DALLAS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Dallas Mavericks organization has named Rick Welts the new Chief Executive Officer of the NBA franchise, effective Jan. 1, 2025, following Cynt Marshall’s nearly seven-year tenure.

In his remarkable 46-year career in sports and entertainment, Welts has previously held roles as President and COO of the Golden State Warriors, President of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and the NBA’s Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer and President of NBA Properties.

“Inspiring leadership has been a staple of the Dallas Mavericks since Cynt Marshall started leading the organization in 2018 as CEO. I’m extremely proud that her legacy of success and our family’s vision for the future of this franchise will soon be in the hands of another great leader,” said Mavericks team Governor Patrick Dumont. “Rick Welts is among the most successful executives in the history of the NBA and a member of the Hall of Fame. To have him join us as we continue to build on the successful history of the Mavericks is a clear signal that this organization is serious about both growing its position as an elite NBA team and further positioning the franchise among the most popular sports teams in the world.”

“The chance to lead this organization in this city at this time is both incredibly exciting and unexpected,” said Welts. “I appreciate Patrick’s confidence in selecting me to build upon the culture and success that Cynt Marshall and Nico Harrison have created. My long-standing friendships with them both give me a lot of confidence in accepting this opportunity. I can’t wait to get started learning all I can about Dallas and how best to serve our fans and this community.”

“It gives me great pleasure to pass the baton to my friend, Rick Welts. From the day I joined the Mavs, I’ve benefited from his knowledge and vast experience in the sports and entertainment industry,” said Marshall. “I love our team so much and I’m happy that they will be in such great hands. There is no doubt that Rick and his family will embrace and enjoy the wonderful fans, employees and communities in Dallas.”

Welts began his NBA career as a ballboy with the SuperSonics in 1969 at the age of 16 and, a decade later, was a part of the franchise’s lone NBA championship in 1979 as its public relations director. During his 17 years with the NBA league office in New York, Welts’ notable accomplishments included the creation of NBA All-Star Weekend in 1984 and the marketing program for USA Basketball’s Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992. Along with (former WNBA President and current BIG East Commissioner) Val Ackerman, he was named “Marketer of the Year” by Brandweek in 1998 for his role in launching the WNBA.

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LAS VEGAS – Milwaukee’s Giannis “Greek Freak” Antetokounmpo scored 26 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and dished 10 assists and to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2024 Emirates NBA Cup title with a 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Milwaukee became the second winner of the Cup, following the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship in the inaugural tournament last season.

Damian Lillard added 23 points for the Bucks.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 21 points but shot just 8-for-24 from the field, including 2 of 9 from 3-point range. Jalen Williams added 18 points on 8-of-20 shooting, while Isaiah Hartenstein added 16.

Lillard gave the Bucks an 11-point lead by draining one of his signature long range 3-pointers with 9:08 remaining in the third quarter. The bucket came directly following back-to-back technical fouls on Thunder forward Luguentz Dort and coach Mike Daigneault, leading to two free throws that Lillard sank.

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Celtics extended their home winning streak to seven games by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 111-105 on Friday.

Boston used a 10-2 run to take a 105-101 lead with 1:29 left, and Jrue Holiday hit a jump shot that put the Celtics up 107-102 with 25.6 seconds to play. Holiday, who finished the game with 20 points, also made two free throws that handed Boston a 109-105 lead with 14.9 seconds remaining.

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BEIJING – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NBA’s relationship with China that turned cold over a general manager’s tweet in 2019 apparently is defrosting with an announcement expected Friday of two preseason games in Macao in October, according to multiple reports Thursday.

The Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns will play on Oct. 10 and 12, 2025, at Macao’s Venetian Arena, marking the first games since 17 NBA teams played 28 preseason contests in China from 2004 to 2019.

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 28 points and dished out nine assists to lead the Celtics to a 130-120 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night.

Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis added 26 points and nine rebounds, and Sam Hauser made 5 of 10 3-point attempts while logging 20 points. Payton Pritchard contributed 19 points, Derrick White added 14 points and 11 assists, and Al Horford also had 14 points.

