Monday Sports in Brief

NBA

CLEVELAND (AP) - John Beilein left Michigan following a successful 12-year run to take his shot in the NBA, signing a five-year contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.

The 66-year-old Beilein wasn’t thought to be on the team’s radar, but the Cavs are confident he’s the right choice to continue their rebuild and get them back to relevance following a 19-63 season.

The deal with Beilein came together quickly and was finalized Sunday after the Cavs had spent the weekend in Denver interviewing several NBA assistants.

The Cavs were able to lure Beilein away from Michigan, where he was the winningest coach in school history with a 278-150 record in 12 seasons. He had talks with the Detroit Pistons last year when they were in the market for a new coach, but Beilein said he was never offered that job.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Brett Brown survived a 10-win season to steer the Philadelphia 76ers toward the top of the Eastern Conference. He’ll get another chance to try and finish the championship chase.

The 76ers called a 9 a.m. press conference Tuesday at their complex in Camden, New Jersey, with owner Josh Harris and general manager Elton Brand where they’ll discuss their plans for the offseason, and how Brown fits in for the future. ESPN reported Monday night Brown will return as coach next season.

The Sixers - who rebuilt their roster with two blockbuster trades - were knocked out of the Eastern Conference semifinal for the second straight season on Sunday.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - The Los Angeles Lakers have officially named Frank Vogel as coach, two days after the sides agreed to terms.

The team announced the hiring Monday and will hold an introductory press conference May 20 at its facility. The Lakers said in a release that Vogel has signed a multiyear contract but a person familiar with the hiring said it was a three-year contract. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because they weren’t allowed to publicly discuss terms.

-By AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy.

BASEBALL

BOSTON (AP) - Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia had his minor league injury rehab assignment put on hold following a setback with his lingering left knee injury.

Pedroia was scratched from a game with Double-A Portland on Saturday, and his return from the rehab assignment was announced Monday.

The veteran infielder has played just nine games over the past two seasons since having surgery to replace cartilage in his left knee after the 2017 season.

HORSE RACING

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Jockey Luis Saez was suspended for 15 days for failing to control Maximum Security and causing interference that resulted in the horse’s historic disqualification as the Kentucky Derby winner.

The decision by the Kentucky stewards was announced by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. A lawyer for Saez said the suspension is “unwarranted” and that the rider’s legal team will file an appeal within 10 days. They are also seeking a stay of the penalty pending appeal.

Saez was cited for failing to “make the proper effort to maintain a straight course” in the May 4 race at Churchill Downs. Country House, a 65-1 shot was elevated and declared the winner. It was the first time the horse finishing first at the Derby was disqualified for interference. Maximum Security was placed 17th of 19 horses.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

This season’s Orange Bowl is moving to Dec. 30, with a prime-time kickoff, after originally being scheduled to be played the afternoon of New Year’s Day.

The Orange Bowl has traditionally been played at night, but the earlier kickoff was initially planned when it became part of the six-bowl rotation that hosts the College Football Playoff. The Orange Bowl will not be hosting a national semifinal this season. Had it stayed on Jan. 1, the Orange Bowl would have been competing against other traditional New Year’s Day games and kicked off around 1 p.m. EST.

The switch gives it an exclusive television window on Monday night, two days after the CFP semifinals are played on Dec. 28.

HOCKEY

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler is expected to miss the upcoming season after undergoing right hip resurfacing surgery last week.

The Ducks said the surgery was performed May 9 by Dr. Edwin Su in New York. The procedure is less invasive than a full hip replacement and does allow for the possibility for the 34-year old Kesler to resume his career following a lengthy recovery.

GOLF

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Justin Thomas withdrew from the PGA Championship on Monday, saying he was not willing to risk more pain in his right wrist by returning before it’s fully healed.

Thomas, who won the PGA Championship two years ago at Quail Hollow, will miss a major for the first time since his rookie season in 2015.

