NBA
Chicago star Noah wins the defensive player of the year
NEW YORK – Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah won the 2013-14 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Noah, who averaged 11.3 points and 1.51 blocks, joins Michael Jordan in 1988 as the only Bulls players to win the award. Other top candidates for the award included Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.
Knicks fire head coach Woodson; Kerr top candidate
NEW YORK – One month after Phil Jackson was hired as New York Knicks president to turn the flagship franchise into a winner again, head coach Mike Woodson was fired.
The move had been expected since Jackson’s arrival, with the notion of a long and unexpected playoff run likely Woodson’s only hope for being retained. But with the Knicks finishing 37-45 and missing the playoffs one season after going 54-28 and reaching the second round, Woodson – who had one year left on his contract – is out, along with his entire staff.
And now the Steve Kerr watch begins.
The TNT analyst who won three of his five championships as a player with Jackson’s Chicago Bulls is known to be a top candidate for the job.
Profanity costs Raptors GM a large chunk of money
NEW YORK – The NBA has fined Toronto Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri $25,000 for using profanity in a public place.
Ujiri was speaking at a public rally Saturday before the Raptors hosted the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their first round playoff series when he used an expletive. He later apologized.
Minnesota’s Rick Adelman steps down after 23 years
MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman has decided to retire after 23 seasons in the NBA.
Adelman made the announcement Monday, five days after the Wolves wrapped up a disappointing 40-42 season.
The decision brings to an end to a celebrated coaching career that includes 1,042 victories, eighth on the NBA’s career list. He coached Western Conference powers in Portland and Sacramento and also had stops in Golden State and Houston.
NFL
Seahawks make a trade with the Raiders for QB Pryor
ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders traded quarterback Terrelle Pryor to Seattle.
Oakland sent the third-year player to the Super Bowl champions Monday. Terms of the deal were not immediately announced.
Pryor was a third-round pick in the 2011 supplemental draft out of Ohio State. He started nine games last season, going 3-6, sharing the job with undrafted rookie free agent Matt McGloin.
Pryor went 156-for-272 for 1,798 yards, seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Running
American man victorious in emotional Boston Marathon
BOSTON – “The Star-Spangled Banner” played over Boylston Street in honor of an American winner of the Boston Marathon.
One year after a bombing there killed three people and left more than 260 injured, Meb Keflezigh added Boston to a résumé that includes the New York City Marathon title in 2009 and a silver medal in the 2004 Olympics.
Running just two weeks before his 39th birthday, he had the names of the 2013 bombing victims on his bib.
Keflezighi completed the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the finish on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay on Monday in a personal-best 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds. He held off Kenya’s Wilson Chebet, who finished 11 seconds behind.
Rita Jeptoo of Kenya successfully defended the women’s title she said she could not enjoy a year ago. Jeptoo finished in a course-record 2 hours, 18 minutes, 57 seconds. She is a three-time Boston Marathon champion, having also won in 2006.
Associated Press
