INDIANAPOLIS — Although his team made it all the way to the Super Bowl, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke was asked to discuss less pleasant issues with the media at the NFL scouting combine Thursday. What will he do with demoted quarterback Alex Smith? Was he concerned with the lack of productivity from last year’s draft class, especially that of wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, their first-round pick who saw minimal playing time? Baalke has not made a decision on Smith, but reported that Jenkins is expected to begin working harder on self-improvement beginning this week. Read More

The Warriors are hoping to emerge from the long All-Star break as a different team. Golden State will be attempting to snap a five-game losing streak when they visit the Utah Jazz today. Golden State was one of the best stories of the first half as it ascended to the top half of the West and knocked off several contenders along the way. But the road has not been very kind recently and the Warriors have lost their last six games to teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Read More

The last thing the Warriors need to see after a disastrous four-game road trip is the Houston Rockets. But the Rockets, who matched an NBA record with 23 3-pointers and put up 140 points on the Warriors in the opener of that road trip a week ago, will be at Golden State tonight. The Warriors went on to lose those four games by a total of 83 points and are enduring their longest slide of the season. Read More

Hours after watching nephew Delanie Walker play in the Super Bowl for the 49ers, Alice and Bryan Young were killed in a car accident in Louisiana by a suspected drunken driver. Walker, a tight end, said Wednesday on his Twitter account: “Alice and Bryan Young my aunt and uncle was killed on Monday at 5 am after the super bowl by a drunk. Im going to miss y’all but i know they are in a better place.” Read More

NEW ORLEANS — Randy Moss isn’t camera shy — he just doesn’t care for the media. His 49ers teammates laud his veteran leadership, and the wide receiver was refreshingly candid during Media Day for Super Bowl XLVII on Tuesday. He’s 35 years old and has clearly lost a step — or two. Moss caught just 28 passes for 434 yards during the regular season despite playing in every game. His previous career-low for a full season was 60 in 2005, and he had never before failed to top 1,000 receiving yards in a 16-game season, much less than 500. Read More

Colin Kaepernick’s favorite tattoo is on the inside of his arm and reads, “my gift is my curse.” Relating that to his sudden rise to stardom as a quarterback preparing to play in the Super Bowl, Kaepernick is staying grounded by realizing that with fame comes scrutiny. Every play is scrutinized, every word is dissected. He’s recognized everywhere he goes in public, and he has more ticket requests for Super Bowl XLVII than he can fulfill. Even his tattoo artist in Reno is getting hit up for interview requests this week. Read More

Tony Sparano is headed to the Raiders as their assistant head coach and offensive line coach,  the club announced Wednesday. Before landing the Raiders’ job, Sparano interviewed with several other teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs, for coaching vacancies after one year with the New York Jets. Sparano was fired by the Jets after the 2012 season in which the team’s offense ranked No. 30 in the NFL. Read More