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Following the United States and Israel's initial attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, U.S. bases in the Middle East came under heavy fire from Iranian missiles and drones, killing seven U.S. soldiers stationed in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Six soldiers were later killed in an air tanker crash in Iraq, and at least 200 have been wounded across the Middle East.

Threats to U.S. troops have not been confined to the war zone. Bases on American soil have shut down in response to reports of active shooters, suspicious packages and other unidentified threats. Since the war began, a growing number of military bases in the continental United States clamped down on security, banning visitors and ordering service members to change out of uniform when they leave the premises.

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.
Bahrain
Smoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Syria
Syrian children stand on the wreckage of an Iranian rocket that was reportedly intercepted by Israeli forces in the southern countryside of Quneitra, near the Golan Heights, close to the town of Ghadir al-Bustan.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil International Airport in Erbil on March 1, 2026. Loud explosions were heard early on March 1 near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Iraq
Members and officers from the Iraqi Interior Ministry's Explosives Directorate inspect the fuel tank of a rocket that landed in a rural village in the Siyahi area near the city of Hilla in the central Babil province on March 1, 2026. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the U.S. and Iran, warned that it did not want to be dragged into the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
A prayer appealing to God for protection is projected on the dome of al-Hazm shopping mall in Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Qatar
Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Bahrain
A building that was damaged by an Iranian drone attack, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
The empty terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh is pictured on March 1, 2026. Global airlines cancelled flights across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, plunging the region into a new conflict. In Saudi Arabia, Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses U.S. military personnel, were intercepted, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
A food delivery bike drive close to a plume of smoke rising from the Zayed Port following a reported Iranian strike in Abu Dhabi on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
An oil tanker is pictured offshore in Dubai on March 1, 2026. Attacks have damaged tankers, and many ship owners, oil majors and trading houses suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Oman
Smoke billows from an oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, that was hit off Oman's Musandam peninsula, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters on March 1, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Kuwait
Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the U.S. Embassy is located in Kuwait City on March 2, 2026. Black smoke was seen rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City on March 2 after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, an AFP correspondent saw,

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Saudi Arabia
A satellite image shows efforts to control a fire as smoke rises in the Ras Tanura oil refinery in Saudi Arabia after a drone attack, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Turkey
People make their way after crossing from Iran into Turkey at the Kapikoy Border Gate in eastern Van province,Turkey, March 2, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Delivery persons ride motorcycles along a road as a tall smoke plume billows following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Pieces of missiles and drones recovered after Iran's strikes are displayed during a press briefing by the UAE government held in Abu Dhabi on March 3, 2026. Iran stepped up its attacks on economic targets and US missions across the Middle East on March 3, as the US president warned it was "too late" for the Islamic republic to seek talks to escape the war. As drones and missiles crashed into oil facilities and U.S. embassies in the Gulf, Washington's ally Israel bombarded targets in Iran and pushed troops deeper into Lebanon to battle the Tehran-backed militia Hezbollah.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on March 3, including warning residents in two southern Beirut neighbourhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of an imminent operation.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, Lebanon, March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Lebanon
Rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jamaa Islamiya offices in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon on March 3, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> United Arab Emirates
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026.

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See how the Iran war's fallout is hitting the Middle East

See how Middle Eastern countries are caught in the crossfire of thewar launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.BahrainSmoke rises in the sky after blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026.

Fatal shooting, suspicious packages at US bases

On March 16, areportof a suspicious package near an entrance gate at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base, the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, prompted a gate closure. The FBI's Tampa office laterstatedthat "possible energetic materials" were found inside the package. MacDillissueda shelter-in-place order two days later on March 18, citing an unidentified targeted "threat."CENTCOM is the military branch leading operations in the Iran war. It's unclear if the threats were related.

On March 17, officials at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in southern New Jersey said that "suspicious packages"were foundon the base, prompting a lockdown. They later determined the packages did not pose a threat.

Reports of an active shooter sent Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexicointo lockdownthat same day. A military veteran was killed and an active-duty service member was injured, according tonews reports.