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum had 35 points and 14 rebounds and Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score 29 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls 138-129 Friday in the fourth NBA Cup game for each team.

A Tatum free throw handed Boston a 125-115 lead with 4:11 to play. Chicago sliced its deficit to three points on a Zach LaVine 3-pointer with 3:03 left but failed to get any closer after that.

Pritchard made 7 of 11 3-point attempts, and he tossed in 19 of his points in the fourth quarter. Boston received 21 points from both Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown.

Chicago was eliminated from the NBA Cup with the loss with a 2-2 record. The Bulls would have advanced as the East Group C champion with a victory.

Any chance Boston had of winning the group disappeared when Atlanta beat Cleveland 117-101 on Friday, since the Hawks beat the Celtics 117-116 in an NBA Cup game on Nov. 12. Atlanta is the East Group C champion with a 3-1 mark. The Celtics, also 3-1, have a slim chance to move on in the tournament as a wild card.

Nikola Vucevic scored 32 points and had 11 rebounds for Chicago in the loss. LaVine added 29 points, hitting four 3-pointers. With his third 3-pointer, he passed Kirk Hinrich for most made treys in franchise history, and he ended the game with 1,051 3-pointers in his Bulls career.

Boston grabbed its first double-digit lead on a Porzingis dunk that put the Celtics in front 23-12 with 5:38 left in the opening quarter. The Celtics extended its lead to 33-20 on a Tatum 3-pointer and led 39-30 after 12 minutes. Boston made 9 of 16 3-point attempts in the opening quarter.

The Bulls used a 16-3 spurt to tie the game 42-42, and an 11-0 run later in the second quarter gave Chicago a 55-46 advantage. Boston answered with a 14-0 run capped by a Derrick White 3-pointer that gave the Celtics a 60-55 edge. It was 67-67 at halftime.

A 13-2 run gave Chicago an 80-72 lead with 8:07 left in the third quarter, but the score was tied 97-96 entering the fourth.

White left the game with a foot injury in the second half and did not return. He finished with 16 points in 24 minutes.

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s All-Star tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led a 51-point second quarter as the Celtics stretched their winning streak to six games by defeating the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 126-94 Monday.

Brown scored 13 points and Tatum added 12 as Boston tied an NBA record by connecting on 12 three-pointers in the second quarter. The Celtics made 22 of 51 3-point attempts in the game (43.1 percent).

Kristaps Porzingis made his season debut for the Celtics, who own the NBA’s longest winning streak. Porzingis missed Boston’s first 17 games while recovering from offseason foot surgery.

Porzingis made 6 of 12 field goal attempts and scored 16 points in 23 minutes. He also had six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Tatum led the Celtics with 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Payton Pritchard came off the bench to add 20 points, 18 of which came on 3-pointers.

It was the second stop on a four-game road trip for the Clippers, who allowed an opponent to score more than 100 points for the first time in their last five games.

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Over the course of the year, this column focuses the majority of its effort on sports, covering the what’s new, what’s old, what’s coming, what’s gone. It occasionally drifts away from sports to meet-up with some current event or to toast a new music act while often remembering some of the classic rock artists of our days gone by. In the end, it’s a sports notes column, delivered to your inbox every Saturday night in preparation of your Sunday morning routine – Coffee? Tea, or TL?

As Thanksgiving approaches, it’s only appropriate to pay tribute to the things in sports we should appreciate. This column of thank-yous will concentrate on sports and sports only for a giant thank you and a reminder to those in the industry to not take our sports or our colleagues for granted.

And, most importantly, please don’t take our athletes for granted as they deserve the most thanks for their life-long effort to practice, develop, train for conditioning, perfect their technique and – all the while – be good citizens of our sports world and contribute to make the world a better place. In many instances, that’s called “Giving Back” instead of “Thanks Giving.”

You might remember a thanks to all column from a year ago. Feel free to reference it for old times sake. There might be a few repeats, but hopefully not too many. But, if mentioned in both columns, the athlete or the sport must be doing something right.

