Deaths of note from around the world:

Marty Blake, 86: National Basketball Association executive and scout extraordinaire famed for his keen eye for talent, relentless appetite for scouring remote gymnasiums and encyclopedic memory — all of which made him perhaps the most valuable scout in NBA history. Blake’s career in basketball lasted 60 years from the heyday Bob Cousy to the era of LeBron James. He became general manager of the Milwaukee Hawks in 1954 and stayed with the franchise during its subsequent moves to St. Louis in 1955 and Atlanta in 1968. He formed his own scouting service in 1970, which eventually employed more than 60 scouts who reported on hundreds of draft-eligible players. Among the players discovered by Blake at obscure colleges were future NBA stars Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen. Died Sunday in Alpharetta, Ga.

Stan Isaacs, 82: Longtime sports reporter and columnist for Newsday. Isaacs was one of a group of young reporters in the 1960s, mainly in New York, who brought irreverence and daring to sports reporting. Isaacs covered Roger Maris’ record-breaking season with the Yankees in 1961 and the early days of the New York Mets. He wrote his last Newsday column in 1992 but was most recently writing for the website TheColumnists.com, where his final column ran April 1. Isaacs died the next day In Haverford, Pa.

Ralph Sanchez, 64: Cuban-born businessman who brought auto racing to the streets of Miami, Fla., in the 1980s and later built and operated the Homestead-Miami Speedway. The track opened in 1995 and hosts more than 280 events each year, including the season-ending Nascar events. Died April 1 in Coral Gables, Fla.