In San Antonio, Madalyn Mendoza reports the Spurs "filed multiple trademark applications on June 7 for a new black and white logo featuring a basketball design with the letters 'SA' in the center of a basketball." Applications "show the black and white basketball logo is being registered for use on a wide variety of merchandise, from shower curtains to garden gnomes" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 6/13).
HOW THE WEST IS WON: The L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke noted the "biggest free agent on the market this summer" is Warriors advisor Jerry West. He is under contract with the Warriors through July. West "wanted to come to the Lakers," but the team "didn’t seem to have room for him." The Clippers reportedly are interested in signing West, and his future will be the “biggest thing in L.A. all summer long." West making a move "would shake the entire basketball landscape," as he "was a huge factor" in putting the Warriors' championship teams together (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 6/12).
NOT LOOKING BACK: Thunder Senior VP/Sales & Marketing Brian Byrnes said that the team in '17-18 "wants to celebrate" the franchise's 10th season in Oklahoma City by "looking at its forward progress instead of having it be nostalgic or looking back." Byrnes said that the organization "never relied on team success to translate as business success and reflect the brand, but that they built a business that could sustain itself." He added that the franchise "tries to focus on how to be bigger than just basketball and to not focus solely on the game when conducting business" (ENID NEWS & EAGLE, 6/13).