It's not clear if any of these incidents were linked to the war in the Middle East. Local authorities said investigations are ongoing. But a handful of separate U.S. attacks since the war began, including a shooting at a Virginia Reserve Officers' Training Corps class, are being investigated as terrorism. Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, a class instructor, was killed on March 12 whena man who'd served time in prisonfor colluding with the Islamic State allegedly opened fire on an ROTC class at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

Uniforms banned for soldiers off base

Military installations have tightened security, banning service members from wearing their uniforms off base in some locations. Fort Huachuca, an Army base in Arizona where more than 5,600 service members are stationed, received an order on March 13 prohibiting soldiers from wearing uniforms away from the base "to ensure force protection efforts align with current global events," according to a copy of the order obtained by USA TODAY.

"This prohibition applies to all off-post activities, including but not limited to dining, shopping, and appointments," according to the order.

The Army's Combined Arms Command issued a similar order to its members the same day, according to spokesperson Lt. Col. Bryen Freigo. The order is "a prudent and proactive measure intended to reduce their visibility and is not in response to any specific or credible threat," he told USA TODAY in an email.

The Pentagon referred questions about these bans to U.S. Northern Command, which said there was no across-the-board ban at U.S. bases.

A temporary ban was also issued Feb. 28 at Shaw Air Force Base, east of Columbia, South Carolina, saying that military members were "no longer authorized" to wear uniforms off base. The baserescindedthe policy on March 15.

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The Navy declined to say whether it had banned the use of uniforms off base but said it was "implementing additional force protection measures," including changes to uniform policies in specific situations, "to reduce the vulnerability of our personnel," according to an emailed statement. The day the war started, Naval Support Activity Annapolis, across the river from the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland, announced increased security at its entrance gates and halted all public visits "as a result of current world events," according to a Facebookpost.

Recent US-based attacks connected to Middle East conflict

At least two other attacks in recent weeks reportedly had connections to the ongoing war in the Middle East.

A gunman who police said killed two people and injured more than a dozen others at a bar in Austin on March 1was wearing an Iranian flag shirt, according to videos and photos shared online.

Less than two weeks later, police said Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, slammed his truck into a Michigan synagogue and exchanged fire with police before he was killed. According to local leaders in Dearborn Heights,Ghazali's family membersin Lebanon had been killed days earlier in Israeli attacks that have blanketed the country and killed hundreds in another front of the Iran war.

Uniform bans common in recent US wars

Steve Gabavics, a retired Army colonel who served for decades in the military police, estimated that threats to bases have increased by 10% to 15% as a result of the Iran war.

It's nothing new for the military to clamp down on security at bases or installations in response to U.S. wars abroad, including restricting service members from wearing uniforms off base, according to Gabavics. "I've seen it every time we've had a major international conflict," he said.

More:How much is the Iran war costing taxpayers? Here's what estimates show

Gabavics, who commanded military police across the Military District of Washington, said during his time in the role, there may have been dozens of sleeper cells tied to Iran scattered across the Washington, DC, region, and around a hundred across the country.

But the greater threat to service members, he said, likely stems from "lone wolf" attackers inspired by ideology.

Last November, two uniformed National Guard soldiers on patrol were shot blocks from the White House. Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old from Summersville, West Virginia, was killed, and another soldier suffered serious wounds. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan man arrested andchargedin the shooting, had worked with violent,CIA-backed "zero units"during the U.S. occupation of his country.

Service members in uniform do "create a target," Gabavics said. "We're trying to prevent having an easy target for somebody who does want to do something like this."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Some soldiers prohibited from wearing uniforms off base amid Iran war

Haysom went on from high-level positions promoting human rights in his home country to a distinguished career as a U.N. diplomat, serving in hot spots from Afghanistan and Iraq to Somalia and South Sudan.

His daughter, Rebecca Haysom, told The Associated Press that he died Tuesday in New York "after a long, valiant battle with heart and lung complications."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Haysom "devoted his life to justice, dialogue, and reconciliation -- from his central role in South Africa's democratic transition serving as chief legal and constitutional adviser to president Nelson Mandela to years of leadership in U.N. posts in some of the world's most complex and fragile settings."

