USA Basketball has picked its lineup of coaches to assist Gregg Popovich at the men’s national team minicamp in Las Vegas this month.
Of the nine picks, seven are NBA assistant coaches: Golden State’s Mike Brown, Miami’s Dan Craig, Utah’s Alex Jensen, Boston’s Jay Larranaga, Dallas’ Jamahl Mosley, San Antonio’s Ime Udoka and Portland’s David Vanterpool.
Craig is a Chelmsford native who played basketball at Chelmsford High.
The other two slots went to top college head coaches, Villanova’s Jay Wright and Gonzaga’s Mark Few. It’s the first time the national team candidates will be together for a camp in advance of next year’s world championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Former NBA player Clifford Rozier has died following a heart attack in Bradenton, Fla. He was 45. Rozier was the 16th overall pick of the 1994 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. He played four seasons with the Warriors, the Toronto Raptors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
GOLF
Kraft fires 63, takes lead
Kelly Kraft is about to find out whether he’s ready to handle the lead entering the weekend for the first time on the PGA Tour. Kraft shot a 7-under 63 in the second round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier to take a one-stroke edge over first-round leader Webb Simpson and Anirban Lahiri.
Sei Young Kim birdied her first four holes to shoot a 7-under 65 and surge to the lead after the second round of the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Kim was at 16-under 128 — tied for the tour’s lowest of the season — and four shots ahead of Yu Liu.
BASEBALL
3 first-rounders don’t sign
The top draft picks of the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers failed to sign before Friday’s deadline, giving each of those teams an extra selection in the first round of next June’s amateur draft.
Atlanta failed to sign the eighth overall pick, right-hander Carter Stewart. Also failing to sign were shortstop Matt McLain, selected 25th by the Diamondbacks, and right-hander J.T. Ginn, taken 30th by the Dodgers.
Jenrry Mejia will get another opportunity to pitch in the major leagues. Nearly 21/2 years after becoming the first player to receive a lifetime suspension under Major League Baseball’s drug program, the New York Mets reliever was given conditional reinstatement and could return to the big leagues in 2019.
HOCKEY
Truck driver arrested
The driver of a semi-trailer that collided with a bus in an April crash that killed 16 people involved with a Canadian youth hockey team was arrested on criminal charges, authorities said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, was detained at his home in Calgary, Alberta, and would appear in a provincial court in Saskatchewan next week. He faces 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.
The crash occurred in Saskatchewan on April 6 as the bus was taking the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a playoff game.
