practice that Pitanguy started decades ago, several clinics in the city offer free cosm

LAS VEGAS -- The game started with a near-capacity Thomas & Mack Center at a fever pitch for a highly-anticipated matchup between No. 1 pick Ben Simmons and No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram. It ended with another former No. 2 pick, DAngelo Russell, demonstrating he has ice in his veins with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.But in between, there was only one player who received M-V-P chants during the Los Angeles Lakers win over the Philadelphia 76ers: Larry Nance Jr., who was picked 25 spots after Russell in the 2015 draft.First of all, if anybody was the MVP, it was DAngelo, but I appreciated the chants, Nance said.It would have been hard to imagine any positive chants for Nance after a first half that saw him finish with more turnovers (four) than points (three).My energy was down, for some reason I just didnt have it, Nance said of his first-half struggles. Coach [Jesse Mermuys] pulled me aside and said Cmon man, its a different half, new ballgame, were going to win this game, and it just clicked.Things turned around quickly in the second half, when Nance put up 10 of his 13 points and grabbed 7 of his 8 rebounds to spark a Lakers comeback from 16 points down. He also finished with 7 steals, 4 assists and 4 blocks, doing a little bit of everything for the Lakers.He was awesome, said Mermuys, a Lakers assistant leading the summer league staff. I played him 35 minutes in a 40-minute game. He was dog tired at the end, but I wasnt going to take him out. He had earned those minutes to be able to finish it out.And the lift that he gave us in that run, we had taken some major punches. Our offense was brutal. Their pressure was really taking us out of everything we were trying to do. And he gave us a lift -- the big-time dunks were an incredible lift to us, obviously, the three he made was huge. And his toughness and energy -- unsung hero of the game, no doubt.Nance, the son of former dunk contest champion Larry Nance threw down a pair of highlight-reel slams, both coming off plays he started by grabbing a defensive rebound and pushing the ball. The second-year forward says he believes that could be a much bigger part of his game going forward.We have the freedom to do almost whatever we want now, he said. Coach has given me his blessing to push the ball up the court, take the ball off the rim and push it up the court. If they commit to me, Ill kick it. If they dont, Im coming down the lane. Its a position that I love playing. I love going downhill with the ball, and I hope to continue to play like that.Russell had high praise for the way Nance played in Saturdays game, and what he means for the Lakers improvement going forward.Hes a winning piece on a winning team, the point guard said. Every team needs a guy like Larry. Hes always positive. Hes one of the most positive guys I know. Hes always positive. I dont know. Hes just a great guy off the court and then on the court, hes a dog. So it leads up to him just playing hard. All his plays are like motor plays and just getting everybody going, setting great screens for the point guards or the guards coming off screens. He just knows how to play.Rookie center Ivica Zubac said Nances energy and enthusiasm are a huge part of what he brings to the team.It really means a lot. Every time somebody is down, he comes to that guy and helps him, Zubac said. You feel better after that and you play better.As for those MVP chants, Nance said it made him feel like a Lakers legend -- if only for a moment.I felt like Kobe [Bryant] for a little bit, he said. Although, I missed the free throw. It got to me. Fabinho Liverpool Jersey . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Roberto Firmino Jersey .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. http://www.liverpoolgear.us/Authentic-Connor-Randall-Liverpool-Jersey/ . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. Divock Origi Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Curtis Jones Liverpool Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Each morning, 75-year-old Jose Rebamar works his biceps, triceps and quadriceps with stone weights at an outside gym that looks out on Rio de Janeiros iconic Sugarloaf Mountain.Living in a city of near daily sunshine and warm weather, the ex-Brazilian Navy sailor says there is no excuse to ever slow down. And having the Olympics in town provides even more incentive to stay in shape. Rebamar has been watching the games on television every night.If I dont work out one day, I feel like I didnt do anything, like the day didnt happen, he said, interspersing barbell sets with yoga-like stretches.Visitors to South Americas first Olympic games are getting an eyeful of the beauty- and fitness-obsessed culture that is synonymous with Rio, a land of muscle-taxing samba dancing, acrobatic capoeira martial arts and dental floss bikinis and Speedos that reveal more than they conceal. Remember it was Brazil that gave birth to the Brazilian bikini wax and even the Brazilian Butt Lift, a type of plastic surgery that aims to put a little more oomph in your rump.Beauty is also big business here: Brazil always ranks among the worlds top-five cosmetic-buying countries. Its also the worlds second-biggest consumer of plastic surgery, after the United States. Outside workout areas are ubiquitous, as are specialty shops with names such as integrated center for aesthetics, which offer everything from nail work to detailed analysis of facial curves to determine the kind of haircut to make people look their best.People are running and cycling and working out all over the city, said Imke Bergmann, a 45-year-old nurse from Munich who came to watch the games. Its impressive.And of course the glamour craze found its way into the Olympics.Consider this: Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, one of the worlds most-recognized plastic surgeons who helped make Brazil a popular destination for the rich and famous to get work done, carried the Olympic flame on the games opening day that later lit the cauldron at Maracana Stadium. The next day he died of a heart attack at 93, and Brazilian broadcasters cut away from competition coverage for hours to focus on the life of one of the countrys most important personalities.Or this: Supermodel Gisele Bundchen was a headliner at the opening ceremony, swaggering to The Girl from Ipanema, the famous Brazilian song that, you guessed it, is about falling in love with a beautiful girl at the beach.Away from the venues, there is plenty to gawk at.On Copacabana Beach, men with muscles out of an anattomy book play pickup soccer games while women sunbathe the way a rotary chicken gets cooked: methodically rotating around.dddddddddddd. In neighborhoods like Leblon, Rios most expensive locale, men and women draped in designer threads strut around as if they were heading to a Vogue cover shoot.I think I need to get into the gym, joked Ed Bai, a 48-year-old physical education teacher from Los Angeles, branding the beach scene in Rio incredible.Dr. Carlos Alberto Jaimovich, co-director of the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery, said the countrys obsession with beauty is driven by many factors: a tropical climate where its simply more comfortable to wear less, and a show-all media environment that includes magazine covers plastered with the nearly naked and always buff. Attractiveness is also equated with class in Brazil.Beauty is synonymous with social mobility, he said.And social mobility is directly related to race, meaning that more affluent whites are more likely to have the money for expensive beauty-related measures such as plastic surgery. Still, thanks to a practice that Pitanguy started decades ago, several clinics in the city offer free cosmetic surgeries to thousands of poor each year -- reconstructive procedures for cancer patients and burn victims, for example, but also operations for purely aesthetic purposes.Pitanguy, dubbed the philosopher of plastic surgery, often said that helping people look better on the outside made them feel better on the inside. In that way, many of the doctors who have followed in his footsteps believe that beauty is a right, and not something that just the rich should aspire to.Last year, Brazil ranked second behind the U.S. with 1.5 million plastic surgeries, the majority for aesthetic reasons.For tourists to Rio, the people-watching can be nearly as entertaining as the Olympic competitions. Taking in a recent beach volleyball match between Argentina and Brazil, Daniel Kuenge was awe-struck by the tremendous six-pack abs on display before him. But his wonder went beyond the Olympic venues.I do a lot of sports, so Im in pretty good shape, said Kuenge, a 64-year-old businessman from Switzerland. But seeing all these beautiful bodies in Rio makes you think: What else could I be doing?---Associated Press reporter Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.---Peter Prengaman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/peterprengaman ' ' '