Bulls reassign Paxson, fire GM in shakeup
The Chicago Bulls fired longtime GM Gar Forman on Monday, the same day they made official the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas as executive vice-president of basketball operations.
“It was so clear that Arturas checked every box for us,” Bulls team president Michael Reinsdorf said.
“But there is one thing left. At the end of the day, Jerry, my dad, is still the boss. It was clear after that meeting that we had our guy.”
Jerry Reinsdorf personally hired John Paxson, whom Karnisovas replaced. Paxson will serve as senior adviser of basketball operations amid the shakeup.
Karnisovas said Monday his next order of business will be hiring a general manager.
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic trained with Swedish club Hammarby as the global soccer shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic continues, and a brief bout of coughing didn’t appear to trouble him as he practised his shooting.
With Italy in lockdown and Serie A and other major soccer leagues closed for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ibrahimovic returned to Stockholm, where authorities are taking a somewhat more lax approach.
Plenty of businesses have been allowed to remain open and gatherings of up to 50 people are still allowed, with many of the country’s elite soccer clubs back in training.
As the Monday session drew to a close, the 38-year-old had a brief bout of coughing as he prepared to take part in a final shooting exercise, but he recovered quickly and began smashing powerful shots and volleys into the top corner.
More than 1,000 soccer fans cheered, chanted and hugged each other as they attended a Belarusian top-flight league match on Sunday, despite calls from a growing number of supporters to boycott games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Belarus is the only country in Europe still playing a national soccer league, making it an unlikely draw for fans overseas who are missing matches in their own countries.
In choosing to stay open, the league took its cue from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who has resisted imposing strict lockdown measures and variously prescribed remedies like drinking vodka or driving tractors to fight the pandemic.
Many fans have chosen to stay away, but more than 1,000 attended the clash between FC Dynamo Brest and Isloch Minsk, one of three games played in the topflight Vysshaya Liga on Sunday. Only a relatively small number of fans were seen wearing masks.
Jacqueline Towns, the mother of Minnesota Timberwolves NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns Jr., died of complications from COVID-19 on Monday.
“The Towns family is heartbroken,” the family statement read. “(She) had been battling the virus for more than a month when she succumbed to it.”
Towns Jr. said his father, who was quarantined when Jackie Towns became ill, is doing fine physically. The Timberwolves also extended their condolences.