His legacy "will endure in the peace processes he advanced, the institutions he strengthened, and the principles he helped bring to life around the world," the U.N. chief said in a statement.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa,a former anti-apartheid activist, said the country mourns "a distinguished diplomat and a pioneer of our democratic administration whose commitment to justice and peace made our country, our continent and the world a better place."

"I remember him for applying his legal acumen, mentorship, wisdom and integrity to the development of our constitution," Ramaphosa said in a statement urging South Africans "to honor his contribution to our nation and the international community by upholding the fundamental rights and maintaining the peace he advocated so passionately and eloquently."

He came from a family that believed in equality

Nicholas Roland Leybourne "Fink" Haysom grew up in Durban in a liberal family that believed in racial equality, especially his mother who was an activist against apartheid. At university, he said he became a critic of apartheid as well and decided to go to law school at the Universities of Natal and Cape Town to tackle the conditions of how people lived.

He went on to become president of the anti-apartheid National Union of South African Students and he said in a U.N. interview last year that he was arrested or detained about half a dozen times, once serving six months in solitary confinement in about 1980. Ramaphosa said he also had a creative side: He was South African Playwright of the Year in 1987.

Nobody at that time thought apartheid would end, Haysom said, and it was a "tremendous moment" when Mandela was released in 1990. At the time, Haysom was a member of a very activist human rights law firm.

The African National Congress, which Mandela led, asked Haysom to join its Constitutional Commission, and he said he spent several years with "a very exciting group of intellectuals" conceptualizing the new South Africa, and negotiating with the National Party, which instituted and enforced the apartheid system of racial segregation, on how to get there.

Having been a pariah in much of the world, Haysom said the group wanted to find the perfect formula for a constitutional state that appreciated the need for equality among all its citizens and recreated a social contract "which we wanted to be a lesson for the world." It wasn't easy, he said, but "the South African constitution is still regarded as perhaps one of the most progressive constitutions in the world."

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"And I think that's what led to me being asked to be Mandela's legal adviser ... while he was president," Haysom said, a position he held from 1994 to 1999.

Mandela wanted to set an example for the first post-apartheid government to respect the law, Haysom said, "and he was really at the forefront of creating a society built on respect for legal equality and human rights."

He saw Mandela every morning and said he was "tremendously gracious."

"But he was steely, strong in the conviction he had that he was embarking on the right path, and he persevered," Haysom said. "As I say to my children, the lesson of Mandela is not just being a nice person, it's perseverance in your ideals that'll change the world."

He worked across the decades to end ethnic discord

Under Mandela, Haysom joined a team that helped end ethnic violence in Burundi between Hutus and Tutsis in the 1990s. He then was asked to try to find a formula to restore peace in Sudan between the north and south, which eventually led to South Sudan seceding and becoming an independent country in 2011.

Haysom then spent from 2005 to 2007 in Iraq trying to find a formula for its communities — Shia, Sunni and Kurd — to live together, an issue he saw in all conflicts. From 2007 to 2012, he served in then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office as director for political, peacekeeping and humanitarian affairs. He then spent four years in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2016 in two U.N. roles.

Most of the rest of his U.N. career was focused on Sudan and South Sudan, where he had been head of the peacekeeping mission since 2021 except for a brief stint in Somalia. He was ordered to leave by the Somali government in 2019 after questioning the arrest of a former leader of the al-Shabab extremist group.

Haysom is survived by his wife Delphine and their two sons Charles and Hector, as well as his three older children, Rebecca, Simone, and Julian, from his previous marriage to Mary Ann Cullinan.

Haysom said there was a time when he was "quite probably inappropriately proud" of his efforts particularly in Burundi, Sudan and South Africa, but after a few years all those peace agreements were in trouble.

It's a recognition, he said, that peace doesn't last forever and democracy requires "constant engagement by people of good intention."

Gerald Imray contributed to this report from Cape Town, South Africa

The summerlike conditions are expected to persist and expand east in the coming days.

Across Southern California and the Desert Southwest, around 38 million people are under heat alerts. High temperatures in the upper 90s and triple digits have been common throughout the region, thanks to a sprawling heat dome that remains parked over the West.

