Wilkens Honored

Former Sonics coach, player, and general franchise icon Lenny Wilkens will be inducted into the African American Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 2 at a ceremony in Bellevue.

In addition to Wilkens, such renowed Seattle names as Zaid Abdul-Aziz, Otis Sistrunk, Lorenzo Romar, and James Donaldson will be honored at the event, held at The Outback Steakhouse. Ticket information for the event can be found here. According to the foundation's website, the AAESHOF is dedicated to the development of opportunities for young, less fortunate youth to gain exposure to positive aspects of life, and to broaden the public's understanding of African American/Ethnic history and the role of diversity and cultural tolerance in the growth of professional sports.

Donaldson To Make Announcement

Mike Seely of Seattle Weekly provides an in-depth look at James Donaldson's quest for the mayoral chair in Seattle, including news that the former Sonic will officially announce his candidacy tomorrow (March 26).

Donaldson has a tough road to travel, as incumbent Greg Nickels has deep pockets and exceptional name recognition. Still, the 7'2" Donaldson received this eye-opening bit of praise from former Tacoma mayor Brian Ebersole:

"He's one of the most modest, kind, sincere, wonderful, good-to-the-core people I know. You feel like you're in the presence of greatness, like the Dalai Lama or Jesus Christ."

Alright then.

Donaldson Eyes Mayor's Seat

As per today's Seattle Times, former Sonic James Donaldson is exploring the possibility of running against incumbent Greg Nickels in this year's mayoral election in Seattle. Donaldson, who earlier announced his intention to run for city council, said he would make a decision within the next two to three weeks on his decision to run for mayor.

At 7'2", Donaldson would obviously become the tallest mayor in the country (world? checking various sub-Saharan African cities) should he pull off the upset over Nickels, but I couldn't help but ponder a bizarre bit of trivia upon hearing of his plans.

With former Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson in Sacramento's mayoral chair, and the possibility of Donaldson in Seattle's, and with Sacto facing the possibility of losing their team in the near future (I'm not saying it will happen, but bear with me here), it's entirely possible that the only two cities in the United States with former NBA players as mayors would be the two most recent cities in the United States to lose their NBA teams.

And, maybe, if I'm living in Detroit, I think twice about voting for Dave Bing.