Celtics coach to take over Duke women

IN BRIEF

Duke has turned to Celtics assistant coach and former WNBA All-Star Kara Lawson to lead its women’s basketball program.

The school announced the hiring in a social media post Saturday, a little more than a week after Joanne P. McCallie announced she wouldn’t return for a 14th season as she entered the final year of her contract. It is the first college head-coaching job for the 39-year-old Lawson, who played under Pat Summitt at Tennessee before a long WNBA career as well as work in broadcasting.

Lawson played in the WNBA from 2003-15 and won the 2005 championship with the Monarchs. She also was part of the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in Beijing in 2008. She had also worked as a TV commentator for NBA and college basketball games before the Celtics hired her in June 2019.

Duke is the second Atlantic Coast Conference program this offseason to hire a woman working as an NBA assistant to be its head coach. Notre Dame hired Grizzlies assistant Niele Ivey to replace Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw in April.

Golf: Justin Thomas shot his second straight 66 and has a two-shot lead after three rounds of the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village. Thomas’s 54-hole total of 200 is tied for the third lowest in any event at Muirfield Village.

MLB: Indians outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. worked out Saturday for the first time since his COVID-19 diagnosis. DeShields, who had mild symptoms, had been in Cleveland for a few days but wasn’t cleared until Saturday after testing negative twice.

NBA: One of Michigan’s most beloved sports and entertainment venues was turned into rubble Saturday with a series of controlled explosions. The shell and roof of the Palace of Auburn Hills, which was home to three championship Pistons teams and three Shock teams and played host to some of the biggest musical acts during its nearly 30-year run, crumbled to the ground following a series explosive pops. The rest of the arena had already been removed.

NHL: Canucks forward Sven Baertschi on Saturday joined the list of players who won’t be reporting to training camp for the resumption of the NHL season. Baertschi, who spent the majority of the season with the Utica Comets, told the Canucks he’d be opting out of participating in the expanded 24-team playoffs.

Soccer: Jack Charlton, an central defender who played alongside his brother, Bobby, in England’s World Cup-winning side in 1966 before enjoying coaching success with Ireland, died Friday. He was 85.