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Magic Johnson Endorses NBA Return To Seattle; Report Says Stern Warming To Idea

Basketball HOFer Magic Johnson two weeks ago "campaigned" to bring the NBA back to Seattle four years after it left for Oklahoma City, according to Percy Allen of the SEATTLE TIMES. Johnson spoke to donors and kids at the A Plus Youth Program in Seattle and said, "It would be outstanding." Johnson said of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who is part of an investor group looking to bring a franchise to Seattle, "Steve has been working on this for a lot of years. He's been sitting in the back working on this. He's such a hoops fan. He loves this city." Johnson: "I think it's going to be great building a new arena. The city deserves that. The fans here deserve that. I think no question once all the pieces are put together, [hedge fund manager Chris] Hansen and Mr. Ballmer will come together and a team will end up here and it will be great, just like it was." Allen writes the "biggest Sonics opponent is now changing sides" as NBA Commissioner David Stern "appears to be an advocate for a team returning, judging by pro-Sonics comments he made this summer during a goodwill trip overseas." Hansen said that his "relationship with the league office has deepened the past year, since his plans to return a team to Seattle became public." Hansen said, "People may have misconstrued David's comments a little bit because they're looking at them through a very hopeful lens. The great part of that comment is David is really supportive in getting basketball back to Seattle" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/30). In Seattle, Jerry Brewer writes Stern is "primed to be an ally at the end of his Sonics-depriving tenure as the NBA commissioner." According to a recent report by YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski, Stern is "determined ... to bring the NBA back to Seattle." But "most important, he wants to expunge that enormous mistake." The "Sonics' mess is one of the greatest fiascos sullying his legacy." And that is why "Seattle, which hates Stern the most, is primed to benefit from his desire to exit on more positive terms" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/30).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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