA’s website. Those were among counties Gov. Roy Cooper included in his initial request that weren’t included in FEMA’s declaration.

FEMA officials briefed Harris at a Charlotte National Guard base Saturday afternoon on their recovery efforts. She was joined by state and local officials including the mayors of Charlotte and Asheville, Gov. Roy Cooper, state Attorney General Josh Stein and U.S. Reps. Alma Adams and Jeff Jackson.

Harris praised residents and leaders for their response, saying she’s heard stories “about strangers who are helping each other out, giving people assistance in every way that they need, including shelter, food, and friendship, and fellowship.”

“I think that these moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we can be and who we are,” she said.

Harris also met with National Guard soldiers who’ve responded to the storm and helped prepare care packages to send west with the NC Counts Coalition, a nonprofit that’s been sending food, water and hygiene supplies to some of the state’s hardest hit areas.

Observer reporter Nora O’Neill contributed to this report.

This story was originally published October 5, 2024, 8:42 PM.

Follow more of our reporting on Helene in North Carolina

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N.C. State quarterback Grayson McCall was carted off the field during the Wolfpack’s first drive against Wake Forest on Saturday after a big hit sent the graduate student tumbling to the turf.

McCall was hit by Wake Forest linebacker Quincy Bryant. McCall’s helmet flew off and his mouth guard came out of his mouth. McCall hit the ground and teammates, notably wide receiver Keenan Jackson, immediately signaled to the sideline for medical attention while the ball was still in play. McCall lost consciousness for a brief period.

Medical staff, head coach Dave Doeren and McCall’s father ran onto the field following the hit. Team captain Davin Vann kneeled with tears in his eyes as paramedics stabilized McCall’s neck and transported him off the field on a spinal board. Offensive line coach Garrett Tujague and linebacker Sean Brown kneeled on the sideline, appearing to pray for the quarterback.

“It was heartbreaking to see that,” offensive lineman Tim McKay said. “He’s a guy who fought hard for us. He came here from Coastal, is a captain. Seeing him go down earlier in the season and go down again this week is kind of disheartening. We know how hard he works for us. It’s really sad seeing that.”

When asked about his initial reaction, Doeren said he heard everyone on the sideline yelling “targeting” but couldn’t see it from his location. He was mostly concerned about McCall’s safety.

“Grayson, once he came to, was talking and said, ‘I want the boys to win the game,’” Doeren said. “He was trying to get up, and the (medic) wouldn’t let him. I felt bad for him and his parents. You know, you’re just trying to be comforting and pray for him in that moment.”

McCall was taken to WakeMed Hospital for further evaluation before being released around 6 p.m. on Saturday. He gestured to the fans in the stadium as paramedics took him off the field.

The Wolfpack was unable to complete McCall’s wish and lost to the Deacs, 34-30, after Wake Forest came back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

McCall, the Coastal Carolina transfer, completed 3 of 5 passes for 42 yards in his brief appearance. He’s completed 53 of 80 pass attempts for 518 yards this season.

“All the reports back from the hospital are positive,” Doeren said after the loss. “Once they’re done going through all the tests and things like that, obviously, we’ll have more information at that time.”

Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson said his “thoughts and prayers are with Grayson and his family.”

The injury came in McCall’s first game back for the Pack. He left the Week 3 contest against Louisiana Tech shortly before halftime due to an undisclosed injury. McCall did not play against Clemson or Northern Illinois.

Officials did not review Saturday’s play for targeting, and Wake Forest scored off the subsequent turnover. Evan Slocum gathered the fumble that resulted from the hit and returned it to the N.C. State 2-yard line. The Demon Deacons then scored on a 3-yard pass. The Deacs — and officials — were met with a barrage of boos from Wolfpack fans.

Freshman CJ Bailey replaced McCall in the backfield. Bailey had started in the previous two games.

McCall’s 2023 season at Coastal Carolina ended due to a concussion in October after a similar play. The Chanticleers played Arkansas State on the road and a defender tackled him, making helmet-to-helmet contact. McCall’s head bounced on the turf.

He laid on the field motionless, and was taken to a local hospital. The severity of the injury and NCAA’s concussion protocol sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

“It kind of just scares you,” McCall told the Sun News in Myrtle Beach last November. “You kind of second guess yourself, and maybe your instincts aren’t the same they were before the injury just because something like that happened. We’re all humans. It kind of scares you, no matter how tough I think I am, no matter how good of a football player I am. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of the process you have to go through.”

McCall has not played a full collegiate season.

He played a limited role in 2019, his true freshman season. In 2020, after winning the starting job, he missed Coastal Carolina’s game against Georgia Southern due to an injury.

McCall sustained a shoulder injury in November 2021, which required a surgery the subsequent January.

He missed three games in 2022 and was injured again in the Chanticleer’s bowl game against East Carolina.

This story was originally published October 5, 2024, 1:00 PM.