In Brief: Popovich won’t be back this year
Gregg Popovich will not coach this season. He is not ruling out a comeback in the future. Popovich met with the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, releasing a statement afterward to make his decision on this season — and hope for next season — public.
The 76-year-old Popovich, the NBA’s all-time coaching wins leader, had a stroke at the team’s arena in San Antonio on Nov. 2 and has been away from the team since. Popovich says “I will continue to focus on my health with the hope that I can return to coaching in the future.”
KELCE PLANS TO PLAY NEXT SEASON
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce plans to play next season rather than retire. The 35-year-old Kelce had been mulling whether to return for a 13th season. But the four-time All-Pro made his feelings clear in a text to Pat McAfee that the host read during “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday.
The four-time All-Pro wrote he’s “coming back for sure.” The Chiefs’ quest to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls ended with a 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 9. Kelce professed his love for football several times leading up to the Super Bowl.
HUNTER WON’T WORK OUT IN INDY
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two-way star Travis Hunter says he won’t work out at the NFL scouting combine this week. The Heisman Trophy winner might play both cornerback and wide receiver in the NFL next season after doing the same at Colorado.
Hunter said during his media availability in Indianapolis that it will be up to the team that drafts him to decide his primary position but that he hoped he would be allowed to line up on both sides of the ball. Hunter says “I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I feel like I can keep doing it.”
JAKE KNAPP RECORDS A 59
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jake Knapp joined the PGA Tour’s sub-60 club on Thursday. Knapp — the No. 99 player in golf’s current world rankings — shot a bogey-free 59 in the opening round of the Cognizant Classic at PGA National, the 15th time that someone has broken 60 in a PGA Tour event.
Knapp finished one shot off the tour scoring record of 58, done by Jim Furyk in the final round of the 2016 Travelers Championship.
Knapp became the 14th player to shoot a sub-60 round; it has been done 15 times, with Furyk the one who has carded such a round twice.