He is dealing with a bone bruise first suffered in the Honda Classic when he intentionally struck a tree on his follow-through. He felt he aggravated it during the final round of the Masters, though he said it wasn’t on any particular shot.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Steve Stricker ran away with his first senior major, closing with a 4-under 68 for a six-shot victory at the weather-delayed Regions Tradition.

Stricker led by two shots heading into the final round at Greystone’s Founders Course and went bogey-free on Monday, finishing at 18-under 270. It was the fourth win in 18 PGA Tour Champions starts for the Ryder Cup captain, who continues to play regularly on the PGA Tour.

Billy Andrade, Paul Goydos and David Toms tied for second, but no one challenged Stricker down the stretch.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Discovery Inc. purchased Golf Digest on Monday in a deal that will provide exclusive content from Tiger Woods and strengthen its relationship with the PGA Tour as it sets out to build golf’s largest digital network.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement comes nearly one year after Discovery signed a $2 billion deal with the PGA Tour to deliver golf content directly to 220 markets outside the United States over the next 12 years. It then signed Woods to a partnership and formed GolfTV, for which Woods provides content not found anywhere else.

TENNIS

American tennis player Nicole Gibbs says she will miss the French Open because of surgery for salivary gland cancer.

The 26-year-old Gibbs wrote on Twitter that the procedure is scheduled for Friday and her goal is to return for Wimbledon qualifying in late June.

Gibbs, who was born in Ohio and is based in California, reached the third round at the 2014 U.S. Open and 2017 Australian Open. Her career-best ranking was 68th in 2016. She is currently 116th. She won NCAA singles and team titles at Stanford.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) - Central Michigan softball coach Margo Jonker is retiring after 40 seasons and 1,268 victories.

The school announced Jonker’s retirement Monday. She’s ninth on the Division I list in career wins.

Jonker’s 1982 team set a Mid-American Conference record with 51 wins and finished fourth at the AIAW national championships. In 1987, Central Michigan finished fifth at the Women’s College World Series.

COURTS

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Prosecutors cannot use secretly recorded video allegedly showing New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft engaging in massage parlor sex, a judge ruled Monday, striking a serious blow to their case charging him with soliciting prostitutes.

In his 10-page ruling, Judge Leonard Hanser wrote that Jupiter police detectives and the judge who issued the search warrant allowing the secret installation of cameras at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter did not do enough to minimize the invasion of privacy of other customers, some of whom only received legal massages. If upheld on appeal, it could lead to prosecutors dropping two second-degree misdemeanor counts. Kraft, 77, has pleaded not guilty but issued a public apology.

MIAMI (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped charges against star fighter Conor McGregor after he allegedly smashed a fan’s phone outside a Miami hotel.

The State Attorney’s Office said Monday the victim has stopped cooperating with investigators and has recanted his story. The Miami Herald reports the fan, Ahmed Abdirzak, dropped his civil lawsuit with McGregor after reaching a settlement.

The 30-year-old fighter was arrested in March. According to a lawsuit, Abdirzak and other fans were taking video of McGregor outside a hotel when the fighter allegedly punched the phone out of Abdirzak’s hand, repeatedly stomped on it and walked off with it in his pocket.

OBITUARY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Longtime NFL coach Gunther Cunningham, who emigrated from postwar Germany as a child and then dedicated his life to football, has died after a brief illness. He was 72.

Cunningham’s wife, Rene, said in a statement that he died Saturday.

Cunningham spoke no English when his family arrived in the U.S., and he was ridiculed for both his accent and ancestry as a child. But he developed into a standout prep football player in California and earned a scholarship to play linebacker at Oregon.

He eventually coached the Ducks along with Arkansas, Stanford and California before spending time in the CFL. He arrived in the NFL as an assistant with the Colts in 1982, then worked with the Chargers and Raiders before making a name for himself with the Kansas City Chiefs.

He went 16-16 during two years as their head coach.

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