Sports briefs
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Detroit Pistons fire
coach Monty Williams after one season
The Detroit Pistons fired coach Monty Williams on Wednesday after just one season that ended with an NBA-worst 14-68 record.
“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course moving forward.”
Last season was the first in what was a six-year, $78.5 million contract for Williams — one that, at the time, was the richest ever given to an NBA coach. The team started a front office rebuild when the season ended, including the hiring of Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations, the departure of general manager Troy Weaver and now a vacancy at head coach.
The firing continues a wildly strange run for Williams. In 2021, as coach of the Suns, he went to the NBA Finals, where Phoenix led 2-0 before falling in six games to Milwaukee. In 2022, he was the NBA’s coach of the year in runaway voting. In 2023, the Suns fired him and now, in 2024, the Pistons have done the same.
The record for total value of a coaching contract has since been eclipsed; Miami gave Erik Spoelstra an eight-year extension worth $120 million earlier this year.
This was, by any measure, a disaster of a season for the Pistons. They started 2-1 and didn’t win another game for the next two months.
A 28-game losing streak, the longest ever in a single season in NBA history and tied for the longest ever when factoring in multiple seasons, turned the season into a debacle. The Pistons’ longest winning streak was two games (done on three occasions) and the roster was constantly in flux. Detroit used 31 different players over the course of the season and 36 different starting lineups and lost 39 times by double digits.
The vacancy in Detroit is the third active one in the NBA, with Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers still seeking coaches. The Pistons’ move comes a week before the start of the NBA draft, with Detroit set to make the fifth overall pick on June 26 — someone that should be able to further enhance a young core led by Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
Those players, all 22 or younger, were the only three Pistons to start at least 60 games this past season.
“We are unwavering in our commitment to bring a championship-caliber team to Detroit,” Gores said. “We will be diligent and swift in our search for a new head coach to lead our exciting young core of players and will continue our vision towards building a best-in-class front office that will help us achieve sustainable success.”
Pascal Siakam, Pacers agree on $189M, four-year contract
Pascal Siakam intends to sign a four-year, $189.5 million contract to remain with the Indiana Pacers when the NBA’s offseason moratorium is lifted in early July, a person with knowledge of the talks between the sides told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither the player nor the club may announce the agreement by league rule. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, was first to report that Siakam decided to remain with the Pacers.
Free agency does not begin until June 30, but this agreement was not in violation of any league rules. Under terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, teams could start speaking to their own free agents one day after the conclusion of the NBA Finals. And the Pacers were clear going into the offseason that retaining Siakam was a top priority, so it was no surprise that they wanted to begin official talks quickly.
“The first very important step is to begin recruiting Pascal Siakam in earnest,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said a few weeks ago, shortly after the Pacers’ season ended. “That will start today with exit meetings. He’s a great player. He was tremendous for us.”
Siakam — a two-time All-Star and part of the Toronto team that won the 2019 NBA title — would be in line to make about $42 million next season and around $53 million in 2027-28, the final year of the new deal.
The Pacers acquired the 30-year-old power forward in a January trade, and he quickly became a major part of the team that would reach the Eastern Conference finals before falling to eventual NBA champion Boston. Siakam shot 55% from the field and 38% from 3-point range in 41 regular-season games with Indiana this past season.
Counting his time in Toronto, Siakam averaged 21.7 points and 7.1 rebounds this past season. The Pacers will have him and guard Tyrese Haliburton — who is about to enter the start of a $245 million, five-year deal that was agreed upon last summer — as their franchise cornerstones going forward.
Carlisle said he still considered this past season to be Year 2 of a rebuild in Indiana, but he noted that the acquisitions of Siakam and Haliburton (who was traded to Indiana in February 2022) fast-tracked the plan.
“The fact that all these pieces fit well together put us in a strong position this year,” Carlisle said when the season ended.
Aaron Judge out
of Yankees’ lineup
against Orioles
NEW YORK | Aaron Judge was out of the New York Yankees’ starting lineup Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles, one night after he was hit on the left hand by a pitch.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Judge was feeling better, though, and even took swings in the indoor batting cage.
“I think it’s day to day,” Boone said. “It was probably close today.”
Trent Grisham was set to replace Judge in center field and bat ninth. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was scheduled to make his season debut after recovering from a right elbow injury.
