NBA
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Kidd is returning to Dallas to replace the coach he won a championship with as the point guard of the Mavericks 10 years ago.
A person with direct knowledge of the agreement said Kidd and the Mavericks agreed on a contract Friday, eight days after Rick Carlisle resigned abruptly in the wake of general manager Donnie Nelson’s departure. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.
The Mavericks have also found Nelson’s replacement in Nike executive Nico Harrison, who will carry the titles of GM and president of basketball operations, the person told AP.
— By AP Sports Writer Schuyler Dixon.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The Portland Trail Blazers have settled on Los Angeles Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups as their new coach but the deal has not been finalized, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday.
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The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the offer had not been formally announced. The Athletic reported that Billups had accepted the job but contract negotiations were ongoing.
Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals MVP and a five-time NBA All-Star over a 17-year playing career, has never been a head coach.
— By AP Sports Writer Anne M. Peterson.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Vanderbilt will advance to the College World Series finals after North Carolina State was forced to drop out because of COVID-19 protocols, the NCAA announced early Saturday.
NC State had only 13 players available during its 3-1 loss to the Commodores on Friday. The teams were scheduled to meet again Saturday afternoon in a winner-take-all Bracket 1 final.
The NCAA Division I Baseball Committee declared that game a no-contest.
NHL
PHOENIX (AP) — Liam Kirk has turned a star performance with Britain at the ice hockey world championship into a rookie contract with the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL.
Britain faced elite competition at the recent tournament in Latvia and Kirk was the tournament’s joint-top goalscorer with Calgary Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane of Canada — both with seven in seven games.
The Coyotes selected Kirk in the 2018 NHL draft, making him the first player born and trained in England to be drafted.
After the world championship the Coyotes rewarded the 21-year-old Kirk with a three-year entry-level contract. He leaves for Arizona later this summer.
TENNIS
Defending champion Novak Djokovic and eight-time titlist Roger Federer were placed on opposite halves of the Wimbledon bracket in Friday’s draw, meaning they only could meet in the final — which would be a rematch of their epic 2019 title showdown.
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The reigning women’s champion, No. 3-ranked Simona Halep, pulled out of the field just before the draw began, citing a torn left calf that also forced her to sit out the French Open. That means two of the top three players in the WTA rankings are missing from the field; No. 2 Naomi Osaka withdrew last week.
Two of the top five men are out, too: No. 3 Rafael Nadal, a two-time champion at Wimbledon, and No. 5 Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champ.
While Djokovic pursues Slam No. 20, Serena Williams will once again take a shot at No. 24, which would tie her with Margaret Court for the most major singles titles in tennis history.
Williams, seeded No. 6, will open against 100th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who reached Wimbledon’s fourth round in 2018.
OLYMPICS
TOKYO (AP) — A “no-spectator games” remains an option for the Tokyo Olympics, which open officially in just four weeks, the president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Friday.
The admission by Seiko Hashimoto comes only four days after she announced on Monday that up to 10,000 local fans would be allowed into venues — with numbers not to exceed 50% of venue capacity regardless of indoor or outdoor events.
Organizers put off the decision on local fans for several months, and fans from abroad were banned months ago.
BOXING
LONDON (AP) — Anthony Joshua will defend his heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk on Sept. 25 in London.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, made the announcement on Friday.
Joshua, holder of the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles, was to have an all-British showdown with Tyson Fury this summer but a legal ruling in the United States wrecked a proposed unification fight in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 14.
An arbitration hearing upheld a claim from fellow heavyweight Deontay Wilder that he was contractually owed a third fight with WBC champion Fury. They will meet again on July 24 in Las Vegas.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos abruptly announced his retirement Friday, saying he will step down next week.
The announcement came as a surprise because the 70-year-old Moos has said publicly he wanted to stay in the job until he was comfortable the Cornhuskers football program had been turned around.
Moos had told the Lincoln Journal Star late last year he had no plans to retire before his contract expired in December 2022.
OBITUARY
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jack Ingram, a hard-hosed, hot-tempered racer who won five NASCAR championships and more than 300 races, has died, the NASCAR Hall of Fame said Friday. He was 84.
No details were released by the Hall of Fame. A 2014 inductee, Ingram lived in the Asheville area and had been hospitalized in May.
Nicknamed the “Iron Man” for his relentless pursuit on the race track, Ingram dominated NASCAR Sportsman competition during the 1970s. He won three consecutive championships from 1972 to 1974 and continued to compete when the series underwent a transformation and became what is now known as the Xfinity Series.
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