Thursday, July 22, 2021
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 28 years. They revealed the foundation of a championship team, but uncertainty looms as key players are headed to free agency, leaving more questions than answers for the near future.
The biggest question? Chris Paul, who has a player option for $44.2 million next season. If he declines it he will become an unrestricted free agent, allowing any team to make a pitch for the future Hall of Famer to join their team.
“ I mean, it will take a while to process this or whatnot, but it’s same mentality, get back to work. I ain’t retiring,” Paul said. “Right now we’re going to process this and figure this out. I think everything else will take care of itself.”
Given the uncertainty surrounding the Suns next season, they are at +1500 to win the NBA Finals. That is fifth-best behind the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, who are the favorites at +230.
Most analysts agree the Suns are going to need Paul on their roster next season if they hope to return to the NBA Finals. Even at 36, he contributed greatly to the team. He helped guide them to the second-best record in the NBA at 51-21, helped young players including Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton grow, and most importantly, helped form a winning culture for a franchise that had not made the playoffs in over a decade. For much of the season, he was the glue that kept the team together.
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Friday, July 2, 2021
Editor’s Note: This story is part of an ongoing project to highlight Black athletes who have broken barriers and made lasting contributions to Arizona sports.
PHOENIX – He was a trailblazer. An athlete. A civil rights activist. Yet 67 years after he stepped away from baseball, the full story of John Ford Smith’s life remains untold.
“You go online, you know, it says he was here, he was here, he was here. But you don’t know how he got there,” said Phil Dixon, a highly regarded author and historian of the Negro Leagues. “So, a lot of his life is a mystery.”
They reflect on the life of Smith, who started his professional baseball career in 1939 with the Chicago American Giants but saw little action with them in his lone season there. He spent the 1940 season with the Indianapolis Crawford before leaving for the Monarchs in 1941.
His baseball career took a break while he served in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945.
“My dad was in the military, he finished as a lieutenant. He spent most of his time during World War II in England,” Jackie Garner said. “And he led those folks that had to drive those bombs to the airfields. And they had to drive with no lights, and in the fog a lot of times at night, because you didn’t want them (the enemy) knowing that they’re moving things.”
Thursday, July 1, 2021
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Friday, June 25, 2021
OMAHA, Neb. – Jay Johnson is determined to not let one game define the University of Arizona baseball program.
“Twenty-four hours or 36 hours of disappointment here is not going to change the accomplishments of our team,” the Wildcats coach said. “I’m proud of them and I really believed we could be here. I believed we could be a championship team.”
Monday night just wasn’t the night for the Wildcats.
Arizona fell to Stanford to suffer its second loss of the 2021 NCAA College World Series.
“It’s one thing to think you have that. Talk about doing it. Say you’re going to do it and actually go out and do it,” Johnson said. “In terms of the Pac-12, the two most physical teams made it here.”
Arizona was the first team eliminated from the tournament, giving up 14 runs to Stanford.
Despite the game not going their way, Johnson was still proud of his team’s historical season. Arizona was the outright Pac-12 champion for the first time since 1992.
The Wildcats had a memorable run with 45 wins and only two conference series losses. They were also the only team in the West Region that had three members included in the All-Region First Team. Two of those, freshman catcher Daniel Susac and freshman designated hitter Jacob Berry, were also First Team Freshman All-Americans.
“Great baseball team made up of great competitors and great character,” Johnson said. “They’re collectively pretty special.”
Only two members of the 2020 Arizona baseball team decided to not come back and play in 2021 after the season was canceled last year due to the pandemic. Johnson said that he is proud of the way his players handled adversity and that “itss a tough group to say goodbye to.”
Arizona will say goodbye to seniors Vince Vannelle and Preston Price. Also, 22 players on the Arizona roster are draft eligible.