Judge was struck by a 94.1 mph fastball from Baltimore starter Albert Suárez during New York’s 4-2 win Tuesday night. The slugger left the game an inning later, but X-rays and a CT scan were negative, so it appears he avoided serious injury.
“Feeling better after I got some good news,” Judge said Tuesday night after returning to Yankee Stadium from New York–Presbyterian Hospital. “A big relief. Just being hit there before a couple of years ago and breaking the wrist, you never know what’s going to happen. So finding out that it’s not fractured, not broken, is definitely a sigh of relief.”
Judge missed 45 games with a broken right wrist after he was hit by a 93.4 mph pitch from Kansas City’s Jakob Junis on July 26, 2018.
Judge is batting .302 and leads the major leagues with 26 homers and 64 RBIs. The 32-year-old outfielder is a five-time All-Star and was the 2022 AL MVP after hitting 62 home runs to break the AL record of 61 by Roger Maris set in 1961.
Another big star, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, broke his left hand Sunday when hit by a pitch from Dan Altavilla of the Kansas City Royals and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
“Anytime you get hit by 94, 95 up and in like that and especially in the hands where there’s so many small bones,” Judge said, “you just never know what’s going to happen and what it’s going to be.”
LA Sparks rookie Cameron Brink tears
ACL in left knee
UNCASVILLE, Conn. | Los Angeles rookie Cameron Brink tore the ACL in her left knee, the Sparks announced Wednesday.
The rookie forward had to be helped off the court after suffering the injury in the first quarter of the Sparks’ 79-70 loss to Connecticut on Tuesday night. Brink played under four minutes and committed one foul before getting hurt.
Once over to the sideline, the No. 2 pick in the draft hobbled toward the locker room, but was forced to stop as a result of the pain. A pair of Sparks personnel lifted Brink off her feet and carried her to the locker room.
The 22-year-old Brink came into the game averaging 8.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in her first season for Los Angeles (4-11). She’s tied with A’ja Wilson for the second-most blocks in the WNBA.
“Except for the 2019 season I’ve lost a starter to injury every single year I’ve been a head coach in this league,” Curt Miller said. “You just have to have the mentality of next person up and rally around it.”
Brink is on the U.S. 3×3 team for the Paris Olympics and a replacement will have to be named for her.
“Our thoughts are with Cameron as we wish her a speedy recovery. As a result of Cam’s injury, USA Basketball will begin the process of selecting an athlete to join the 2024 USA 3×3 Women’s National Team,” USA Basketball said in a statement. “We hope to see Cam back on the court and representing the red, white and blue soon.”
It’s the second consecutive Olympics that the U.S. team will have to replace one of its original players. Katie Lou Samuelson missed the 2021 Tokyo Games after she caught COVID right before the Olympics. She was replaced by Jackie Young, who helped the team go on to win a gold medal.
The Sparks head to New York to play two games against the Liberty on Thursday and Saturday.
Andy Murray unsure of readiness for Wimbledon after back injury
LONDON | Andy Murray retired from his second-round match at Queen’s Club because of a back injury on Wednesday, raising doubts about what is expected to be his final Wimbledon appearance.
The 37-year-old Murray stopped playing while trailing Jordan Thompson 4-1, and the former No. 1 player said he’d get scans on Thursday.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who has signaled his intention to retire later this year, said he “wouldn’t know” about whether he’ll be ready when play starts July 1 at the All England Club.
Murray, who has won the Queen’s Club title five times, said he was experiencing problems with his right leg even before getting to the court. He was in obvious pain during the warmup and into the match.
After three games, Murray received treatment on his surgically repaired right hip, right knee and lower back.
Earlier, Sebastian Korda beat former Queen’s Club champion Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinals at the grass-court tournament.
Korda, who reached the final on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week as he prepares for Wimbledon, won their second-round match 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
“It was a big struggle. We were both serving well and waiting for our chances and there weren’t many. But when they came, I tried to take them,” said the 23rd-ranked Korda. “It is incredible playing at Queen’s, it is one of my favorite tournaments.”
Dimitrov won the Queen’s Club title in 2014.
It was Korda’s seventh victory over a Top 10 opponent. He will next take on Rinky Hijikata for a spot in the semifinals. Hijikata defeated Italian player Matteo Arnaldi 7-6 (0), 7-6 (7).
—From AP reports
