Athletes stand in solidarity

The Los Angeles Lakers’ victory over the Indiana Pacers in the In-Season Tournament Final drew 4.6 million viewers across ABC/ESPN2.

The game was the most-watched non-playoff, non-Christmas Day game since 2018.

The audience for the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship Game was also up 64 percent from last season’s NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC average.

The NBA reportedly has interest in selling the In-Season Tournament to a streaming company as a separate media rights package.

There has been “no progress” made between Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors over a contract extension, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.

“I’m told that there been absolutely no progress on a Klay Thompson extension in Golden State, that they are both still apart on years and money.

“And there’s a very real possibility that Klay Thompson goes into free agency next summer without a deal,” said Wojnarowski on NBA Countdown.

Thompson is entering the final year of a five-year, $189.9 million deal and will have a base salary of $43.2 million this season.

Bob Myers, the former president of basketball operations for the Warriors, acknowledged the difficulty of the negotiation.

“This is a delicate negotiation. From what I know and see, he wants to stay. They want him to stay,” added Myers.