With this year’s MLB draft lasting only 20 rounds, Arizona believes it will keep a good amount of players for next year’s team although highly coveted junior outfielder Donta Williams probably won’t be one of them. Johnson said that Williams represents everything it means to be a Wildcats player.
“They don’t make them like that very often. The only thing he’s better at than playing baseball is that he’s a first-class and quality human being,” Johnson said. “If there’s a recruit, a young player at home that wants to play baseball at Arizona, look at number 23.”
Although he has a bright future ahead of him, Williams said that his focus and the team’s focus has always been on being in the moment.
“When it was time to play, we just competed. That’s why we came out here,” Williams said. “It was everything I dreamed it would be. I’m just happy I got to be here with this group of guys.”
With the possibility of the team continuing without Williams next year, he feels the team still has strong leadership that will take them back to the College World Series.
“There’s 30 other guys in that locker room that are bleeding right now,” Williams said. “Every one of them are leaders in my eyes. There are going to be a ton of guys that will step up to the plate to carry the team.”
Although early elimination was not what the Arizona baseball coaches, players and fans expected, they can still reflect on a standout season and the memories made.
“I love every one of these guys,” Johnson said. “They’ve poured everything they have into our program.”
Arizona will enter the offseason and be back again to compete for another NCAA national championship next spring. The MLB draft is scheduled for July 11-13.
Thursday, June 24, 2021
WASHINGTON – Border officials said they were “devastated” this week to find that the federal government has extended a COVID-19 ban on nonessential border crossings for another month, potentially crippling businesses there.
“The ban is a terrible and now-exaggerated response to the pandemic,” said Andy Carey, executive director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Project. “It’s reinstated every month for another month, and it’s been going on for nearly a year-and-a-half now, it’s time for the ban to end.”
The ban was first imposed in March 2020 on nonessential travel – essentially tourists or family visitors – between the U.S., Mexico and Canada in response to the first wave of COVID-19. It was regularly extended but was set to expire Monday.
Customs and Border Protection said that the situation has improved in both Canada and Mexico, as vaccinations have risen and infections have dropped. But it announced Wednesday that things were still too uncertain, particularly given the rise of new variants, to lift the restriction, which was extended to 11:59 p.m. July 21.
CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. But border community leaders, who had been looking for the ban to end this week, were not happy.
Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino said his city has lost billions of dollars in business from the ban that “should have been lifted months ago.”
“You know it’s going to hurt when 65% of our sales tax comes from residents in Sonora coming here and shopping,” Garino said. “That money keeps us afloat.”
Officials in Yuma and in San Ysidro, California, echoed his comments, saying border communities are suffering from a travel ban that has “outlived its purpose.”
“I represent about 800 businesses, and we would do $895 million in retail sales during a normal year,” said Jason Wells, executive director of the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. “We are estimating from March 2020 to March 2021 that the number is about $250 million. That’s about a 72% loss.”
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Phoenix Suns fans have long argued that Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in the NBA.
By the media. The officials. The opponents.
Until these playoffs, many believed the 24-year-old received neither the same calls nor the national attention granted to other young NBA stars.
Not anymore.
“Devin Booker is the next Kobe Bryant,” ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith said Monday on “First Take.” “He’s an assassin and guess what, this Clippers team, you need Kawhi back to knock that kid off.”
Booker, who is averaging 29 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists in his first playoffs, just lifted the Suns over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals after dropping a triple-double, the first of his career. Game 2 is Tuesday. His performance throughout these playoffs has helped raise his national profile.
He joined elite company with his 40-point triple-double, joining Oscar Robinson and Luka Doncic as the only players 24 or younger to do so. He is one of six players in NBA history to have multiple 40-point games in their first postseason, joining Doncic, LeBron James, Bob McAdoo, Rick Barry and Wilt Chamberlain.
Although Booker has shattered records season after season, he frequently received less national praise than his contemporaries. In April, ESPN’s “The Jump” shared a list of the top 10 players by future potential. Booker came in at No. 8.
