Last Week in Las Vegas Sports (Apr 3 – 9)

#5 Las Vegas Golden Knights General Manager talks playoffs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GELQep1QgoA

Will they or won’t they? That’s the playoff question for the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and things aren’t looking good. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon recently spoke about the situation.

“If we can get in, I think we know what to expect at playoff time,” he said. “We will be a tough out. At this point, we are living in the moment. Our challenge is to be above the cut line when playoff time comes… We’re doing what we can.”

#4 NASCAR comments on controversial Kyle Busch call at Richmond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_C_hs-WpYc

Kyle Busch has struggled so far in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, and he remains a sore subject in the Las Vegas sports community after the April 3 race at Richmond. The Las Vegas native was undone by a penalty on lap 345 because he had tape on his car’s grille. Unfortunately, NASCAR has a new rule that bans the use of tape on the car’s grille to control temperatures.

The funny part, though, is that Busch’s team was apparently trying to put the tape on the brake duct but got it on the grille by mistake. NASCAR officials even admitted during an interview last week that if Busch’s team had caught it sooner, they wouldn’t have penalized him for it. The Las Vegas sports icon eventually finished 9th after some pretty slick driving.

“We go back, found footage, found what we needed,” NASCAR’s Managing Director Brad Moran said during an interview. “Yes, the team actually put it on… Unfortunate [because] they had a couple stops where they could have pulled it off, and we probably wouldn’t be talking about it today, but that didn’t happen.

#3 Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels comments on Russell Wilson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpEh9mNfevw

While the Las Vegas Raiders have made considerable gains, especially with the Davantae Adams trade, what will happen when they cross paths with the Denver Broncos? Now that Russell Wilson will likely be taking over as their starting quarterback, there is a conversation to be had about how well the Raider’s defense will fair against the team.

Can Derek Carr stand up against a defense that was one of the best in the league last year? It’s no secret that Carr has choked during big-game situations in the past, meaning it could very well happen again. Raiders coach Josh McDaniels spoke recently about what Russell Wilson in the AFC West meant, and he didn’t hold back.

“There’s a lot of things that stood out about Russell. I’d say, he’s a great competitor,” McDaniels said during an interview. “It’s hard to count Russell out of anything. He throws a great deep ball. He’s got a great command of the offense… You never feel like you’ve really got to a comfortable lead with Russell on the other sideline. So, that’s a huge addition for the Broncos and it’ll be a big challenge for us this year.”

#2 Oakland Atheltics owner rocks Las Vegas sports community with new statement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaxZSdCv3xc

Dave Kaval has been working with Oakland for the better part of a year to build a stadium that would keep the Atheltic’s in California, but that goal has hit another roadblock. The Oakland Stadium alliance is suing the organization over its environmental statement, which will be heard in The California Superior court. After that announcement, Kaval responded by claiming this was exactly why they were putting so much time into exploring options in Las Vegas.

“We know, they’re challenging the certification of the environmental report. I mean, it’s absolutely crazy that some of the largest polluters in the country can use environmental law to try to stop our project,” Kaval said. “It’s something that we have to deal with in California. These are the challenges and the red tape that you have to go through to get approvals, and this is one of the key reasons that we have spent so much time in Southern Nevada and are working towards an option there.”

#1 Las Vegas sports could soon include NBA action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHJ4YLARWzw

The Las Vegas sports landscape is already home to the Raiders, the Golden Knights, the Aces, and many prominent minor league teams, and another team may be on the way. A new stadium is being constructed on the Strip, and the owners are very open to the idea of a basketball team. 

The arena will be world-class, CEO of Oakview group, Tim Leiweke said. We re prepared to spend about a billion dollars on building the new arena. It will be for music, it ll be for sports, it ll be for cultural activities, and should the NBA decide to come and by the way, there s no certainty or no guarantees that the NBA is ever coming to Vegas but should they come we certainly will be NBA-ready and make sure that we hit all of their standards.