Maloofs helped bring Golden Knights to Vegas
The Maloof family helped bring an NHL expansion franchise to Las Vegas and are still minority partners in the Vegas Golden Knights.
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1. Maloofs helped bring Golden Knights to Vegas
The Maloof family helped bring an NHL expansion franchise to Las Vegas and are still minority partners in the Vegas Golden Knights, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Norm Clarke.
It was a long time coming for the Maloof family.
“It’s only been about 45 years for us,” said Gavin Maloof, who was in tears after the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup-winning celebration on Saturday night.
The long journey wasn’t just frustrating, it was painful. Real pain.
“My dad, George, purchased the Houston Rockets in 1979 and died in 1980. I was 24 years old. I was the youngest owner in major league sports.”
2. Why Kierstan Bell has been waiting for this Aces’ season for over 20 years
Las Vegas Aces forward Kierstan Bell has become a fan favorite inside Michelob Ultra Arena. This season, however, there's a fan she's been waiting on for about 20 years, writes The Sporting Tribune’s W.G. Ramirez.
Las Vegas Aces forward Kierstan Bell has become a fan favorite inside Michelob Ultra Arena.
It hasn't mattered when she's come off the bench since arriving after the 2022 WNBA Draft, the crowd has roared whenever her name has been announced, like Thursday night when she checked in with 1:53 left in the first quarter against the Seattle Storm.
This season, however, there's a fan she's been waiting for since 2003.
Perry Bell, her 54-year-old father, is back in her life after serving a 20-year sentence - for aggravated robbery, receiving stolen property, and several other offenses - and she couldn't be any more pleased.
"We had a relationship that was instantly clicking," said Bell, who finished with 12 points in the 96-63 victory over Seattle. "And we became like best friends."
3. Nuggets fly to Las Vegas to celebrate title after parade
The Denver Nuggets flew to Las Vegas to celebrate their championship Thursday night at Hakkasan after their parade.
The NBA champion Denver Nuggets headed to Hakkasan at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for a victory celebration Thursday night after their championship parade and rally in Denver.
NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic and his teammates had dinner at Hakkasan, dining on signature dishes such as the Mongolian Wagyu Flat Iron, before making their way to Hakkasan Nightclub where they entered to cheers from the packed crowd at the stroke of midnight.
Players, including Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jeff Green, and others took over VIP tables on the stage and joined DJs Pauly D and Justin Credible in the booth and toasted their win with a 3-liter bottle of Perrier Jouet Brut Champagne.
4. Sparks fall below .500 after 83-74 loss to the Sun
Sparks head coach Curt Miller lost in his first game against his former team, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Rey Moralde.
The Sparks grinded it out and kept it close. But once again, the game got away again as the Connecticut Sun defeated them, 83-74.
This was Coach Curt Miller's first game against his former team. Jasmine Thomas was also playing her former team as well.
It started out pretty ugly as it took two minutes and change before Dearica Hamby made the first field goal for either team. She would end with 6 early points. The Sparks boosted the lead as Chiney Ogwumike was able to get the board and putback before the first quarter buzzer. Sparks led Connecticut, 19-15 after one.
5. Ohtani, Trout homer as Angels beat Royals, 5-2
Shohei Ohtani continued to dominate at the plate and Mike Trout broke out of his mini slump in a big way to lead the Angels to a much-needed victory, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Brandon Deutsch.
Mike Trout hadn’t hit a home run since June 7th until Sunday…can you believe that? A player of his caliber going without a home run for 10 straight games is ridiculous. Nonetheless, not only did Trout smash his 15th home run of the year, but he also walked (something he's been doing a lot indicative of his almost .370 OBP despite his .257 batting average) and hit a scorching double which led to the team's first run. Trout goes through slumps every year, but he was really struggling this time around in the month of June. Either way, Trout looks like he's feeling better and is more confident at the plate, and it will be interesting to see if he continues to get extra base hits against the Dodgers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
For Shohei Ohtani, he hit yet another home run (his 24th of the year) in the top of the 5th inning, just before Trout, and looks unstoppable at the plate right now. In the month of June alone Ohtani has hit .400 with 9 home runs, 20 RBI's, 14 walks, and 26 hits, and on the season Ohtani's OPS is up to 1.016 (the best mark in the MLB). Why pitchers continue to give Ohtani anything to hit is beyond me, but Shohei continues to will the Angels to victories and is the clear frontrunner for the AL MVP (and would be even if he didn't pitch again this season). Furthermore, if Trout can continue to hit and not fall into these mini slumps we've grown accustomed to seeing, that will mean less pressure on Ohtani at the plate and Trout's confidence will continue to increase.
6. Golden Knights’ win is Las Vegas’ shining moment
The Stanley Cup championship win by the Golden Knights will be remembered by many as Las Vegas' biggest sports moment ever, writes The Sporting Tribune’s Steve Carp.
As the Golden Knights rolled up the score in the third period in Game 5 against the Florida Panthers Tuesday night en route to capturing the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena, I was asked if this was going to be the greatest moment in Las Vegas sports history?
Not individual moments like a boxing match, an MMA contest, a golf tournament or an auto race. Strictly a team sports accomplishment.
I had covered UNLV’s run to the NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1990 so I definitely had some perspective for what had been the No. 1 moment this city had seen.
But it’s hard to define what the Golden Knights did in comparison to what the Runnin’ Rebels accomplished. For starters, we’re talking about a major league professional sports franchise vs. a college program. It’s hockey vs. basketball. The community was vastly different then compared to now.
7. Odds and Ends presented by Circa Sports
Here are some odds at Circa Sports if you’re thinking about placing a wager today:
8. Ticket Time presented by TickPick
Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game Tuesday.
7:00 p.m. – Dodgers at Angels – $52
7:00 p.m. – Lynx at Sparks – $2
9. On the Air presented by The D Las Vegas
Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region today.
7:00 p.m. – Dodgers at Angels – SportsNet LA, Bally Sports West
7:00 p.m. – Lynx at Sparks – CBS Sports Network, Spectrum SportsNet
10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune
The Sporting Tribune’s Arash Markazi is joined by Armani Buckets, Ji Hae Wiley and Brandon Deutsch to talk about the Athletics moving one step closer to moving to Las Vegas after they were approved to get $380 million in public funds for a brand-new $1.5 million stadium on the Las Vegas Strip.
Listen to The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune on The Mightier 1090 ESPN Radio in Southern California, 98.5 The Bet in Las Vegas and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network 95.1 FM and 760 AM in Hawaii. You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher.
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That’s it for today. Talk to you tomorrow!