Cycling
Viviani takes Stage 2; Veilleux leads at Dauphine
OYONNAX, France – Elia Viviani of Italy won the second stage of the Dauphine Libere race in a sprint finish Monday, and David Veilleux of Canada kept the overall lead.
Viviani held off Gianni Meersman of Belgium and Tony Gallopin of France. He was timed in 4 hours, 39 minutes, 15 seconds for the 118-mile ride from the French Alpine village of Chatel to Oyonnax in eastern France.
Four riders broke away from the main pack shortly after the start: Frenchmen Thomas Damuseau, Arnaud Gerard and Rudy Molard and Portugal’s Jose Mendes. Molard lasted the longest, eventually being caught a little more than 9 miles out. Viviani attacked about 1.2 miles from the line.
Veilleux keeps the yellow jersey, leading Meersman by 1:56 and Gallopin by 1:57.
NBA
Kidd shared award with Hill, now shares retirement
NEW YORK – Jason Kidd retired Monday from the NBA after 19 seasons, ending one of the greatest careers for a point guard in league history.
Kidd won an NBA title and two Olympic gold medals, is second on the career list in assists and steals, and was a 10-time All-Star. But he struggled badly in the playoffs for the Knicks shortly after turning 40 and decided to walk away with two years and more than $6 million left on the deal he signed last summer.
“My time in professional basketball has been an incredible journey, but one that must come to an end after 19 years,” Kidd said in a statement released by the Knicks. “As I reflect on my time with the four teams I represented in the NBA, I look back fondly at every season and thank each every one of my teammates and coaches that joined me on the court.”
His retirement comes two days after fellow 40-year-old Grant Hill, with whom Kidd shared Rookie of the Year honors in 1995, announced his retirement.
Kidd went on from there to have big impacts on every team he joined. He led the longtime-losing Nets to two NBA Finals in 2002-03, helped the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 title, and was on the first Knicks team to reach the second round of the playoffs since 2000.
He averaged 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.93 steals in a career that also included a stop in Phoenix.
Hollins wants to keep coaching in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Lionel Hollins doesn’t want to talk to any other NBA teams and wants to continue coaching the Memphis Grizzlies.
Hollins said Monday on Sports 56 WHBQ-AM in Memphis he thought everything was good after a meeting with team owner Robert Pera and chief executive officer Jason Levien a few days ago, but then heard the Grizzlies had given him permission to talk to other teams.
“People need to know from my perspective that I don’t want to talk to any other teams,” Hollins said. “I want to be here. I told ... the media after our exit interviews that if the team offered me a contract that I felt was fair, I’d sign it the next day.”
The Grizzlies declined to comment.
Milwaukee tabs Larry Drew to lead its crew of Bucks
MILWAUKEE – Larry Drew is going to get plenty of time to explore Milwaukee now that he’s the head coach of the Bucks.
Drew was introduced as the Bucks new coach Monday, less than a week after his tenure in Atlanta came to an awkward end with the hiring of his replacement. Drew says he’s not that familiar with the city of Milwaukee, having gone from the airport to the hotel to the arena in most of his previous trips here. But what he’s seen in the last few weeks really has impressed him.
And he’s really impressed with Milwaukee’s young talent, and eager to start working with them.
Drew said he plans to get to work right away, and hopes to build a Bucks team Milwaukee will be proud of.
Associated Press
