Utah
Could the Utah Jazz Really Land LeBron James If They Draft Bronny?
Bronny JamesJeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images
In an NBA draft that has reportedly been described by multiple league executives as “the worst draft they have ever seen,” eyes, posts and analysis have naturally drifted to second-round prospect Bronny James.
The son of LeBron James averaged 4.8 points and shot 36.6 percent from the field as a freshman at USC and then measured in at 6’1.5″ without shoes at the draft combine, but at least one team may be interested in picking him just after the first round.
“The [Utah] Jazz have expressed interest in bringing Bronny in for an individual workout and could be interested in him with the 32nd pick,” Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek wrote. “The franchise has been patiently rebuilding behind the leadership of Danny Ainge, and bringing in Bronny with the hopes of luring a superstar like LeBron could be the jump owner Ryan Smith is looking for to add a spark to the Jazz.”
In April, Ainge (the team’s CEO) said Utah would go “big game hunting,” and a ploy to attract LeBron would certainly qualify as that.
But it’s fair to wonder how realistic that pursuit would be.
It’s no secret that the Jazz don’t play in one of the league’s big or glamour markets. That makes attracting any free agents (or trade demanders) tough. And if LeBron were to decline his player option or ask L.A. to move him, he’d instantly be the biggest name available, despite the fact that he turns 40 next season.
It’s easy to see why Utah would be interested. Few athletes in the history of sports attract as much as attention as LeBron. And he’s currently smashing preconceived notions about the effects of age on a star.
With 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 threes and a 41.0 three-point percentage, LeBron was arguably one of the 5-10 best players in the league this season.
Beyond drawing more eyeballs to the organization, which boasts LeBron’s former teammate Dwyane Wade as a minority owner, he and Lauri Markkanen would make for a potentially devastating one-two punch on offense. Walker Kessler has the potential to be a bona fide defensive anchor behind them, too. Keyonte George showed some potential as a combo guard.
But does all of that add up to contention in the ultra-competitive West? Would it put James any closer to his fifth title than the Los Angeles Lakers already do? Even if it does, would the difference be meaningful enough to take LeBron out of L.A., where the TV and movie industries are and where LeBron has established roots for over half a decade?
If we’re being honest, the answer is almost certainly no.
So, back to the original report. Would Utah having Bronny on the roster trump all of the above for LeBron?
A year-and-a-half ago, he told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin: “I need to be on the floor with my boy. I got to be on the floor with Bronny.”
“Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him,” LeBron added. “I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”
For months, that was interpreted as both LeBron wanting to be on the same team as his son and as a potential opportunity to lure James away from the Lakers. And that interpretation seemed pretty reasonable in the wake of this year’s elimination by the Denver Nuggets. Right after L.A. lost Game 5, The Athletic reported that the Lakers had a “willingness to draft James’ son Bronny in June.”
Of course, they don’t pick until the 50s, which opens the door for most of the league, including the Jazz, to take Bronny before L.A. can. And if he follows an up-and-down showing at the combine with some strong individual workouts with teams, more teams than Utah might talk themselves into taking a flier on him.
The height measurement raised some eyebrows (in part because he was listed at 6’4″ in college), but Bronny also had a 6’7.25″ wingspan. That’s good for a guard and even comparable to some wings. And there were only five players who topped his 40.5-inch max vertical leap.
He backed up those encouraging marks with a team-high 13 points in his second combine scrimmage.
Again, if that earned him some workouts and he does well in those, the Jazz might not be the only team willing to take a shot on him (and the potential of adding his dad to the roster).
But there are a lot of ifs, ands and buts throughout this text, including LeBron sort of downplaying the idea of teaming up with his son a few months after the ESPN interview (though he still maintained that it was his goal in those comments).
The biggest caveat, at least for Utah, may be the team’s prospects for getting LeBron his fifth title.
Barring some other dramatic move, a LeBron-Markkanen-led rotation probably wouldn’t leapfrog the Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. Several others in the West should bounce back (like the Memphis Grizzlies) or are on the rise (like the Houston Rockets), too.
We could level the same criticism at the Lakers, who just got knocked out in the first round, but they came with the all the glitz and glam of L.A.
In short, every team but the Lakers should only be thinking about drafting Bronny for Bronny. He will be his own player, and organizations should focus their interest on that player.
If he does enough during the workout phase of the pre-draft process to get selected, great. If not, there’s no reason to dangle him like a carrot for a player who’s nearing the end of his career.
Utah
911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas
CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Utah
Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”
Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.
“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.
Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.
“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.
2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:
- Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
- Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
- Does it support a ban from classrooms?
Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.
“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.
MORE | Utah State Legislature:
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.
“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.
The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.
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Utah
Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state
SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.
Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”
“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”
The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”
“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”
He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”
In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.
“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”
The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.
But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”
Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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