It’s our weekend edition of November 24th, and we’re looking forward to this Thursday, November 28, 2024 – Thanksgiving Day in the USA. Let’s stop for a moment and give thanks for what we have in this crazy sports world. Here we go.

Since it’s November 24, let’s give thanks to Dave Bing and Rudy T, both Nov 24ers, and the very best the NBA ever offered to its fans. And, donlt forget Oscar Robertson, born on this date in 1938. The Big O lost his longtime rival, friend and 1960 USA Basketball Olympic Games teammate, Jerry West, this year, so while we’re at it, let’s remember West and give thanks for everything he meant to so many sports fans around the country and the world.

As stinging as a loss that West was to the NBA (logo himself), many of us are still mourning the loss of the great Bill Walton this year. Not only was Walton the very best collegiate basketball player, along with his counterpart Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) leading UCLA, Bill had an impactful NBA career, winning two NBA titles, the most recent, the ’86 Boston Celtics championship when Walton was the Sixth Man of the Year and an un-guardable force inside. Bill was also a dear friend to so many of us and I think of him everyday – twice when I hear “Fire on the Mountain” by Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.

Let’s give thanks to college football and the fact it will have its first 12-team playoff this winter. Thanks to all the great teams over the many years fans have enjoyed the rivalries. Thanks to Michigan and Ohio State, to Alabama and Auburn, to Georgia and LSU. Thanks for The Game – Harvard vs Yale(this weekend’s score: Yalies 34, Harvard 29) Thanks to Ole Miss, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Penn State, and thank God for Notre Dame and all the other great schools fielding college football teams.

While we thank the athletes of Air Force, the Coast Guard and the U.S. Merchant Marine Acdemy, there’s a special thanks to Army vs Navy, coming to Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland just 20 days from today, or simply December 14th.

Aside from the Stanley Cup, the Commander in Chief’s Trophy just might be the best in sports in America.

Let’s give thanks for our Cons (Chuck Taylor All-Stars), our adidas superstars with three green bands for the Holy Trinity Titans. Thanks for our Air Jordans, our Reeboks, Under Armours, our New Balance training shoes, and our Puma Clyde model shoes – as much fashion as you can pack in a basketball shoe. Steely Dan might pass along thanks for bad sneakers and a pina colada, but let’s just thanks Walt Clyde Frazier.

Thanks to NBC Boston Sports’ Mike Gorman and NESN’s Jack Edwards for their longtime efforts as respective voices of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. They each retired in the Year 2024 – a good year in sports, thank-you very much.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Let’s give thanks to the NBA and Warner Brothers-Discovery-Turner Sports for working out a compromise that will enable NBA fans to see “Inside the NBA” on ABC and ESPN instead of the troubled pre-game and halftime shows of ESPN past. Let’s hope ESPN’s Malika Andrews is worked into the mix for both NBA coverage and general sports coverage and let’s hope ABC moves Jay Bilas into the game analyst spot alongside play-by-play man Mike Breen.

On the parquet, it’s a thanks to Bob Cousy and Tom “Satch” Sanders. … On the ice, it’s thanks to Pasta and Jeremy Swayman, but a sad good-bye to Bs head coach Jim Montgomery who was fired this past week and replaced with Joe Sacco (interim, it said). … On the Sox, welcome aboard to Outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia. … Don’t hold your breath on Soto.

For the Boston-New-England-Route 128-Providence Patriots, it’s a warm Thanksgiving Day wish for rookie QB Drake Maye. Maybe the Patriots need to find 21 other guys?

We’re thankful for better and speedy video challenges. Get the call right. … We’re thankful for Peyton Pritchard and Derrick White of the Celtics, both drafted late in Round 1, (Pritchard, Boston 2020, Rd. 1, Pick 26), (White, San Antonio 2017, Rd. 1, Pick 29).

Thanks to the New York Mets of yesteryear. Sadly, we lost Ed Kranepool this year. He was a fan favorite for every kid who loved the Mets in the ‘62 until June 23, 1970 when he was demoted to the minors – the Tidewater Tides. Kranepool fought his way back to the Mets and the Majors, and played until he was 34 years old in 1979. He holds the record for Most Games Played for the NYM.

