Duncan returns to Spurs as assistant

Tim Duncan is back with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich.

Duncan, the Spurs’ all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots — and the only player on all five of San Antonio’s NBA championship teams — officially returned to the franchise Monday. He retired from playing three years ago but occasionally worked with San Antonio’s post players.

“It is only fitting, that after I served loyally for 19 years as Tim Duncan’s assistant, that he returns the favor,” Popovich said in a news release.

Duncan didn’t even get top billing in the announcement. That went to Will Hardy, who will be taking on an expanded role as one of the Spurs’ assistant coaches.

The Spurs are replacing former assistants Ettore Messina and Ime Udoka, who left earlier this offseason for new jobs.

The Washington Wizards are making Tommy Sheppard their general manager, and Sheppard told ESPN he plans to offer star guard Bradley Beal a three-year, $111-million maximum contract extension this week. Removing the interim tag from Sheppard’s title was part of an organizational restructuring that included hires from outside the NBA, among them Sashi Brown, a former executive with the Cleveland Browns, and former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson III. The moves are part of the leadership team for Monumental Basketball, a new collective composed of the Wizards, Washington Mystics, Capital City Go-Go and Wizards District Gaming.

Philadelphia 76ers star Tobias Harris is the latest NBA player to inform USA Basketball he will not participate in training camp and the FIBA World Cup, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. He joins Beal, the Lakers’ Anthony Davis, Portland’s CJ McCollum and Houston’s James Harden and Eric Gordon.