Latest news with #ElaineThompson
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
SuperSonics fans feel no allegiance to the Thunder in these NBA Finals. Go Pacers, the scornful say
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates after a teammate made a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips) FILE - A skateboarder leaps onto a platform in front of KeyArena, a sports and entertainment venue and former home of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA basketball tean, Dec. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton celebrates after a teammate made a 3-pointer during the second half of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips) FILE - A skateboarder leaps onto a platform in front of KeyArena, a sports and entertainment venue and former home of the Seattle SuperSonics NBA basketball tean, Dec. 4, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) FILE - Stacks of Seattle SuperSonics caps are displayed in a shop, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Seattle, near where a proposed basketball arena is to be built. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File) SEATTLE (AP) — It's logical to think someone like Danny Ball is a fair representation of Seattle these days. Ball, a hoops fan who runs an Instagram account called 'Iconic Sonics,' is pulling for the Indiana Pacers over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Advertisement There are no deep ties between Seattle and Indianapolis. The Seahawks play the Colts this December, so the cities will be foes that weekend. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever probably won't be warmly welcomed when they visit the Emerald City later this month to play the Seattle Storm. But right now, Seattle may as well be an Indy suburb. Seattle fans lost their NBA franchise, the SuperSonics, in 2008 when it was stolen from them and rebranded in Oklahoma City. For the scornful, that means one thing: Go Pacers. 'I'd love to see the Pacers pull it off in six games,' Ball said. The NBA Finals begin Thursday night. For some in Seattle, it'll be a heaping helping of fresh salt on the wounds that opened when the Sonics were taken away. And people like Ball, who grew up in Seattle hearing stories of Sonics legends like Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, aren't exactly rooting for Oklahoma City right now. Advertisement The Thunder are heavy favorites to beat the Pacers. Should they pull it off, the Thunder would claim their first NBA title in Oklahoma City, but technically their second as a franchise after Seattle won the title in 1979. It's no secret the city wants the league to come back. Expansion is on the NBA's to-do list, and it's likely that talks — the first of many, many steps in this process — could start in earnest with interested cities in the next few months. Commissioner Adam Silver, however, hasn't fully committed to adding new teams. 'The issue I would not have anticipated at the time I sort of began talking about the timeline is how much unknown there is about local media right now,' Silver said earlier this year. 'Having said that, though, I would just say again to our many fans in Seattle, and I hear from them often, and the legacy of the Sonics is still very strong and it's a fantastic basketball market, is that we are very focused on it. … We don't take those fans for granted. We're thankful that the interest has remained over all these years.' Any mention of expansion sends fans into a tizzy. Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, spoke to the crowd before a preseason game in Seattle — his hometown — in 2023, and made a thinly veiled reference to how fans need to remind the league's New York office how much the city loves the game. Advertisement 'All night long, it better be loud enough in this building to hear us all the way back in New York, if you get me,' Ballmer told the crowd. 'Let's make sure we're loud tonight.' And then came the Ballmer bellow: 'Go Seattle,' he screamed. It's something Seattle takes seriously, as Mayor Bruce Harrell learned earlier this year in his address to the city. 'Right now, at this moment, I have an announcement to make,' Harrell said, reaching into the lectern where he was standing and pulling out a basketball, spinning it in his hands as he displayed it to the crowd — which began roaring. 'Ah, I'm just kidding.' Advertisement The crowd wasn't amused. Harrell later was interviewed by Seattle's KOMO News and apologized for the attempt at humor, getting reminded that residents of the city aren't happy that the NBA hasn't returned yet. 'Count me among them,' Harrell said. A very real void has been left in the SuperSonics' absence. The NHL's Seattle Kraken entering the fold has helped, as has the success of the WNBA's Seattle Storm, both of whom play at Climate Pledge Arena, which sits on the site of the SuperSonics' former home. That same arena received a significant remodel ahead of the Kraken arriving, which could make it suitable for NBA games. That would ultimately be up to the association to decide one day, but Ball hopes it would be the Sonics' former home in the Queen Anne neighborhood they get to triumphantly return to one day. Advertisement 'A lot of Sonics fans that I know I'm sure never got over the wounds of what happened here 17 years ago with them leaving (for) Oklahoma City,' SuperSonics fan Eric Phan said. 