TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: Coaches around the league are taking preventive measures to help deal with the grind and stresses of a long NBA season. That hasn’t always been the case. Now, the NBA Coaches Association provides guidance to its members on everything from diet and exercise to sleep and mental health. “Well, we’re trying. We all are trying, we all are conscious of it,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I don’t think we’re very good at it, honestly. I know I’ve tried. It’s still very hard to accomplish. The game consumes us. It consumes me at least, and it should, if you love it. And it’s just hard to turn off. It’s important. We have to do it. We should have been doing it.” After a late arrival in Bay Area last month, it was after 10 p.m. when Rivers had the team tissue therapist work on his body, including knees and ankle — “and my brain.” He has consulted a sleep doctor, too. In Los Angeles, Walton is being proactive by encouraging every staff member to stay physically, mentally and emotionally healthy. The advice is to recharge when necessary, in whatever way is best. “It’s a priority,” Lakers assistant Mark Madsen said. “It’s important because think about all the late nights. We’ll get into cities at 4 in the morning sometimes. You have to stay on top of it.” As a youngster, J.B. Bickerstaff knew there were a couple of hours in the afternoon on game days his father needed for himself. Bernie Bickerstaff took a power nap that allowed him to be fresh for a long night on the NBA bench. J.B. Bickerstaff now does it the same exact way as coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. The coaches’ association is providing support and guidance like never before, and many coaches are making a point to openly discuss wellness strategies and share ideas. There’s also a close-knit support system within this crop of NBA coaches that Dallas’ Rick Carlisle, the coaches’ association president, considers special. “We also have a unique group of head coaches right now, guys that are extremely competitive but have great respect for one another and provide a high level of support for each other,” Carlisle said. “Guys who are going through tough times with health and even things like losing streaks. We’ve got a very high character group.” For example, Clifford so appreciated a call he got last season from Kerr, each having gone through his own challenging health ordeal that kept him from the bench for an extensive stretch. Clifford, then coaching the Charlotte Hornets, missed more than five weeks dealing with agonizing headaches that after a battery of tests were deemed to be caused by sleep deprivation. Kerr has endured some of the most high-profile absences. He missed the initial 43 games of the 2015-16 season — including a record 24-0 start — dealing with painful and confounding symptoms following a pair of back surgeries. Kerr was sidelined again for 11 games during the Warriors’ 16-1 postseason in 2017 before returning to the bench for Game 2 of the NBA Finals the Warriors wound up winning in five games against LeBron James and Cleveland. Kerr had undergone a procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak on May 5, 2017, at Duke University but was not well enough to return until June 4. He made it through last year’s repeat run to a title. “My advice to coaches who are coming into the league: Don’t get back surgery,” Kerr quipped. “That’s my main advice. Sorry, bad joke. Luke Walton, when he took the Laker job, we talked a lot about that. He told me his whole staff is really on a conditioning program and a health-wellness program. I think it’s really smart, something that every staff should try to do is just make sure you’ve got people looking after you and looking after each other.” Kerr practices regular yoga and can often be seen on the elliptical machine after practice in a corner of the gym, getting loose on a foam roller or stretching with the assistance of an athletic trainer. Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts appreciates the points of emphasis and information provided by the coaches’ association “whether it’s diet or things to alleviate stress.” He watches what he eats and works in exercise whenever he can, saying those two things are “the remedy for everybody.” “A lot of it is just common sense that everybody has to deal with to take care of yourself,” Stotts said. “It’s not just coaches, obviously, it’s everybody, a lot of middle-aged men need to be doing the same, and some like me, beyond-middle-aged men. The fact that our lifestyle, if you give in to it, it can be a detriment, and everybody needs to be aware of it.” Clifford is in Orlando now, and he understands better than ever the importance of taking care of himself and monitoring his own health in a business where keeping your job depends largely on winning. He took significant steps to improve his sleep patterns and overall health, this after a previous heart scare as well. The 57-year-old Clifford deeply appreciated Kerr’s call. “It was great,” Clifford said. “He was one of the guys who reached out and obviously we had the health issue in common. It was a terrific gesture.” Last season, former Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue dealt with anxiety and needed a mental and physical break. “Wellness isn’t just physical. It’s mental as well,” Portland guard Damian Lillard said. “I think the position we’re in as professional athletes and with coaches in the social media age, it’s a little more difficult. That takes it to a much higher level from physical and mental ... when you’ve got people talking about you all the time, on Twitter bashing you. People just have so much more access to you. It becomes a more stressful job, much more pressure on your job and so many more eyes.” Coaches are also realizing they can’t always do it alone, relying on experts to stay healthy. Golden State hired Rick Celebrini this past offseason as director of sports medicine and performance. “If you can find some help, somebody to give you a little guidance,” Kerr said, “like we have here with Rick and Drew Yoder, I think it’s a big help.” The coaches’ association sends a regular newsletter with guidance from nutrition consultant Stacy Goldberg, who also is always available for 1-on-1 conversations. She attends coach association meetings, too, offering healthy food and snack choices. “Often, coaches are so focused on taking care of the players that they are not always focused on taking care of themselves,” said Goldberg, founder and CEO of Savorfull. “This is especially true when it comes to their nutrition.” Added Carlisle: “We view this as important as anything else we do with the NBA coaches association.” ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SOLUTION: NBA coaches’ new play: tending to health to cope with grind.

