ACC hires AD as new commissioner

The ACC hired Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips Monday to be the league’s next commissioner, replacing the retiring John Swofford.

Phillips has been Northwestern’s AD since 2008, leading the athletic department through a period of success in competition and growth in facilities.

Phillips oversaw the funding and development of Northwestern’s $270 million Walter Athletics Center and Ryan Fieldhouse indoor practice facility located on Lake Michigan’s shores.

Phillips, a native of Chicago, also has worked at Notre Dame under current Duke athletic director Kevin White and was athletic director at Northern Illinois before taking over at Northwestern in the Big Ten Conference.

Pro basketball

James Harden practiced with the Houston Rockets for the first time this season after missing the early part of camp while talk swirls that he wants out. Harden reported to camp late amid reports he is looking to be traded. He was absent for Houston’s first two preseason games as he went through the NBA’s COVID-19 testing protocols.

• Kyrie Irving spoke to reporters Monday for the first time this season, clarifying that he wasn’t referring to the media last week when he said he doesn’t talk to pawns. A day after making a strong preseason debut for the Brooklyn Nets, Irving spoke for more than 15 minutes on a Zoom interview, explaining why he has been guarded in his comments. Irving had not done any interviews since NBA teams began holding media sessions Dec. 1. He and the Nets were fined $25,000 last week for his refusal to do league-mandated media availabilities. He responded with an Instagram post in which he appeared to be criticizing the media when he said he doesn’t talk to pawns.

• The Detroit Pistons waived guard LiAngelo Ball and forwards Louis King and Anthony Lamb. Ball is the brother of New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball and Charlotte Hornets lottery pick LaMelo Ball. LiAngelo Ball entered the 2018 NBA draft and was not selected.

Skiing

An emotional Mikaela Shiffrin won her first World Cup ski race since the death of her father nearly a year ago. Shiffrin protected her first-run lead in the giant slalom and finished 0.82 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone in Courchevel, France. Former world champion Tessa Worley was 1.09 behind in third place in the sun-splashed French Alps.

Soccer

London’s six Premier League clubs won’t be allowed supporters at games again after the British capital was placed under the toughest level of coronavirus restrictions due to a spike in cases.

• Gerard Houllier, a Frenchman who won three titles in one season as coach of English club Liverpool, died. He was 73. Liverpool announced the death Monday on Twitter. French sports daily L’Equipe said Houllier died after heart surgery in France.

Elsewhere

New Jersey gamblers wagered more than $931 million on sports in November, the latest in a string of monthly records set by a rapidly growing market that’s closing in on the $1 billion-a-month mark. Figures released by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show New Jersey’s sports betting industry set a national record for the most money bet on sports for the fourth consecutive month. It easily surpassed New Jersey’s $803 million mark in October.