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Basketball
MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Timberwolves hired former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to be the team’s new coach and president of basketball operations.
Thibodeau was the most coveted coach on the market, and he’s bringing his unparalleled intensity and hard-driving approach to a franchise that has not made the playoffs since 2004. He won nearly 65 percent of his games in five seasons with the Bulls but was fired after last season amid speculation of a rift with general manager Gar Forman.
Team owner Glen Taylor, armed with one of the most promising young rosters in the league, turned 75 Wednesday and doesn’t want to wait around any longer for the team to become a winner.
San Antonio Spurs assistant GM Scott Layden will accompany Thibodeau to Minnesota and serve as the Wolves’ general manager and Thibodeau’s right-hand man in the front office.
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns will retain Earl Watson as head coach for next season.
Watson was named interim coach after Jeff Hornacek was fired Feb. 1.
The team went 9-24 under Watson, finishing the season with the second-worst record in franchise history. But Watson has said he was told he would not be judged on wins and losses because of the injury-depleted roster he inherited but on other factors, including how hard the team played.
The 36-year-old Watson, who played in the NBA for 13 seasons, is the league’s youngest coach.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, who went from New York City playground wonder to Big East star for Jim Boeheim at Syracuse, died Wednesday of cancer. He was 52.
He had been coping with medical problems since a brain tumor was first diagnosed in 1995 and recently required around-the-clock medical coverage and a wheelchair to move around.
Washington had surgery last August to address the recurrence of a brain tumor. The first tumor, 21 years ago, was benign.
Cycling
COLORADO SPRINGS – Olympic veterans Alise Post and Brooke Crain were joined by medal hopefuls Nic Long and Corben Sharrah on Wednesday on the U.S. team headed for the BMX world championships in Colombia next month.
Post and Crain were joined by Felicia Stancil in earning automatic nominations, while Dani George was chosen to round out of the four-rider women’s team.
Long and Sharrah were joined by Justin Posey and Jeff Upshaw on the men’s squad.
The competition in Medellin, scheduled for May 25-29, could have significant ramifications for the team the U.S. sends to the Rio Olympics in August.
NHL
CHICAGO – The NHL suspended Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw for one game Wednesday for yelling an anti-gay slur from the penalty box and fined him $5,000 for an inappropriate gesture toward the officials during Chicago’s Game 4 loss at home to the St. Louis Blues.
Shaw will miss Game 5 Thursday in St. Louis, and he will be required to undergo sensitivity training, according to the NHL announcement that came only hours after he quietly apologized for his outburst the previous night.
Speaking moments before the team left for St. Louis, Shaw said he couldn’t sleep after the game and watching video of his behavior was difficult.
Associated Press
