Steve Nash adds Mike D’Antoni to Brooklyn Nets’ coaching staff
Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash, who soon will be embarking on his first season on the bench, filled out his coaching staff Friday by adding Mike D’Antoni and Amar’e Stoudemire as assistants.
D’Antoni won the first of his two Coach of the Year awards in 2005 while leading the Phoenix Suns to 62 victories behind the play of point guard Nash and power forward Stoudemire.
D’Antoni spent the past four seasons coaching Houston, leading the Rockets to the playoffs each season and winning his second Coach of the Year award in 2017. He and the team parted ways after the Rockets lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Stoudemire will be coaching for the first time.
• The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, the union that represents the league’s players, agreed to extend the deadline for either side to opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement until next Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported. The deadline previously had been Friday, which already was an extension.
The two sides are negotiating many issues, including when to start next season, with the league favoring a Dec. 22 start and players hoping for a longer offseason and a mid-January start.
The sides also are trying to deal with the financial impact of having to play most of next season with a limited number of fans, if any are allowed, in attendance.
Elsewhere
Hall of Famer Adderley dies
Herb Adderley, a Hall of Fame cornerback who joined the NFL as a running back and became part of a record six championship teams with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, has died. He was 81.
Adderley played in four of the first six Super Bowls and won five NFL championships with Green Bay and one with...