Here’s a line of gratitude for some of the other Mets greats. To Ron Swoboda, Tommie Agee, Tom Seaver, Donn Clendenon, Cleon Jones, Jerry Grote, Ed Charles, Gary Gentry and my personal favorite, lefty – should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame – Jerry Koosman. Great memories stem from the names, Cal Koonce, Duffy Dyer, Ron Taylor, and TugMcGraw. Here’s to Managers Gil Hodges and Casey Stengel.

When the Mega Millions Lottery heads north of $300m, there are some “pick your own numbers” to be played.

Mine are:

• 10 – Frazier
• 12 – Barnett
• 19 – Reed
• 22 – DeBusschere
• 24 Bradley
• 15 – The bonus number for both Dick McGuire and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe

If playing another, which is usually the case

• 5 – Potvin
• 9 – Gillies
• 19 – Trottier
• 22 – Bossy
• 31 – Smith
• 18 – for the Captain, Eddie Westfall

Every now and then, alternate numbers such as No. 23 for Bobby Nystrom, No. 27 for John Tonelli, and maybe a No. 1 for Glenn “Chico” Resch or No. 6 for one of the all-time greats, yet underrated players in Ken Morrow.As a reminder, Morrow was a member of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” USA Hockey gold medal team, then ran off with four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from the spring of 1980 through 1983. Not a bad stretch.

Butch Goring deserves mention, for sure, but I don’t play his No. 91. Thoughts go back to Germaine Gagnon, Gary Hart, Billy Harris, Lorne Henning, Garry Howatt, and goalkeeper Gerry Desjardins.

TIDBITS: In the “did you know” category of NHL history, DYK that Garry Howatt (then New Jersey Devils) and Mickey Volcan (then Hartford Whalers) are the only two (active) players to officiate an NHL regular season game? The date was January 15, 1983 and a Boston to Hartford snowstorm delayed the assigned officials from making a NJ at Hartford game. The Whalers won the game, 2-1, and Howatt and Volcan were relieved from their duties after the other “real” refs arrived at the Hartford Civic Center.

A bit off my original pledge to keep this on sports, let’s pay tribute to the Allman Brothers Band and two of the great instrumentals of all-time, Jessicaand In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (November 9, 1845 – May 3, 1935). Both were written by ABB guitarist Dickey Betts.

If Thanksgiving is near, it’s time to tune into the Detroit Lions (hosting Da Bears) and Dallas Cowboys (vs NYG) games on TV (along with a Miami at Green Bay tilt in the evening). Although Dallas and Detroit host games every year on Thanksgiving Day, they necver seem to be good/great at the same time. Thinking back, the years with Barry Sanders running for the Lions and Emmitt Smith carrying the ball for the Cowboys were certainly the glory years, complete with John Madden and Pat Summerall calling the games. To the winners went the “TurDucken.” Let’s hope for two of the three games being entertaining and close. Whoever loses the NYG at DAL game will surely pack it in for the remainder of the season.

THIS JEST IN: Pick-up improvement? The NBA is addressing the major problem of the downfall of serious competition at the annual NBA All-Star Weekend. The league is reportedly trying an approach that just might put more intrigue into both the Rookie vs Sophs (Rising Stars) game and the ASG itself. Proposed to the NBA Competition and Rules Committee this week was the outline of a new four-team tournament-style format for this season’s All-Star Game in San Francisco. The league is expected to have two semifinal games played up to 40 points, with the winners advancing to the final match up to 25 points, as reported by NBA television partner ESPN.

“The first-of-its-kind event is expected to serve as a quick-burst competition that resembles pickup games where the winner moves to the championship round in single-elimination play,” said ESPN before any official announcement was made.

Sources told ESPN last week that the NBA was in serious discussions to have three All-Star teams of eight players each and the winner of the Rising Stars game take part in an All-Star Game tournament on Sunday.

