Italian coach joins Spurs

LAS VEGAS—The San Antonio Spurs have hired Ettore Messina of Italy to be an assistant under head coach Gregg Popovich.

Messina comes to San Antonio from Russia, where he coached European power CSKA Moscow. He is a two-time Euroleague coach of the year and has also coached in Italy. He served as a coaching consultant for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011-12.