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Jordan Walsh on Joe Mazzulla: Uh, apparently Joe just did a jiu-jitsu match in Connecticut. And apparently—but he did a fight, an official fight. And we were talking about it, and I said, 'If you lose this fight, you lose so much respect in the community, in the locker room, and everything.' And so that was hilarious. Me, JB, and Joe were talking about it, and it was—it was Saturday, and I was like with Joe and JP, and I said, 'What would you rather do on a Saturday than watch Joe get choked out on the mat? Like, what else would you do?' And so everybody was like, 'You’ve got a good point. We should definitely watch this.' Unfortunately, I missed it, but I—I really—I haven’t seen him in the gym since, so it might be a bad sign. But I gotta definitely reach out to him and see how that went for sure."
Bobby Marks: Marc Stein is a big reason why I am in sports media today. Probably one of the biggest reasons, because he gave me an opportunity to drive my car up to Bristol, Connecticut in May of 2015, when I was unemployed, and go up to ESPN and get on SportsCenter on a Saturday — when I had never done live TV — and that kind of got my foot in the door.
How close were you to taking that Lakers job? Dan Hurley: We went back and forth. I mean there were there were obviously a lot of positives and the challenge was exciting so there were definitely times where you thought you were going.
The Chris Paul Family Foundation sued Learfield Sports, IMG College and AEA HBCU Fund this week in New London (Conn.) Superior Court for allegedly failing to pay the foundation for sponsoring college basketball tournaments in 2023. San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star, founded the foundation as a nonprofit that promotes opportunities for students from historically Black colleges and universities
The co-founder of a global investment firm with a home in Connecticut is embroiled in a legal battle with a former employee who has accused him of years of sexual harassment, documents show. In a lawsuit filed on Oct. 23, Gina Strum said she refused multiple advances of Marc Lasry, CEO and co-founder of Avenue Capital Group, while working with the New York-based firm. The lawsuit also alleges Lasry “fraudulently induced Strum into a business deal by promising her equity in a venture he knew at the time would not provide her with any equity opportunities.”
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In June, the team went out and drafted what it hopes to be Jones’ long-term replacement, using the No. 4 pick to select Connecticut star Stephon Castle. A week later, the Spurs brought in Jones’ short-term replacement in Chris Paul. Jones says he was neither bothered nor disappointed at the Spurs’ offseason machinations at point guard. “That thought never crossed my mind,” Tre Jones said. “My main thing has been just wanting to win games.”
Make no mistake: The text Clingan, 20, received from Castle, 19, was all in good fun. They're tight after spending last season as vital cogs in Connecticut's machine-like run to its second straight national title. The bond adds some spice to the Spurs' outing with the Blazers at 7 p.m. Saturday at Thomas & Mack Center. The game is set to air on ESPN2. "It's going to be cool just to be on the court with Donovan again, especially in this kind of setting," Castle said. "This is what we work for."
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama gave his stamp of approval Thursday to the club's selection of Stephon Castle with the draft's fourth overall pick, saying he's "very happy" with the rebuilding team's decision to add the former Connecticut guard. "(Castle) is one of the most NBA-ready players in this draft and a very good person too," Wembanyama said during a press conference at the French Basketball Federation in Paris.
None of the league sources The Athletic has consulted seems to have any certainty on what the Hawks will do on draft night still at No. 1. Donovan Clingan was the name linked with the Hawks most often last week, with many league sources noting the Connecticut big man might fit better as a potential trade-down target. However, since Risacher’s workout in Atlanta last week, his name has been raised increasingly often in conversations around the league.
Even though the Lakers moved quickly to offer Hurley a contract that would have made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, several people inside the Lakers organization and externally wondered about the true overall genuineness of the pursuit and whether the franchise had been used by Hurley to get more money to stay at Connecticut. The Hurley situation was seen by one team source with direct involvement in the search as a Hail Mary attempt. This much is clear, though: When it came to the Lakers’ ultimate decision-maker, Jeanie Buss, team sources said she was highly motivated to make Hurley their next coach and was genuinely disappointed when the attempt fell short.
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Even though the Lakers moved quickly to offer Hurley a contract that would have made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, several people inside the Lakers organization and externally wondered about the true overall genuineness of the pursuit and whether the franchise had been used by Hurley to get more money to stay at Connecticut. The Hurley situation was seen by one source with direct involvement in the search as a Hail Mary attempt. This much is clear, though: When it came to the Lakers’ ultimate decision-maker, Jeanie Buss, sources said she was highly motivated to make Hurley their next coach and was genuinely disappointed when the attempt fell short.
Hurley told Le Batard that he struggled with the decision throughout the weekend but set a deadline to make up his mind by bedtime Sunday night, ahead of a Connecticut team practice already scheduled for the following day. ”You have two incredible opportunities and it tears you up inside,” Hurley said. “From when we landed and started spending time with Rob and Jeanie and spent time around the facility, and then knowing what you’d be leaving at UConn and trying to imagine what it would be like walking into the locker room and telling your team, ‘I’m not with you guys anymore.’
Minnesota Timberwolves PR: The @Timberwolves are hosting a draft workout today with the following prospects: Dylan Disu (Texas) Spencer Jones (Stanford) Bogoljub Marković (Serbia) Antonio Reeves (Kentucky) Cam Spencer (Connecticut) P.J. Hall (Clemson)
ClutchPoints: "[Dan Hurley] is the king of college basketball. The Lakers job is not that great of a job. They're a play-in team pretty much every year... You're not staring at a no-brainer championship window down the line." —Zach Lowe (via @GetUpESPN) pic.twitter.com/eChm9s2vyA
"[Dan Hurley] is the king of college basketball. The Lakers job is not that great of a job. They're a play-in team pretty much every year... You're not staring at a no-brainer championship window down the line."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 11, 2024
—Zach Lowe
(via @GetUpESPN)pic.twitter.com/eChm9s2vyA
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