On Thursday, Palm Springs, California,hit 107 degrees Fahrenheit,setting a new all-time record for the month of March. The previous record, of 105, was set on Wednesday.

The city of Indio in the Coachella Valley also set a record high for March on Thursday, when temperatures climbed to 108 degrees.

A number of daily records were broken across California, as well, including a101-degree reading in Riverside on Thursday. Records set the prior day included highs of 95 degrees inAnaheim, 88 degrees in Sacramento and 85 degrees in both San Francisco and San Diego, according to the NWS.

In Arizona's Yuma County, the community of Martinez Lake hit a jaw-dropping 110 degrees on Thursday, setting a new record for the highest March temperature in U.S. recorded history,according to the National Weather Service.

Phoenix, meanwhile, recorded its earliest triple-digit day on Wednesday, with a high of 102 degrees. Temperaturesreached 104 degrees there on Thursday.

"This is not only the first 100° day of 2026, but it is also the earliest occurrence of 100° in Phoenix (which last occurred on March 26, 1988)," the local office of the National Weather Servicewrote Wednesday on X.

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Phoenix is forecast to hit 106 degrees on Friday and Saturday. An extreme heat warning is in effect for the region through Sunday.

Las Vegas has similarly sizzled. On Thursday, the city set a new March record of 95 degrees,according to the local office of the National Weather Service. Temperatures there could reach 100 degrees on Friday.

Even parts of Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming are experiencing unseasonably warm conditions. The National Weather Service office in Boise said Wednesday afternoon that the city measured a high of 80 degrees.

"This is the earliest date for 80 degrees in records dating back to 1875, and only the second time Boise has ever reached 80 in winter, the other time being March 19, 1997," the NWS officesaid on X.

Heat will continue to build heading into the weekend and is expected to move east into the Rockies and the central and southern Plains.

"By Saturday, expect maximum temperatures in the middle to upper 90s across Texas and low to middle 90s as far north as Nebraska and South Dakota," the NWSsaid Thursday.

Colorado could set new temperature records, as well, with Friday forecasts showing highs of 84 degrees in Denver, 86 degrees in Fort Collins and 83 degrees in Boulder. On Saturday, the projected highs tick up even further. TheNational Weather Service warnedthat extreme heat, combined with gusty winds and low humidity, areincreasing the risks of wildfiresin the state.

This week'sheat domeis caused by a stubborn ridge of high pressure that has trapped hot air over the West like a lid on a pot.

While it can be challenging to tease out the exact influence of climate change on specific weather events,global warming is known to make heat waves more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting.

Two seasons ago, Indiana State won the Missouri Valley regular-season crown, earning the program's first national ranking since the Larry Bird-led team in 1979 along the way, before losing to Drake in the finals of the conference tournament.

The Sycamores were then snubbed by the NCAA selection committee, who held them out of the at-large field despite a NET rating of 28, the highest of any team to miss the tournament.

"It was kind of the biggest disappointment we've ever had," said former Indiana State and current Saint Louis assistant coach Antone Gray. "It was a huge letdown that night."

Two years later, the biggest pieces behind that season's success — coach Josh Schertz and center Robbie Avila — embraced after No. 9Saint Louisrouted No. 8Georgia,102-77, in the opening round of the Midwest region, celebrating an achievement rooted in the decision to leave Indiana State after the 2024 season.

"Our goal was from the beginning of the year to reach this moment, so we got here, we kind of accomplished that goal," Avila said. "But obviously that 2024 year was just what it was. I'm just excited and blessed to have the opportunity to do it here."

The Billikens advanced to face No. 1Michigan, whichpulled awayfrom No. 16Howardin the second half of a101-80win.

Thomas Dowd of the Troy Trojans reacts after coming out of the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

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March Sadness hits hard in the NCAA Tournament

Thomas Dowd of the Troy Trojansreactsafter coming out of the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Paycom Center on March 19, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Shertz accepted the Saint Louis opening days after the Sycamores lost to Seton Hall in the NIT championship game. Two weeks later, Avila followed suit to become the centerpiece of the Billikens' transformation from 13-20 in 2023-24 to a school-record 29 wins and growing this season.

