Suns owner Ishbia faces fraud lawsuit, backlash
WASHINGTON – The point guard’s mantra echoes a phrase often attributed to Hippocrates.
First, do no harm.
For point guards, that means limiting their turnovers above all else.
Washington Wizards point guard Tyus Jones has embraced that philosophy to an unprecedented degree.
With an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7.3:1, he will break his own NBA assistto-turnover ratio of 7.04:1 he posted in 2021-22 with Memphis and he will become the first player to lead the league in assist-to-turnover ratio in five consecutive seasons.
“Being a point guard is taking calculated risks,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s knowing time and score, it’s knowing your personnel. It’s knowing what the other team’s defensive schemes are, what’s their personnel. So there’s so much that goes into it.
“I take a lot of pride in it. That’s something that I focus on and that I definitely pay attention to night in and night out. Majority of the times if your team has a lower number of turnovers, you’re upping your chances of winning if your possessions are ending in at least a shot or two.”
Jones, 27, is nearing the end of his first season with the Wizards and his first season as a full-time starter. He is averaging career-highs in points per game (12.0), assists per game (7.3), rebounds per game (2.7), field-goal percentage (.489), 3-point percentage (.414) and minutes per game (29.3).
Jones’ preoccupation with low turnovers began as a young basketball player, a lesson from his mom, Debbie.
“It’s just how I was raised, and I give a lot of credit to my mother,” Jones said. “She was my basketball coach since I was little all the way up until I got to high school. She started that, helping me be a student of the game, playing with a high IQ, teaching me the fundamentals of the game and obviously you’re not trying to turn the ball over.”
He brought the same mentality to high school and then college at Duke where he led the Blue Devils to Mike Krzyzewski’s final championship and
PHOENIX – Suns and Mercury owner Mat Ishbia and his firm, United Wholesale Mortgage, are dealing with backlash over his alleged use of an anti-gay slur, as well as a lawsuit.
Last week, the lender UWM was sued by some borrowers alleging a fraud scheme. The lawsuit claims UWM put pressure on independent brokers to bring it borrowers, who thought they were getting the best rates and fees. But that wasn’t always the case, according to the complaint.
On Tuesday, the media arm of activist hedge fund Hunterbrook released a report detailing the alleged scheme. The report used public lending records to show that it potentially cost borrowers more money to go with UWM than other lenders.
Ishbia, CEO of the Michigan-based mortgage firm, is also getting negative attention for a leaked profanity-laced voicemail about UWM growing bigger than Rocket Mortgage. It included an anti-gay slur that has angered LGBTQ+ advocacy groups.
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is the co-founder of Rocket. UWM and Rocket rival each other for the biggest U.S. mortgage lender spot. Gilbert was the only NBA team owner who didn’t vote to approve Ishbia’s purchase of the Suns. He abstained.
In December 2022, billionaire Ishbia agreed to purchase the majority stake of the Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury for a record price of $4 billion.
The lawsuit accuses UWM and Ishbia of racketeering and violating federal and state laws by working with mortgage brokers to steer clients UWM’s way. The federal lawsuit filed in Detroit on behalf of four UWM borrowers in North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee accused the lender of costing borrowers billions of dollars. The suit is seeking class-action status in 27 states.
“The Hunterbrook attack contains numerous lies, including there being something wrong with brokers choosing to send most of their business to a specific lender,” according to a UWM social media statement. “UWM will defend these allegations to the fullest extent permitted by law.”
UWM operates a lending business that primarily underwrites loans for independent earned the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor as a freshman in 2015. He had two turnovers in the national semifinals and final.
It carried over to the NBA with the help of Ryan Saunders, the son of late NBA coach Flip Saunders.
The Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Jones with the 24th pick in the 2015 draft, and then-Timberwolves assistant coach Ryan Saunders, now an assistant coach for Denver, spelled it out for Jones. As a rookie backup point guard, the best way to get minutes is to limit turnovers.
“He told me, ‘One thing you got to be is mortgage brokers.
The Hunterbrook Media article included a disclosure that its affiliated hedge fund recently raised $100 million and has taken a “short” position on UWM stock and a “long” position on Gilbert’s Detroit-based Rocket Cos.
National LGBTQ+ advocacy groups expressed outrage over Ishbia’s alleged use of an antigay slur in a voicemail to describe business competitors.
The Arizona Republic has not verified the authenticity of the voicemail. Hunterbook Media, which published the voicemail last week, reported it was posted in a Facebook group this year.
People in the mortgage industry confirmed its authenticity, according to Hunterbrook Media, which also “ran the voicemail through generative AI detection software.” “Language like this plays a significant role in perpetuating a hostile environment that tells LGBTQI+ athletes and fans that they aren’t safe or welcome in sport,” said Joanna Hoffman, a spokesperson for Athlete Ally, a nonprofit that works to end homophobia in sports.
