Milwaukee Bucks forward Pete Nance drives on Phoenix Suns forward Oso Ighodaro (11) during a game Saturday in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Bucks waive

Cam Thomas

(AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks requested waivers on guard Cam Thomas and converted forward/center Pete Nance, who had been on a two-way deal, to a multi-year standard NBA contract.

Nance, 26, had averaged 4.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 12.1 minutes in 37 games while playing on a two-way deal.

The 24-year-old Thomas signed with the Bucks on Feb. 8 after the Brooklyn Nets had waived him.

Thomas scored 34 points in a 116-108 victory at Orlando in his Bucks debut and had 27 points in a 139-118 win at New Orleans nine days later, but his role eventually decreased. He didn’t play at all in back-to-back games with Indiana and Cleveland last week.

NBA eyes

expansion

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has finally decided to consider expanding past its current 30-team footprint, with the league’s owners voting Wednesday to start exploring the process of adding franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle.

It was not a surprise move; expansion has been a consideration for years, and it’s been clear for some time that those two cities are the ones that are now a significant step closer toward joining the league. Las Vegas has been clamoring for an NBA team since at least the late 1990s, if not even longer. And Seattle has been waiting for the SuperSonics to return for nearly two decades.

San Jose

pressured

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Trump administration has given San Jose State University 10 days to change its policy on transgender athletes or face legal action and possibly lose federal funding. The U.S. Education Department gave the school the ultimatum in a letter on Tuesday.

The department found that San Jose State violated Title IX by letting a transgender athlete play on the women’s volleyball team. Assistant Secretary Kimberly Richey says the department offered options to resolve the violations, including separating athletes by the administration’s definitions of male and female. The California State University system and San Jose State say Title IX prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals.

Shiffrin

takes title

HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin secured a record-tying sixth women’s overall World Cup skiing title by holding off a challenge from emerging German rival Emma Aicher in the final race of the season. Shiffrin needed only to finish in the top 15 of a giant slalom and the American standout secured that before Aicher even began her second run.

Shiffrin finished 11th and Aicher finished 12th. The 31-year-old Shiffrin matched Austrian downhill great Annemarie Moser-Pröll who won her six titles in the 1970s. It’s been another stellar season for Shiffrin after she also claimed the third Olympic gold of her career by dominating the slalom at the Milan Cortina Games.

Benetti

in spotlight

(AP) — When NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood learned in November that his network would be back doing baseball, he immediately knew who he wanted as his play-by-play voice and the format for it. Viewers will get their first look and listen on Thursday when NBC has an opening day doubleheader.

The prime time game between the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers and Diamondbacks will be Jason Benetti’s debut as the network’s lead baseball announcer. Benetti will be the voice of “Sunday Night Baseball,” which moves to NBC and Peacock after 26 seasons on ESPN. He handled play-by-play for the “MLB Sunday Leadoff” package on Peacock in 2022.