The NBA on Wednesday approved the sale of controlling interest of the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban to the families that run the Las Vegas Sands casino company.

The deal was approved just shy of a month since the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont announced their intention to buy the club. The purchase is in the valuation range of $3.5 billion.

Patrick Dumont, Adelson’s son-in-law and president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands company, will serve as Mavericks governor. Adelson is the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

Cuban is expected to maintain control of basketball operations, and there’s no indication the club will leave Dallas.

Cuban has said he wanted to partner with Las Vegas Sands with a long-range plan of building an arena in downtown Dallas that also would include a hotel and casino.

Gambling isn’t legal in Texas, and efforts to legalize it face steep odds. Still, Miriam Adelson has made no secret of her push to bring casino gambling to the Lone Star State.

Nuggets’ Gordon needs 21 stitches after dog bite >> Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon needed 21 stitches after suffering lacerations to his face and right hand while being bitten by a family dog on Christmas, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because details of the incident, first reported by The Athletic, haven’t been released. The Nuggets announced in a statement the 28-year-old “is in good condition” but will remain away from the team indefinitely to recover.

Gordon is averaging 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for the defending NBA champions. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 120-114 win over Golden State on Christmas.

Kohl, former US senator and owner of the Bucks, has died >> Herb Kohl, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team, has died. He was 88.

His death Wednesday was announced by Herb Kohl Philanthropies, which did not give a cause but said he died after a brief illness.

Kohl was a popular figure in Wisconsin, purchasing the Bucks to keep them from leaving town, and spending generously from his fortune on civic and educational causes throughout the state. He also used his money to fund his Senate races, allowing to him to portray himself as “nobody’s senator but yours.”

He was one of the richest members of the Senate, and the Senate’s only professional sports team owner.

MLB

Dodgers have reached deal with free-agent pitcher Yamamoto >> The Los Angeles Dodgers have finalized their 12-year contract with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, teaming the prized free agent with Shohei Ohtani in their prolific winter spending spree.

The Dodgers didn’t disclose the value of the contract they announced Wednesday, but several media reports have tagged it at $325 million. That deal would be the largest and longest ever guaranteed to a major league pitcher.

The 25-year-old Yamamoto was coveted by teams across the majors after he elected to leave the Orix Buffaloes this offseason. The big-budget, pitching-poor Dodgers landed him with a mammoth deal after already acquiring two-way AL MVP Ohtani and Tampa Bay right-hander Tyler Glasnow this month.