Off the wire

BASKETBALL Nuggets to hire Shaw

Brian Shaw is getting his first chance to coach an NBA team. The former guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson pupil has agreed to succeed George Karl as coach of the Denver Nuggets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal hadn’t been officially announced. Still, it was the buzz of the basketball world. “I think the Nuggets are going to benefit from his tenure,” Jackson tweeted. “So great to see Brian Shaw rewarded with this long overdue opportunity,” Pacers Coach Frank Vogel told the AP in a text. “Congrats to Brian and the Nuggets. Denver just got one of the best head coaches this league will see for years to come.” The Denver Post first announced the agreement with Shaw, the Indiana Pacers assistant who told the newspaper he’s been “prepared by the best of the best” for his first NBA head coaching job, adding “I feel like I’ve waited and paid my dues.” Shaw is a longtime assistant who has interviewed about a dozen times for head coaching positions but kept coming up short until Monday. He beat out Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach. The Nuggets called a news conference today, where team President Josh Kroenke and newly hired General Manager Tim Connelly will introduce their new coach. Shaw, 47, replaces Karl, who was ousted June 6 just weeks after winning the league’s Coach of the Year award. Shaw inherits a young team loaded with talent that won a franchise-record 57 games but lost Danilo Gallinari to a knee injury down the stretch and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. Gallinari recently underwent surgery and is expected back in December. Shaw, 47, owns five NBA championship rings as a player and assistant coach. A first-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics in 1988, Shaw played for eight teams in his 14 NBA seasons.

Kentucky forward Kyle Wiltjer is transferring to find a “significant” role elsewhere. The 6-foot-10 Wiltjer, who played with the Canadian development national team this summer, posted a letter on Kentucky’s athletic department website Monday afternoon, saying he will seek a situation to help him “compete the way I know I can. … wherever that may be.” He had announced in April he would return to Kentucky for his junior season. Wiltjer said Monday he has some “new and adjusted goals” after fulfilling dreams of winning a national championship with the Wildcats as a freshman and playing against some of the nation’s best players. Kentucky has signed eight incoming freshmen, including six McDonald’s All-Americans. Wildcats Coach John Calipari expressed disappointment over Wiltjer’s decision to leave but wished him luck on his website. He said Wiltjer has the mentality, skills and length to play professionally but needs to develop physically. The Oregon native, whose father is a Canadian and has dual citizenship, averaged 10.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Wiltjer was second on the team with 55 three-pointers last season and made 90 over his two year Kentucky career.

Kevin Durant has become the first NBA star to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation agency. Durant posted a photo on social media Monday of himself and the rap mogul with the paperwork. Jay-Z became certified as a representative by the NBA players’ association last week. A quote attributed to Durant above the picture says he’s “grateful for this opportunity with Roc Nation Sports. It’s go time.” The Oklahoma City star and Olympic gold medalist leaves agent Rob Pelinka to sign with Roc Nation.

New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez has had the screw replaced in his surgically repaired right foot and is expected to resume basketball activities in August. General Manager Billy King insists he’s not worried despite the latest issue relating to Lopez’s foot, saying the All-Star center felt no discomfort and doctors were just being proactive. King said an X-ray during Lopez’s postseason physical showed the screw had bent. Lopez was limited to five games during the 2011-2012 season after breaking his foot during the preseason, then aggravating it following an ankle injury. He missed seven games early this season with a sprained right foot but ended up averaging 19.4 points in 74 games.

FOOTBALL Giants WR suspended

New York Giants free-agent wide receiver Brandon Collins has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2013 regular season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. The NFL announced the suspension of the first-year player on Monday. Collins, 24, will be eligible to return to the Giants’ active roster on Sept.30, the day after the team plays the Kansas City Chiefs. The Southeastern Louisiana product spent part of last season on the Giants’ practice squad and will be eligible to participate in all off season and preseason practices and games.

The Atlantic Coast Conference has reached an agreement to send a team to the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York. The deal announced Monday by the Yankees will begin in 2014. The Pinstripe Bowl announced a similar agreement with the Big Ten earlier this month. ACC Commissioner John Swofford is scheduled to be in New York on Tuesday for a news conference at Yankee Stadium with team officials. The ACC replaces the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East), which helped start the 4-year-old game. This season’s Pinstripe Bowl will be the final one to match a Big 12 team against a team from the American.

HOCKEY Tortorella to Canucks?

The Vancouver Canucks are expected to introduce John Tortorella as their new head coach today. Tortorella, the recently fired coach of the New York Rangers, arrived in Vancouver on Friday amid reports he was the choice to replace the fired Alain Vigneault. If all goes as expected, Tortorella and Vigneault will end up trading teams. Vigneault was hired last week as Tortorella’s replacement with the Rangers. Vigneault, the Canucks’ leader in career coaching victories, was fired in May after Vancouver was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Tortorella led New York to a 26-18-4 record and sixth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by conference champion Boston after beating Washington in the first round.

Coach Claude Noel signed a one-year contract extension with the Winnipeg Jets on Monday after a season in which the team failed to make the playoffs. The Jets went 24-21-3 and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot. Noel is entering his third season with the team. He coached the Jets to a 37-35-10 record in 2011-2012, the club’s first season in Winnipeg after relocating from Atlanta. Before moving to Winnipeg, Noel spent four seasons in Columbus as an assistant and was head coach for the final 24 games of the 2009-2010 season after Ken Hitchcock was fired.

BASKETBALL Fight involving Pippen investigated

MALIBU, Calif. - Former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen (Hamburg, Central Arkansas) was questioned Monday about his weekend fight with an autograph-seeker that left the man hospitalized with a head injury.

Pippen came in voluntarily to a Los Angeles County sheriff’s substation after he was named as a suspect in the altercation outside Nobu restaurant, a celebrity hangout on the beach in Malibu. He spoke to police for about an hour and was released pending further investigation.

“He’s being cooperative,” sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

The unidentified victim was inside the restaurant taking photos as Pippen dined with his family Sunday evening, sheriff’s Capt. Patrick Davoren said. When Pippen went outside to the parking lot, the man continued taking pictures and sought the Hall of Famer’s autograph, Davoren said.

An argument ensued that led to the violence, investigators said.The man was taken to a hospital with a head injury and was treated and released.

Investigators were interviewing several witnesses to determine whether Pippen should be charged with assault with intent to commit great bodily harm.

“Right now it’s under investigation,” Whitmore said. “We have to interview everybody to find out what happened.”Nobu has been a Malibu mainstay for nearly 15 years and is frequented by celebrities. The restaurant recently moved to a beachfront location that offers views of the Pacific Ocean from nearly every seat.

Pippen, 47, won six NBA titles with Michael Jordan and the Bulls and in 1996 was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Pippen is a special adviser to the Bulls’ president and chief operating officer. The team declined to comment Monday.