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WAMC Sports Report 6/23/23: Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft

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NBA DRAFT

Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, headed to San Antonio with enormous expectations to become basketball’s newest sensation. The selection of the 19-year-old from France that had been a foregone conclusion for months was announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (announced the pick during the 2023 Draft) last night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Wembanyama arrives with far more height and hype than most No. 1 picks. Listed at 7-foot-4, he dominated his French league in his final season there, leading all players in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Brandon Miller of Alabama was the No. 2 pick by the Charlotte Hornets and Scoot Henderson went third to the Portland Trail Blazers.

This year's draft marks the third time in San Antonio’s 51-year history that the Spurs have held the No. 1 pick. They are hoping Wembanyama fulfills predictions that he is a generational big man and follows in the championship footsteps of the franchise's previous top picks of David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997.

UConn’s Andre Jackson Jr. went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the 36th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The Bucks traded with the Orlando Magic for the rights to draft Jackson Jr. in exchange for a 2030 second-round draft pick and cash considerations. Jackson Jr., a 6-foot-6 wing and Amsterdam New York native, averaged 6.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists while playing fewer than 30 minutes per game, helping to lead the Huskies to a 31-8 record and national championship this year.

Other Capital Region draftees include Jalen Pickett, a former Siena College guard. He went to the Denver Nuggets with the 32nd overall pick.

The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers had no picks in the draft.

The Brooklyn Nets took Alabama’s Noah Clowney 21st overall and Duke’s Dariq Whitehead 22nd.

The Celtics drafted Arkansas forward Jordan Walsh No. 38 and Washington State center Mouhamed Gueye No. 39.

NBA

Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman says the 25-game suspension the NBA slapped guard Ja Morant with “was appropriate." The GM also said Thursday night after the NBA draft that it's up to Morant to change the behavior that led to two suspensions in four months. Kleiman is the first team official to publicly discuss Morant's situation and the NBA’s latest punishment of the two-time All-Star for flashing a gun on social media after the season. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the latest suspension June 16 and made clear Morant must stop his “alarming” habit of flashing guns on social media.

Chris Paul’s pursuit of an NBA championship is taking him to the Golden State Warriors, after they agreed to the framework of a trade on Thursday that will send Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The trade also includes a package of draft capital, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been finalized and approved by the NBA.

MLB

Teoscar Hernández hit one of Seattle’s four early homers and the Mariners teed off against a suddenly inept Domingo Germán in blowing out the sloppy New York Yankees 10-2 to prevent a three-game sweep. Touted rookie Bryan Woo breezed into the sixth inning with a no-hit bid to earn his first major league win. Kolten Wong launched his first home run for the Mariners before Ty France and Cal Raleigh also went deep against Germán. Julio Rodríguez got Seattle started with a one-out single in a four-run first inning against Germán. Hernández had an RBI single, Eugenio Suárez delivered a two-run double and Mike Ford capped the quick outburst with a sacrifice fly.

Joe Ryan pitched a three-hitter for Minnesota’s first complete-game shutout in five years, Byron Buxton became the first player in at least nine seasons to hit a pair of 460-foot home runs in a game and the Twins beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0. Ryan pitched his first complete game in 47 big league starts, striking out nine, walking none and facing no more than four batters in an inning. Buxton hit a 466-foot home run in the first inning and a 465-foot drive in the third.

Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer to cap a five-run 10th inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 for their eighth straight win. The Braves swept the rain-shortened two-game series in their first appearance in Philadelphia since falling to the Phillies in four games during last year’s NL Divisional Series. Ozuna’s 14th homer of the season — a long shot to deep left-center off right-hander Yunior Marte — followed a two-run single by Austin Riley when Philadelphia left fielder Kyle Schwarber misplayed a ball that would have been the third out of the inning.

The rules have changed since Bob Melvin and Bruce Bochy were big league catchers when big collisions with runners trying to score were just part of the game. The rules are intended to protect catchers. But runners are now sometimes safe even after being tagged out and without any collision. San Diego manager Melvin and Texas manager Bochy both had outs recorded by their teams this week become runs after replay viewed that their catchers obstructed the runner. Both managers were irate because their catchers were standing when they made sweeping tags.