"I wanted to get this team to the NCAA Tournament for a lot of reasons, but he was the biggest," Shertz said of Avila. "There was a lot of people that helped bring me here, but I just never wanted for him to have ended his career not in the tournament, particularly after what happened to our Indiana State team."

The player with a collection of the bestnicknamesin the sport — Bert, Steph Blurry, Larry Nerd and many more — showcased his deft touch near the basket and skills as a passer against the Bulldogs, posting 12 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal before being replaced with 4:45 remaining and the Billikens holding a 38-point lead.

After drilling a 3-pointer to put Saint Louis ahead 86-52 with just over nine minutes left, Avila raised his arms as fans chanted his first name. At this point, Avila and the Billikens had so demoralized the Bulldogs thatGeorgiafans sitting behind press row began discussing Thursday's start of spring football.

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"Major impact. Energy booster," said Saint Louis guard Trey Green. "Robbie hit some key buckets. He made some good passes. Defensively, he held his own. To have your leader make an impact like that, you know, it drives us to have his back and do the same thing."

This was par for the course for one of the top players on the mid-major level and one of the most balanced players in the country, period, even if Avila was not named one of the five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation's best center.

Avila is now averaging a team-best 12.9 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and a team-leading 4.1 assists per game, all while shooting 50.9% from the field, a career-best 41.7% from deep and 80.3% from the free-throw line.

All this while looking like, well, someone who shouldn't be this good. With his goatee, beefy frame and lack of rim-shaking athleticism, Avila is a human version of the Spider-Man-pointing meme for those watching at home: Hey, he looks just like me!

"He's the most team guy that we have," said Gray. "He leads us. He could've gone anywhere in the country and he came here for a reason. He came back for this."

Like Avila, Schertz saw his profile grow at Indiana State, which hired him in 2021 after a hugely successful run at Division II Lincoln Memorial. He's since become one of the hottest names in mid-major coaching, drawing heavy attention for the Syracuse opening before declining the Orange's overtures and signing a contract extension with Saint Louis last week.

There's no wonder larger programs are so interested: Schertz has made things happen at every stop, making three Division II Final Four appearances at Lincoln Memorial, winning 62.3% of his games with the Sycamores and now posting a 48-20 mark in his two seasons with the Billikens.

"It's been everything I've ever dreamed of and more," said his son, Jaden, a walk-on junior guard who followed his dad from Indiana State.

"It's surreal, man. I've known my dad is a great coach since the D-II days. We've watched March Madness since we were little. So it's awesome watching it on this stage."

Overall, Schertz has won 77.8% of his games, ranking him eighth among active college coaches across all NCAA levels. In four seasons with Avila on the roster, he's gone 103-40. But this win stands alone.

"This was just a full-circle moment," said Gray. "I think this was what we deserved and honestly, what Robbie and coach deserved the most."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Saint Louis' NCAA Tournament blowout win was two years in the making

The five-match series is level at 1-1 after South Africa won the first matchby seven wicketsand New Zealandthe second by 68 runs.

Both teams made one lineup change. South Africa named right-arm pacer Lutho Sipamla in place of Ottneil Baartman while New Zealand recalled Bevon Jacobs in place of Josh Clarkson.

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New Zealand: Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Tim Robinson, Nick Kelly, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (captain), James Neesham, Cole McConchie, Kyle Jamieson, Ben Sears, Lockie Ferguson.

Wiaan Mulder, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen, Rubin Hermann, Jason Smith, Dian Forrester, George Linde, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj (captain), Nqobani Mokoena, Lutho Sipamla.

AP cricket:https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

APTOPIX Suns Spurs Basketball

That vow was fulfilled in dramatic fashion on Thursday night as San Antonio rallied in the final minute tobeat the Phoenix Suns 101-100and clinch its first playoff berth since 2019.

Victor Wembanyama's 17-foot, pullup jumper with a second left ended a six-season postseason drought as the Spurs secured a top-six finish in the Western Conference.

