CHICAGO — Doug Collins, who guided the Chicago Bulls and a young Michael Jordan from 1986-89 but couldn’t get them past Detroit in the playoffs, has talked with the team about returning as coach.
“I have spoken with Bulls management recently about their head coaching vacancy and will resume conversations after the conclusion of my work for TNT in the Western Conference finals,” Collins said Thursday. “There is no agreement in place.”
Chicago has had a vacancy since interim coach Jim Boylan was fired after the end of a 33-49 season.
• Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton is questionable for tonight’s Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals because of a strained right elbow.
• The NBA had seven black top executives among its 30 teams during the 2007-08 season, the highest percentage of minority presidents and CEOs in men’s professional sports history. The 23 percent of black executives helped the NBA receive the first overall “A” among men’s sports teams, according to the report issued by Richard Lapchick, the head of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport.
Track coach convicted in BALCO investigation
SAN FRANCISCO — Track coach Trevor Graham was found guilty of one count of lying to federal investigators about his relationship to a steroids dealer.
Jurors could not reach a verdict on two other counts, including whether Graham set up his athletes with drugs obtained from Angel “Memo” Heredia.
This marked the first significant setback at trial for the federal government in its investigation stemming from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative doping scandal.
Graham is the second person from the BALCO scandal to be convicted at trial. Former cyclist Tammy Thomas was found guilty in April of lying to a federal grand jury when she denied taking steroids.
Footnotes.
Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports agreed to a two-year contract extension with Dupont that keeps the four-time Cup champion with the only primary sponsor he’s had through 2010.
• Elliott Sadler and Gillett Evernham Motorsports agreed to a multiyear contract extension that will keep the Sprint Cup driver in the No. 19 Dodge.
• Big Brown went for another gallop around Belmont Park and remains “right on target” for the Belmont Stakes even though the slight crack in his left front hoof has not completely healed.
• Hannu Manninen of Finland retired after a career in which he won 45 individual races, more than any other Nordic combined skier.
• Jens Voigt of Germany won the 18th stage of the Giro d’Italia after a breakaway, and Alberto Contador of Spain kept the overall lead for a fourth day.
• Soccer’s governing body lifted its international ban on Iraq, allowing Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Australia to be played.
• Sven Davidson, Sweden’s first Grand Slam winner and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, died of pneumonia Wednesday in Arcadia, Calif. He was 79.
The Associated Press