Contributing: Alexis Waiss, Arizona Republic; and Detroit Free Press plus in the plus-minus category and your assist-to-turnover ratios has got to be good,’ “Jones said. “I just took that and ran with it. It was something that I felt like I naturally already did and then I started to really pay a little bit more attention to it and put it in perspective because I’m trying to get on the court, I’m trying to play more.”
After four seasons with Minnesota, he signed with Memphis as Memphis began its rise with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Jones developed into an important reserve and a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Last offseason, Jones, whose brother
NEW YORK – Giancarlo Stanton entered Wednesday night with 405 career home runs, none of them against the Miami Marlins in 60 plate appearances.
He’d connected against all the other 29 clubs during his 14 full MLB seasons.
And when the Yankees’ slugging DH drove one over the right field wall in Wednesday’s sixth inning at Yankee Stadium, Stanton had finally checked his old team off that list.
“They told me about it in the first game (of the series), I didn’t think about it,’’ Stanton said after Miami’s 5-2 win. “It’s obvious, but it didn’t cross my mind.’’
Still, “it’s pretty cool,’’ said Stanton. Five years after his MLB career ends, Stanton will be on a Hall of Fame ballot.
He’s got more than a reasonable chance at hitting 500-plus homers, and that 30-for-30, connecting against every club, makes for a nice line in the bio, until MLB expands by two more teams.
More meaningfully in Yankees Universe, there’s still a chance for Stanton to be celebrated for his contributions to a World Series team.
That requires a healthy Stanton maintaining a fearsome presence in Aaron Boone’s lineup, and it’s a long way to October.
But there’s always pressure for Stanton to get off to a good start, if only to hold back the Stadium’s chorus of boos, and he’s done so in a promising way.
“He looks scary in the box right now, for sure,’’ said Yankees starter Marcus Stroman, after Stanton belted his teamleading fourth homer of the year.
An encouraging start
Much was made of the leaner Stanton’s arrival at spring training, an offseason design toward limiting the lower body injuries that have plagued his Yankees years.
If anyone wondered whether his weight loss might come with a sacrifice in power, Stanton has pretty much put that to rest.
With three homers in his last five games, including a grand slam, Stanton has lately put into practice some of the swing changes necessitated by last year’s career low .191 batting average and .695 OPS.
“Putting together a solid foundation of at-bats, from start to finish. Yeah, it’s important,’’ said Stanton, batting .256
Tre plays for the San Antonio Spurs, embraced the move from Memphis to Washington as part of a three-team trade also involving Boston. The trade gave Jones an opportunity to start on a regular basis – he wanted more minutes and more responsibility.
He spent considerable time watching film of his new teammates, learning where on the court they excel and how he can get the basketball to them in that position the best way possible.
“In Memphis, I never viewed myself as a backup. I viewed myself as a starting point guard. I was just in a backup role and I felt like this year I finally (got) a chance to showcase (myself) and I felt like (I) showed that I am a starter in this league,” Jones said.
Jones had to balance personal success with the Wizards’ rebuilding season that has them with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 1565.
“It’s tough, right? Obviously, I’m a competitor,” he said. “That’s how you get here in these situations, the best league in the world. There have been frustrating nights and frustrating drives home. At the same time, this is a part of it, right? It’s a part of coming here, having a big role, being a starter. So I’m trying to keep the big picture in mind.”
He likes the transparency of the firstyear front office led by president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins. “They want to win, they want to get this organization back into a much more competitive place,” Jones said. “At the same time, that doesn’t happen overnight. And I feel like the approach has been correct day in and day out.”
Opposing teams inquired about Jones’ availability at the February trade deadline, but the Wizards didn’t move him because they like what he provides. “I’m looking to obviously continue to be a starter, but I just want to continue to be valued,” Jones said. “And honestly I feel like that’s value here. I feel like they allow me to be the leader that I know I am. They allow me to be the point guard on and off the court, extension of the coach on and off the court, and to play my game and to try to continue to influence our team in the right way. For me, that’s what’s important. See what happens.” with an .894 OPS, an encouraging start through his first 11 games.
Driving Wednesday night’s home run the opposite way tells Stanton that he’s “staying down through’’ the pitch and playing to his natural strengths.
Just as importantly, the Yankees’ better-balanced lineup, featuring Juan Soto, can only benefit Stanton, who still found himself batting cleanup Wednesday, between Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo.
Yankees’ better-balance lineup paying dividends
There was a time when you wondered if Stanton might be the default No. 7 hitter, with Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo ahead of him.
On Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone elevated Anthony Volpe to the leadoff spot, and that might be his permanent spot for the next decade in pinstripes.
As they head back on the road, having won their first four series, the Yankees’ 10-3 start has also fueled the “Bronx Dawgs’’ persona, “A fun little mantra they’ve taken to…that they believe is really what they want to embody.’’
To that end, “I want guys that are energy givers, not energy suckers in that room,’’ said Boone, and the additions of Soto, Verdugo and Stroman in particular have boosted that energy.
Overall, “we’re in a good spot, we’re having good at-bats when it counts, when it matters,’’ Stanton said of a lineup that is still missing DJ LeMahieu (right foot), due back later this month.