PROBLEM: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it was investigating 14 fake or unlicensed products to treat COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus. So far 3,605 Britons have died from the coronavirus, the latest data show, and experts have said deaths will continue to rise until the effect of recent lockdown measures filter through and slow the spread of the disease in the coming weeks. MHRA said it was investigating fake self-testing kits, miracle cures and so-called “antiviral misting sprays”. “Don’t be fooled by online offers for medical products to help prevent or treat COVID-19,” Lynda Scammell, MHRA enforcement official said. “There is no medicine licensed specifically to treat or prevent COVID-19, therefore any claiming to do so are not authorised and have not undergone regulatory approvals required for sale on the UK market.”  Scammell added that MHRA was working alongside law enforcement agencies to combat the spread of fake and unlicensed medical products.

SOLUTION: Miracle cures? UK investigators go after fake coronavirus medicines.

PROBLEM: It could well be too little, too late. After years of trying to demolish former President Barack Obama’s prized law, GOP leaders still lack the votes to succeed. Along with the law’s growing popularity and easing premium increases, that’s left top Republicans showing no appetite to quickly refight the repeal battle. “I’m not going to be asking for another vote on that this year,” No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas said last week when asked if he favored reopening the issue in a postelection lame duck session. No. 3 House leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said, “We need to win this election and then get more seats next year.” Each is their party’s chief vote counter. That means any serious push to annul the statute would almost certainly hinge on Republicans retaining House control and adding Senate seats in November’s elections, neither of which is assured. If either goal eludes them on Election Day, President Donald Trump’s ability to deliver on one of his top campaign promises would have to wait for a second term, if he gets one. Republicans seemed to gain ground last week when Sen. Jon Kyl replaced McCain, who died in August from brain cancer. Kyl said in a brief interview that he would have backed the measure that McCain opposed, a pivotal vote that would have sustained the repeal drive. “It seems to me that would have been a useful thing to do,” Kyl said. That bill failed 51-49. A “yes” from McCain would have meant a 50-50 tie that Vice President Mike Pence could have broken by casting his own vote. Yet the two other GOP senators who also voted no, Maine’s Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, haven’t relented. With Republicans controlling the Senate 51-49, the GOP remains short of the 50 votes they’d need. “I would still oppose outright repeal,” Collins said in a short interview last week. In a written statement, aides said Murkowski “is not interested in another rushed, partisan process in the absence of a quality, comprehensive replacement” for the law. Republicans have one fewer seat this year because Alabama Democrat Doug Jones defeated Republican Roy Moore in a December special election. Moore had defeated incumbent GOP Sen. Luther Strange in a party primary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has ruled out revisiting the health care fight before November’s midterm elections, citing the crush of spending and other bills facing Congress. He’s displayed little desire to revisit the issue, which many Democrats are using in their election campaigns because Obama’s law is widely accepted, especially provisions like requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions. Returning to the health care fight is a decision “I don’t have to reach anytime soon and don’t have time to facilitate, even if I was so inclined,” McConnell told reporters last week. He has said he doesn’t want to resume the fight unless he can win, and his House counterpart is also showing his focus is elsewhere. “I haven’t even thought about it,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. A lame-duck session would last barely over a month and likely be absorbed with lingering budget disputes and picking the new Congress’ leaders. That would leave scant time for health care work, such as resolving intractable disputes about what a replacement bill would look like. Then they would need an official cost estimate of any bill from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which could take weeks. They’d also have to take procedural steps to protect their bill from a Senate Democratic filibuster, which would otherwise essentially kill the measure by requiring Republicans to garner 60 votes to succeed. “There’s still a process that we have to go through, and people have to be aware of it,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who opposes the health care program. “You don’t just drop it from heaven like manna.” Explaining the diminished urgency, Cornyn cited Congress’ repeal last December of the tax penalty on people who don’t buy individual insurance. That requirement, aimed at prodding healthier people to buy coverage and stabilize health markets, was one of the law’s least popular provisions. Cornyn also mentioned Trump administration rules making it easier for people to buy short-term health care policies or association plans offered by groups of small businesses or self-employed people. Such packages could offer lower premiums but cover fewer benefits, and Democrats criticize them as undermining the consumer protections Obama’s law was designed to enshrine. Also easing pressure on Republicans to act are indications that insurance premiums, a major vexation for voters, are growing more slowly. An analysis by the consulting firm Avalere Health and The Associated Press last week found a 3.3 percent average increase in proposed or approved premiums across 47 states and Washington, D.C., for 2019. The average increase nationally this year was about 30 percent. Meanwhile, the House plans to vote this week on a bill easing requirements the law imposed on employers. The measure would make it easier for companies to provide health insurance for fewer workers, refund tax penalties firms paid for not covering employees and postpone a levy on expensive policies companies provide workers. Further underscoring the effort’s lack of traction, that measure seems certain never to emerge from Congress.

SOLUTION:
Republicans lack votes _ and appetite _ to end ‘Obamacare’.