Meanwhile, the Mets were off last night, they’ll begin a three-game set against the Phillies at 7:05 tonight in Philadelphia.

WNBA

Tiffany Hayes hit a season-high four 3-pointers and scored 21 points, DiJonai Carrington added 17 points and the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 89-68. Hayes had 14 points in the first quarter as Connecticut built a 27-17 lead. The Sun made five 3-pointers in the first quarter, while Minnesota shot 5 for 20 overall. The Lynx missed nine straight shots from late in the first quarter and into the second and trailed 33-17 with 6:56 left before halftime. Hayes scored 16 points in the first half and Alyssa Thomas had 10 points and six rebounds as Connecticut stretched its lead to 41-28. The Sun put the game out of reach by outscoring Minnesota 26-15 in the third quarter.

NFL

Deion Sanders is scheduled to undergo surgery Friday for a blood clot in each leg, the University of Colorado football coach revealed in a video he posted. The news of Coach Prime’s impending procedure began to spread after Pat McAfee discussed on his podcast with longtime NFL defensive back Adam Jones what was referred to as an emergency surgery for Sanders. Later in the day, Sanders posted that it was time to hear from him. Sanders explained in the video he posted on YouTube that his doctor found he had a clot in both legs. He had two toes on his left foot amputated in 2021 due to blood clot issues.

NHL

NHL teams won’t have players wear themed jerseys during pregame warmups next season. That decision was made after the league’s Board of Governors agreed with Commissioner Gary Bettman that a handful of players refusing to wear Pride jerseys distracted from teams’ efforts. Seven players citing various reasons declined to take part in warmups when their team donned rainbow-colored Pride jerseys for warmups. Teams will still host Pride and other theme nights and are expected to continue making and auctioning off jerseys even though players won’t wear them. A group that has worked with the NHL on inclusivity said it was “concerned and disappointed” by the decision.

NCAA

Tommy White hit Camden Minacci’s first pitch into the left-field seats for a two-run homer in the 11th inning, giving LSU a 2-0 walk-off victory over No. 1 national seed Wake Forest and clinching a spot in the College World Series finals. The win sends the Tigers to the best-of-three CWS championship series against Florida beginning Saturday night. It will be a rematch of the 2017 All-SEC College World Series final the Gators won for their first national title. LSU became the first team to hand Wake Forest consecutive losses this season. The game was a classic pitcher's duel between LSU's Paul Skenes and Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder.

TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Denny McCarthy came inches from shooting a 59, settling for a 10-under 60 for the lowest round of his PGA Tour career, and Rory McIlroy made his first ace on tour on a day of low numbers at the Travelers Championship. Keegan Bradley and Adam Scott also made runs at golf’s magic number but faltered late. Each shot 62 at the TPC River Highlands, where Jim Furyk set the PGA Tour record with a 58 in 2016. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, finished with a 7-under 63. McCarthy started on the back nine. He had five birdies on his first six holes and five more coming in.

WPGA

Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa made a two-putt birdie on the final hole in fading daylight for a 5-under 66 and the first-round lead Thursday in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol. Two-time major winner Brooke Henderson of Canada and Ruoning Yin and Xiyi Lin of China were a shot back as Baltusrol’s historic Lower Course yielded 16 under-par rounds to the field of 156 players. The 42-year-old Pace won her lone LPGA Tour title in 2014 in China. Rose Zhang, the two-time NCAA individual champion at Stanford who became the first player in 72 years to win an LPGA Tour event in her pro debut this month at nearby Liberty National, opened with a 70.

© Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Alexander began his journalism career as a sports writer for Siena College's student paper The Promethean, and as a host for Siena's school radio station, WVCR-FM "The Saint." A Cubs fan, Alexander hosts the morning Sports Report in addition to producing Morning Edition. You can hear the sports reports over-the-air at 6:19 and 7:19 AM, and online on WAMC.org. He also speaks Spanish as a second language. To reach him, email ababbie@wamc.org, or call (518)-465-5233 x 190. You can also find him on Twitter/X: @ABabbieWAMC.