'All of the Sonics fanbase (is) rooting for the Indiana Pacers.' Seattle seemed to have a chance at getting a team back in 2013 when the Maloof family put the Sacramento Kings up for sale. But investor Chris Hansen's bid to relocate the team to Seattle was rejected by the NBA's Board of Governors. For fans like Ball and Phan, hope lives on. Ball recognizes that's partially because he is an inherently positive person, and he's hoping for a Hollywood ending. 'It would be poetic if the year that OKC wins the finals — if that occurs — is in the same summer that the league comes out and says, 'Hey, we're forming an expansion committee to start really exploring this process,'' Ball said. 'I think that would help damper or therapize the feelings and emotions that would come along with seeing the Thunder hoist the Larry O'Brien.' Advertisement Phan pointed out that just because the Sonics don't play in Seattle, it doesn't mean the team is truly gone. 'You can see people walking the sidewalks and streets of Seattle, and even the suburbs,' Phan said. 'People are wearing Sonics gear like they never really left.' ___ AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Oklahoma City contributed. ___ AP NBA:
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With Kananaskis set to lock down for the G7, officials map out security zone
With the 51st G7 leaders' summit this June in Kananaskis, just west of Calgary, officials are outlining the first details of what will be a massive security effort. Leaders from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada, as well as the European Union, will participate in the June 15-17 gathering. Summit venues in Kananaskis, a popular wilderness destination, will be locked down from June 10 to 18. Entry will be restricted to authorized personnel, residents and businesses, while select trails, day-use areas and local businesses will be closed. "The public is asked to try their best to stay away from these high security points. Specific details on access points and credentials will be shared closer to the event," reads a notice from the Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG). A map of Kananaskis where the controlled access zone will be established. (CBC) The ISSG is co-ordinating security at the event, led by the RCMP and including the Calgary Police Service, the Alberta Sheriffs Branch, Alberta Conservation officers and the Canadian Armed Forces. Security checkpoints along Highway 40 will screen vehicles, and temporary airspace restrictions will be put in place, barring unauthorized aircraft, including drones. Kananaskis hosted summit in 2002 Kananaskis also hosted the annual gathering in 2002, when it was known as the G8 summit. The name was changed after Russia was suspended and then withdrew following its annexation of Crimea in 2014. At that time, the summit brought what officials called an unprecedented security operation, with estimates of more than 5,000 soldiers, 1,500 RCMP officers and jet fighters patrolling a no-fly zone. The summit came in the wake of violent protests at the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, the year prior, as well as high anxiety tied to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001. Police officers on bikes watch as protesters rally in downtown Calgary in 2002. A coalition of various organizations held a peaceful march in Calgary during the 27th G8 summit, calling attention to various issues from the environment to global economy. (Elaine Thompson/The Associated Press) John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group, noted this year's controlled access zone covers a large territory. But he said that was understandable given how threats have expanded over the past several years. "Because it's such a remote location, it does, of course, reduce the security threats and the security costs on many other fronts," Kirton said. Given the number of hiking trails in Kananaskis, Kirton said security forces will need more personnel on the ground to prevent unauthorized access, especially from those who might avoid trails and move through the woods. Trump tariff threats The summit is approaching amid a period marked by economic uncertainty. On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump paused a plan to levy tariffs on Canada for at least 30 days after speaking with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canada's next prime minister will be charged with setting the focus for the G7. Trudeau's focus had been set around inclusive economic growth, climate change and managing rapidly developing technologies, including artificial intelligence. Trudeau announced his resignation last month, starting a race to replace him as both Liberal Party leader and prime minister in March. President Donald Trump listens after signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday. Trump is expected to attend this year's G7 summit in Kananaskis in June. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) Summit watchers like Kirton expect the economic discussion to be front-and-centre at this year's gathering. "So many of the G7 leaders have trade-dependent economies that are under threat from many fronts," he said. "[Trump] has already threatened to impose tariffs on the European Union. So it is a broadly shared concern. And trade means not only tariffs but, of course, supply chains in the highly integrated economies that all of the G7 countries have."
