Hornets coach Clifford receives pink slip
In another move aimed at getting the Charlotte Hornets on track, majority owner Michael Jordan fired coach Steve Clifford on Friday after the team went 36-46 and failed to reach the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons.
Clifford had a year left on his contract. The move to dismiss him came after his face-to-face meeting Friday with new general manager Mitch Kupchak.
Jordan hired Kupchak on Sunday to replace Rich Cho, who was fired earlier in the season after the Hornets failed to climb out of an early slump. The Hornets were 196-214 in five seasons under Clifford. They reached the playoffs twice but failed to make it out of the first round in 2014 and 2016.
Clifford on Wednesday called this a “disappointing” season because he felt this was his most talented Hornets team. It was a rough season for him in other ways — he missed 21 games because of headaches stemming from sleep deprivation. In other NBA news:
• The NBA suspended Washington Wizards reserve guard Jodie Meeks 25 games without pay for using a banned substance. The league announced the suspension Friday, a day before Game 1 of the Wizards' first-round playoff series against the East's topseeded Toronto Raptors.
• Thunder television play-by-play man Brian Davis has been suspended for Game 1 of the playoff series against Utah on Sunday for a racially insensitive comment he made about star Russell Westbrook during Oklahoma City's regularseason finale against Memphis.
Davis said Westbrook was “out of his cottonpickin' mind,” an exclamation that came after the Thunder guard made an assist in Wednesday's game on his way to setting an NBA record for averaging a triple-double in multiple seasons.
Davis apologized in a statement and on Facebook.
Busch brothers take top 2 spots
NASCAR points leader Kyle Busch edged older brother Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds Friday to take the pole for the Cup Series race Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It marks the third time the Busch brothers have started on the front row together, and the first since 2013. In all three cases, Kyle started first and Kurt second.
DeChambeau leads at Heritage
Bryson DeChambeau shot a career-best 7-under 64 to take the lead into the weekend at the RBC Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
DeChambeau was at 10-under 132, one ahead of Ian Poulter and Si Woo Kim. In other news:
• Jay Haas nearly shot his age to take the lead into a 36-hole Saturday finish in the PGA Tour Champions' Mitsubishi Electric Classic at Duluth, Ga.
The 64-year-old Haas birdied the final two holes at TPC Sugarloaf for a 7-under 65 and a one-stroke lead over Steve Flesch.
Madrid, Bayern to meet in semis
Two-time defending champion Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals.
In the other semifinal, Liverpool was drawn to face Roma in a repeat of the 1984 final. The English team won that match in the Italian club's home stadium.
The first legs will be played April 24-25, with the return games May 1-2. The final is scheduled for May 26 at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine. In other news:
• Bayern Munich hired Niko Kovac as coach starting next season.
Bayern says Kovac agreed to a three-year contract with the Bundesliga champions starting in July. The 46-year-old Croat will take over from Jupp Heynckes, who stepped out of retirement to take charge at Bayern last October but has long said he will not continue beyond the end of the season. Bayern's attempts to convince the 72-yearold Heynckes otherwise were unsuccessful.
Jays’ Donaldson lands on DL
The Toronto Blue Jays placed third baseman Josh Donaldson on the 10-day disabled with right shoulder inflammation.
Donaldson, the AL's MVP in 2015, is batting .239 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 12 games. He's been dealing with the injury since the beginning of the season and will work out in Florida. In other news:
• Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado was suspended five games for charging the mound after Luis Perdomo threw a pitch behind his back, inciting a benches-clearing brawl during Wednesday's game against the Padres.
MLB announced that Perdomo was also suspended five games for intentionally throwing at Arenado.
Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra was suspended four games for fighting, and Padres pitcher Buddy Bauman got a one-game suspension for fighting. The suspended players were also fined. Arenado and Parra appealed their suspensions.
• Padres righthander Dinelson Lamet will have season-ending reconstructive elbow surgery next week.
Ex-Michigan QB eyeing UCLA
Former Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight has indicated on social media that he is transferring to UCLA.
Speight could play immediately for coach Chip Kelly's Bruins as a graduate transfer. In other news:
• The University of Houston and Rice men’s basketball teams have agreed to play in each of the next three seasons.
The longtime rivals will play in a multi-team event during the 2018-19 season, followed by a home-and-home series at Rice in 2019-2020 and at Houston in 2020-21.
UH and Rice last played in 2015. The Cougars lead the all-time series 62-18.