"When you're building something, it doesn't happen overnight," Johnson said. "It's not something that you get all these players and then you just say, 'Oh, damn, we good.' It took some time and it took some development. It took some growing up and those type of things. And slowly but surely we here."

San Antonio (52-18) is three games behind Oklahoma City (55-15) for the West's No. 1 seed.

A return to the postseason has stirred memories of the Spurs' historic run when they won five NBA championships while matching a league record with 22 straight postseason appearances beginning in 1998. The run was fueled by Hall of Famers David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, but the Spurs' fortunes changed as they retired.

San Antonio finished 22-60 in 2022-23 and in 2023-24, coming one win shy of matching a franchise record for futility in back-to-back seasons. The first resulted in the Spurs earning the No. 1 pick, which they used to select Wembanyama in 2023. The second led to the fourth pick in 2024, when they selected Stephon Castle.

San Antonio has built its depth around their back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners, including the additions of De'Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes along with rookie Dylan Harper and the retention of veterans Johnson, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie.

Still, Wembanyama has spurred San Antonio's resurgence. The 7-foot-4 center is averaging 24.3 points and 11.2 rebounds this season and is a leading candidate to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.

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Wembanyama had 34 points and 12 rebounds against Phoenix, sealing a furious final-minute rally with the game-winner over Oso Ighodaro.

"It was hard to take in all the stimulus around me," Wembanyama said. "I had the fans looking at me. I had this guy spill wine on me. And then that was before the end of the game. I'd made the shot. I would sprint back on defense and kind of hit a guy and I got wine on my shorts now. It was a lot going on."

The celebration continued after the game as Johnson grabbed a microphone and led the sellout crowd in an "M-V-P" chant for Wembanyama.

"I feel like, like I said out there, like I said in the interview, he's playing at an MVP type level," Johnson said. "And it's hard to deny when he's doing what he's doing on both ends of the court. And he's leading us night in and night out to win."

For his part, Wembanyama is happy but not satisfied with simply making the playoffs.

Wembanyama has said he wants the Spurs to win 60 games. He also believes San Antonio can improve offensively and defensively for what he hopes is a long postseason run.

"Of course, the first instinct is to be proud of it and to love it because we're part of it," Wembanyama said. "But the key for me is to try to not care because we want to attack 82 games. I'm scared to become complacent, so I'll be on the other end of the spectrum right now. Try to not care at all."

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Fans have been eagerly awaiting news aboutTravis KelceandTaylor Swift'swedding date and location ever since they got engaged last summer after dating for two years. While the couple has not revealed many details about their upcoming nuptials, sources have shared certain information about their wedding, revealing that they will tie the knot before Kelce's new football season begins.

Source dishes on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding plans

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who got engaged last summer in the backyard of the NFL star's Kansas mansion, have been tight-lipped about their upcoming nuptials, sharing only a few details about their ceremony. However, sources have now revealed a few new important details about their wedding to theDaily Mail, saying that the couple "will" tie the knot this summer before the new football season kicks off.

The tipster further added that even their loved ones are not aware of the venue and the wedding date. "Everybody [loved ones, close friends] has been told to put the summer on hold and they will find out the details right before the wedding," one insider told the outlet.

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Confirming the same, even a second source has said that the wedding of the pop icon and the NFL superstar will definitely take place before football season and that Kelce will be able to attend his full training camp schedule. The Chiefs' first practice is currently scheduled for July 22.

It was earlier speculated that Swift and Kelce would exchange vows at the singer's $17 million Rhode Island mansion on the weekend of June 13. However, as per the first source, the wedding "will take place someplace indoors," due to privacy issues. Additionally, the "whole thing will be recorded" so the couple can walk down memory lane whenever they want. The first source even revealed that Swift may share some of her moments with her fans.

But both tipsters have confirmed that the couple will have a "big" reception. And for the guest list, other than their respective families, Kelce's teammate Patrick Mahomes and wife Brittany Mahomes are expected to attend, as well as Swift's BFF Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco.

The postTaylor Swift To Marry Travis Kelce Before New Chiefs Season — Sourceappeared first onReality Tea.