NBA

SEATTLE – What was viewed as the last domino before the NBA would seriously entertain expansion has fallen.

SEATTLE – Slick Watts, the bald-headed point guard known for his colorful headbands as a player and his role as an ambassador of Seattle basketball following the conclusion of his NBA career, died Saturday morning at the age of 73.

At Tuesday’s State of the City address at Benaroya Hall, the Seattle mayor said he had an announcement to make before pulling out a basketball from underneath his lectern. Thinking he was going to declare the return of the Sonics, some in the crowd gasped. Alas, it was just a joke — one that prompted a mixture of laughter and groans before social media panned the gag. Well-intentioned as it may have been, that one hurt. Why? Because that metaphorical check isn’t here yet.

Turns out NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was asked and answered one question last weekend related to potential expansion during the All-Star Game.

Damian Lillard might as well be an adopted Seattle player that’s currently in the NBA but not from the city. Remember all his years just down the road in Portland? Remember THAT shot against Oklahoma City in the playoffs? You know, the one he later said was in part for all those old SuperSonics fans?

SAN FRANCISCO – While there seems a high likelihood that potential NBA expansion will be part of the conversation this weekend during the league’s All-Star Game, any substantive action is probably getting kicked down the road a little farther.

Turns out former Gonzaga wing Julian Strawther will be busy this weekend. Strawther, who has assumed a bigger role in his second season with the Denver Nuggets, was named to replace Portland’s Scoot Henderson at the Rising Stars event Friday, part of NBA All-Star festivities this weekend in San Francisco.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren is off the team’s injury report, setting up his potential return for Friday’s game against the Toronto Raptors.

DALLAS – Corey Kispert realizes maybe the only thing that any NBA player can consistently expect is change, something he’s seen plenty of during his first three seasons in Washington.

LOS ANGELES – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Pau Gasol. Anthony Davis. And now Luka Doncic.

The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis as part of a late-night blockbuster that sent shockwaves through the NBA, league sources confirmed Saturday.

SEATTLE – The voice is weaker now, the combination of time, treatment and the travails of life taking a toll. His movements are measured now that he’s 73 years old.

The evening ended with a thud with Gonzaga falling to Santa Clara 103-99, but it started out with rousing standing ovations for Domantas Sabonis, one of the best players in school history. Sabonis was on hand with wife, Shashana, and their young children Tiger and Eleven “Elle” as his No. 11 jersey was displayed on the McCarthey Athletic Center wall, joining Frank Burgess, John Stockton, Adam Morrison, Kelly Olynyk, and Dan Dickau from the men’s program and Courtney Vandersloot from the women’s team.

Gonzaga’s trip to Los Angeles on Friday afternoon got off to a frightening start when the team’s charter plane had a close call shortly after touching down at Los Angeles International Airport. Frightening video footage released by Airline Videos Live showed Gonzaga’s charter slowly taxing toward a runway. Air Traffic Control hurriedly told GU’s plane to “stop, stop stop” just as a Delta plane takes off nearby.

Former Gonzaga standout Drew Timme is on the move again in the NBA G League. Timme has been traded from the Stockton Kings to the Long Island Nets in a three-team deal.

Anyone who watched the game won’t forget it for a long time. Thompson – the former Washington State star – and Curry went back and forth, stealing each other’s signature celebrations and draining a combined 11 3-pointers. Curry stole the show at the end, hitting the night-night after rainbowing the game-sealing 3 and then screaming into the cameras.

DALLAS – Last season, Jalen Suggs earned a spot on the NBA All-Defensive second team, reinforcing what anyone who has watched him play knew: The former Gonzaga standout excels at defense.

Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert, former Gonzaga teammates taken 10 picks apart in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, on Monday were rewarded with hefty pay raises when they agreed to rookie contract extensions.

When the NBA season opens Tuesday, it will launch with subtle shifts rather than seismic changes.