Aside from the exciting “Elam Ending” game in Chicago in 2020, the recent games have been lopsided three-point chuck-fests. Last season’s 211-186 blowout by East of West at Indiana was the breaking point.

The tournament style set-up is worth a try.

YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: Six years after the fact, but we’ve now got it confirmed that former Titans coach Mike Mularkey is – well – full of malarkey. On a podcast report this week and then on the NFL Network, reporter Ian Rapoport commented on Mularkey’s admission that he played a joke, using Rapaport to report that Mularkey was going to get an extension to his contract. In fact, Mularkey dropped the nugget when he himself was in fear of being canned by the Titans.

“That is not cool,” said Rapoport on NFL Network, recalling the setback of his early career as a major NFL reporter. “That’s not funny. I was a younger reporter back then, and the amount of online hate and ridicule I got because Mike Mularkey thought it would be funny to get back at his old boss. It was not fun.”

In the WWYI’s realm of reporting, it’s usually the reporter who gets the last laugh in these situations. “Never argue with someone who buys ink by the barrel,” is the old political quip, credited to Indiana Congressman Charles Bruce Brownson (1914-1988).

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum made a 3-pointer as time expired in overtime to give the Celtics a 126-123 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Tatum had 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the win. Jaylen Brown led Boston with 27 points.

Jakob Poeltl tossed in a career-high 35 points for Toronto, which fell to 0-8 in road games this season. Poeltl, who was 16 of 19 from the floor, also had 12 rebounds.

RJ Barrett added 25 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists for the Raptors, who have lost seven games in a row and 11 of their last 12. A Barrett layup tied the game with 55.1 seconds left in overtime before Tatum connected on the game-winning shot.

Boston’s Al Horford scored a season-high 18 points. The Celtics also received 18 points from Derrick White.

Toronto lost despite having a 76-42 edge in points in the paint.

The Celtics were without Jrue Holiday, who missed the game because of left knee tendinopathy. Before the game Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said he didn’t expect Holiday’s injury to linger. It was the first game Holiday has missed this season.

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BROOKLYN – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored 15 of his 36 points in the third quarter as the Celtics recovered from a slow start and pulled away in the second half for a 139-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Five nights after needing overtime to earn a four-point win on their homecourt, the Celtics rallied from an early 13-point deficit. Boston beat the Nets for the sixth straight time and for the 12th time in the past 13 meetings.

Coming off a 5-of-16 showing in Tuesday’s one-point home loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Tatum made 12 of 19 of shots, handed out 10 of Boston’s season-best 35 assists and collected nine rebounds.

Jaylen Brown added 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Celtics delighted many of their fans in the crowd by shooting a season-best 53.8 percent. Payton Pritchard contributed 23, Jrue Holiday chipped in 16 and Sam Hauser finished with 12 as the trio combined to hit 11 of Boston’s 22 3s.

Ziare Williams scored 23 points and started for the second straight game for Dorian Finney-Smith (sprained left ankle) but the Nets could not keep pace with Boston’s offense and lost for the third time in four games. Brooklyn also played without Ben Simmons (left calf tightness).

Cam Thomas added 17 and Dennis Schroder contributed 16 as the Nets shot 50.6 percent and took their most lopsided loss of the season.

Cameron Johnson’s 3-pointer opened a 26-13 lead for the Nets with 3:52 remaining, but the Celtics ended the opening period with a 19-8 run wherein Tatum scored nine of their final 12 points of the quarter to slice the deficit to 34-32. The Celtics took their first lead when Hauser’s 3 made it 37-36 early in the second, and they held a 65-60 edge at halftime.

Boston began pulling away with about eight minutes left in the third when Tatum’s open 3 pushed the lead to 80-68. Holiday’s 3 extended the lead to 85-70 with 7:17 left and two hoops by Tatum in the final two minutes helped Boston take a 103-89 edge into the fourth.

Tatum finished off his big night by hitting three free throws with 5:21 left for a 123-101 lead and then hit a 17-footer a few minutes later to a loud ovation.

–Field Level Media

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