Rumors

Lenny Wilkens couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he gazed at a bronze statue of himself at the site of his greatest coaching triumph. On Saturday, the former Seattle SuperSonics player and coach became the first person to have a statue unveiled outside Climate Pledge Arena. Wilkens led the Sonics to the 1979 NBA title. But the 6-foot, 700-pound statue, sculpted by Chicago-based Lou Cella, depicts Wilkens as a player. Cella also produced statues of University of Washington football coach Don James and Seattle Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. “I’ve been blessed,” the 87-year-old Wilkens said. “I’ll be the first to tell you.”

MRT.com

ESPN canvassed 136 teams in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB and NHL from November 2023 to July 2024 on whether they offer accommodations that fans with invisible disabilities say would make their game-day experience better. Of the 136 teams, 120 responded. In the NFL, the Broncos, Texans, Patriots, Cardinals and Bengals did not answer questions. In MLB, the Brewers, Pirates, Mariners and Cubs did not answer. In the NBA, the Timberwolves declined to answer and the Clippers responded before their move to the Intuit Dome. In the WNBA, the Lynx declined to answer. In the NHL, the Panthers, Sabres, Jets and Senators did not answer. (The Utah Hockey Club was omitted because of the team's impending move to Salt Lake City.) Some teams did not answer every question in the survey.

ESPN

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: For me, what really brought the hearth fire of hope back to life was the instantaneous support of other sports teams and athletes. Major League Soccer, in which only 26% of players are black, postponed five games that day, with players from two teams, Inter Miami and Atlanta United, locking arms and refusing to play. Major League Baseball, with only about 8% African American players, also joined in with players from the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds sitting out their games and the Seattle Mariners voted unanimously to postpone their Wednesday game. More baseball teams joined the boycott on Thursday. In tennis, perhaps the whitest of all the sports, former US Open champion Naomi Osaka walked away from her semi-final match at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday, tweeting, “I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white sport I consider that a step in the right direction.” Professional tennis organizations USTA, ATP, and WTA issued a statement in support of her stance and postponed tournament play on Thursday. I have never been prouder of my athlete colleagues.

The Guardian

Jeff Passan: Following the cancellation of the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds game tonight, more teams are discussing the possibility of not playing, sources tell ESPN. Among those currently discussing it: the Seattle Mariners, who have the most Black players of any team in MLB.

Twitter

College of Marin announced on Tuesday that it is renaming its basketball court after Don Barksdale, who played for the Mariners in the 1940s.

Marin Independent Journal

Rhett Bollinger: The Mariners are honoring the 1979 Sonics here at T-Mobile Park. Today is the 40th anniversary of their title.

Twitter

Fresh off their 6-3 win at Safeco Field on Sunday over the Blue Jays, the Mariners decided to kick off their road trip in style by donning some terrific clothes in the clubhouse afterward. Dee Gordon led a group that paid tribute to Seattle's dearly departed NBA team, the SuperSonics:

mlb.com

An investment group that wants to build a sports arena for professional basketball and possibly hockey has offered to also rebuild KeyArena, the former home of Seattle's departed NBA franchise. The move Thursday by the group led by investor Chris Hansen is the latest in the long-running debate over building a new arena. Hansen wants to privately build a facility in an area that's home to venues for the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners.

ESPN

Stern also noted the Sonics did not receive the same level of financial commitment in Seattle as the Seahawks or Mariners had gotten for their stadium. “(Johnson) was differently motivated, because there had been huge subsidies from (Seattle) for the baseball team and football team to build their two buildings. Our basketball was the third man in. In Sacramento, this was the game. The city was very proud and had been very supportive.”

Seattle Times

Hal Childs, a former assistant general manager for the Knicks and public relations director for the Warriors and Mariners, has died of complications from heart disease. He was 84. Childs’ wife, Jacqueline, said Wednesday that her husband died Sunday at his home in Dublin. Hal Childs served as assistant GM of the Knicks from 1987-91 and ran the Warriors’ PR department during the organization’s first championship season in 1974-75. He also worked in PR for the Mariners, Seattle SuperSonics and San Diego Clippers.

New York Post

For Thomas, support came from all corners. The Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots, Utah Jazz, Seattle Seahawks, and Seattle Mariners all vouched for him. He also received support from celebrities such as boxer Floyd Mayweather, the rapper Chuck D, “Entourage” actor Jerry Ferrara, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, Red Sox legend David Ortiz, and basketball Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, among others.

Boston Globe

The Blazers’ problematic 10-year, $120-million deal with Comcast expires after 2016-17. Sources say the team will announce within a week or two they’ll join Mariners-owned ROOT Sports Northwest on a partnership with enhanced distribution of Blazers games.

Seattle Times

The idea goes that the Blazers are free to shop, but ROOT SPORTS is Seattle-based and can't offer the Blazer-centric dedication that CSNNW offers. Neither can Fox Sports Networks. Also, there's a whisper being floated in the market that cut-throat parent-company Comcast, which currently offers Root Sports Northwest on its basic-tier packages, might pull the regional network from its Portland-based customers as a retaliatory strike should it lose the rights. However, when I mentioned that to a source close to the negotiation, it was waved off. "Hollow threat," the source said. "What are they going to do? Pull the Mariners and Timbers off in Portland? They can't do it. Won't happen."

Oregonian

There was some concern in the Thunder organization when, in 2013, Durant hired Jay-Z's start-up Roc Nation to represent him. Sometimes moving talent creates a big display of power for an agency, and Roc Nation's first big deal was the massive contract that sent longtime New York Yankee Robinson Cano to the Seattle Mariners that same year. Then they nearly moved Durant away from Nike. Both Cano and Durant, though, ended up with excellent deals. There were memories of Creative Artists Agency and how they helped establish its power base by helping move James and Chris Bosh to Miami in 2010 and then using leverage to move Anthony to New York months later. But the Thunder's dealings with Roc Nation have been positive and constructive across the board the past two years, multiple sources said, and those initial concerns have been eased.

ESPN.com