Spurs owner says team is staying in San Antonio
San Antonio Spurs owner Peter J. Holt on Tuesday told fans not to worry: The team isn’t going anywhere.
A plan to have the Spurs play a few games in Austin, 80 miles away, had raised some local anxiety that the owners may be considering moving the team.
“I want to reassure you that the Spurs are in San Antonio to stay,” Holt said in a message posted on Twitter.
“My family became involved in the Spurs in the 90s because there was a real threat the team would be moved. We would not let that happen then and we will not let that happen now,” Holt said. “There are no Spurs without the city and the people of San Antonio.”
Bexar County owns AT&T Stadium where the Spurs play home games. County commissioners last week raised concerns about the team’s request to play two homes games in Austin’s new Moody Center, which will host University of Texas games. A team official told the commission the franchise is simply trying to expand its brand.
Austin’s soaring popularity and an influx of large corporations who could be major team sponsors have made San Antonio officials nervous that Texas’ capital city could lure away the Spurs. San Antonio was stung a few years ago when Major League Soccer opted to expand in Austin instead of the Alamo City
Cronin named Blazers GM after interim role
Joe Cronin has been named the Portland Trail Blazers’ general manager after serving in the interim role since December.
Cronin became interim GM after Neil Olshey was fired following an investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace environment.
Cronin has since been reshaping the Blazers’ roster, making several trades before the February deadline that put the team under the luxury tax threshold and freed up cap space. In the most significant move, guard CJ McCollum was traded to New Orleans, ending his lengthy run as Damian Lillard’s partner in Portland’s backcourt.
The Blazers finished 2755 this season, their worst record since 2005-06 when they won just 21 games. Portland also finished 13th in the Western Conference in Chauncey Billups’ first year as the Blazers’ head coach, snapping a streak of eight straight playoff appearances.
The Blazers await their fate in next week’s NBA draft lottery ahead of the June 23 draft. Free agency opens in July.
Bucks, Hawks to play games in Abu Dhabi
The Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks will have two preseason matchups at Abu Dhabi in October, marking the NBA’s first games in the United Arab Emirates and the Arabian Gulf.
The two exhibitions will take place Oct. 6 and Oct. 8 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The NBA announced the games Tuesday in conjunction with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
They’re the third and fourth international preseason games known to be on next season’s schedule.
The Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards are heading to Saitama, Japan, for games on Sept. 30 and Oct. 2. Those will be the first games for the NBA outside of North America since Jan. 24, 2020, when Milwaukee and Charlotte met in Paris for a regular-season game about six weeks before the global pandemic started.