National Basketball Association

Weekend Sports in Brief

Published Apr. 30, 2018 2:11 a.m. ET

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) A Russian mixed martial arts fighter who has connections with President Donald Trump, the president's personal attorney Michael Cohen and Russian President Vladimir Putin was questioned this week by the FBI, his manager confirmed Saturday.

Fedor Emelianenko was questioned by agents who met him in his hotel room on Tuesday, manager Jerry Millen said before Emelianenko's Bellator MMA heavyweight fight against Frank Mir. Millen declined to detail his client's conversations with the agents.

''The FBI came to the hotel looking to talk to Fedor and they were very nice, came in to speak with Fedor for a few minutes, spoke to me, very cool guys, and that's all I can really say about it. Again, the FBI did come to the hotel, they found us, knocked on the door,'' Millen said.

''Hundred percent, kind of surprised,'' Millen added. ''They were very nice, very professional.''

The agents were in attendance at Saturday's fight, Millen said.

SOCCER

MADRID (AP) - Barcelona is celebrating yet another Spanish league title to cap a nearly perfect season.

Unbeaten Barcelona added to its domestic dominance by winning La Liga for the third time in the last four seasons on Sunday, remaining unbeaten after 34 rounds. Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and Philippe Coutinho added a goal to give Barcelona a 4-2 win at Deportivo La Coruna and an insurmountable 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid.

''We know how difficult it is to win this league,'' Messi said. ''We were better than our rivals. There is a lot of merit to winning this title without any losses.''

Barcelona has won 26 league games and drawn eight, with four matches left.

It was Barcelona's seventh league title in 10 seasons and 25th overall. Real Madrid, last year's champion, leads with 33 La Liga trophies.

SURFING

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) - Rodrigo Koxa has been credited with a world record for riding the biggest wave ever surfed.

The World Surf League confirmed the record at its Big Wave Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday, saying its judging panel determined that a wave Koxa surfed at Naraze, Portugal, on Nov. 8 was 80 feet (24.38 meters).

The Brazilian surfer's mark overtook the record of 78 feet (23.77 meters) which Garrett McNamara set in 2011.

''The award goes to the surfer who, by any means available, catches the biggest wave of the year,'' The WSL said in a statement. ''Not only did Koxa win this year's honor, but he now holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest wave surfed.

Koxa described the award as ''a dream come true.''

PARALYMPICS

Paralympic Games organizers hope U.S. President Donald Trump won't find it tough to watch their events in future.

The International Paralympic Committee pointed to the growing reach of its competitions in response to comments made on Friday by Trump when American athletes from the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang were welcomed to the White House.

''What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me, and I watched,'' Trump said, surrounded by members of Team USA. ''It's a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could.''

The Paralympics in March were broadcast in the U.S. on NBC, NBCSN, and streamed on the NBC website.

''Record numbers of people around the world are not finding the Paralympics tough to watch,'' IPC communications director Craig Spence told The Associated Press on Saturday. ''Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world.

PRO BASKETBALL

PHOENIX (AP) - A person with knowledge of the situation said interim coach Jay Triano is not among ''handful'' of remaining candidates for the Phoenix Suns coaching job.

The person, who asked to remain anonymous because the search is ongoing, said the Suns are in the midst of second interviews ''with a handful of candidates still in the mix.''

Triano served as interim coach for all but the first three games of last season after Earl Watson was abruptly fired. Triano guided an exceedingly young and injury-plagued team to a 21-61 record, worst in the NBA and second-worst in franchise history.

Phoenix has the most ping pong balls and therefore the best chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in next months' draft lottery.

The Suns conducted initial interviews with a wide range of candidates, including Triano.