Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Rick Brunson abruptly resigned Tuesday and the team said he had fallen short of meeting its ”high standards of conduct” amid reports he had acted improperly toward women.
The Timberwolves announced Brunson’s resignation in a one-sentence release and later sent a statement about the 45-year-old former NBA player.
”Our entire organization – made up of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Dak Prescott Cowboys Jersey , the Minnesota Lynx and Iowa Wolves- is deeply committed to creating a safe work environment for our employees, partners and fans,” the team said. ”We work to maintain high standards of conduct and expect our staff to lead by example. We did not believe Mr. Brunson’s conduct was consistent with those standards.”
The Star Tribune, citing a source it did not identify, reported Brunson had been the subject of complaints of improper conduct toward women. The Athletic also reported that he was accused of improper conduct toward women while on the job. The Timberwolves did not return phone calls seeking additional comment and the NBA did not respond to a message.
In 2014, Brunson was arrested in suburban Chicago and charged with sexually assaulting a massage therapist. He was acquitted of all counts in that case, saying he had an ongoing extramarital affair with the woman.
The Timberwolves hired Brunson in 2016, and last season was his fourth working under coach Tom Thibodeau
Joe Thomas Jersey Youth , who helped the team reach the NBA playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Brunson had previous assistant coaching jobs with the Denver Nuggets, Charlotte and Chicago, where he worked under Thibodeau.
Brunson played in the NBA for nine years, including stops in New York and Houston. He made it to the playoffs in five of his nine seasons, and was a member of the 1999 Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks, who lost to San Antonio in the finals.
Brunson is the father of Jalen Brunson, The Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the year who declared for the NBA draft last month after winning two national titles at Villanova. The star guard averaged 18.9 points and 4.6 assists per game in 40 games for the Wildcats this season.
—
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues‘ loss to the Washington Capitals on Monday night has provided the team clarity for the final three games of the season. It’s win or go home.
“We understand where we’re at and we know what we have to do to win,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko told nhl.com. “We’ve done it last week
Byron Jones Jersey Elite , the last couple of weeks, and it’s going to be a good couple tests against Chicago and then Colorado to finish it out. We know basically we’re in a win-out situation so it’s going to be a good challenge for us and we’re looking forward to it.
“I know it’s tough to turn the page quickly but that’s what we have to do and make sure that we’re ready.”
After winning six straight to climb into the playoff picture, the Blues (43-30-6, 92 points) have lost their last three and are one point behind the Colorado Avalanche (42-29-9, 93 points) for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Blues and Avalanche end their regular season at Colorado on Saturday, which could ultimately decide who is in and who is out. But first the Blues will likely need to win a home and home against the Chicago Blackhawks, which starts at Scottrade Center on Wednesday night.
If Colorado loses at San Jose on Thursday night, St. Louis can afford to split the two games with the Blackhawks and still get in.
“There’s not a single part of me that doesn’t believe that we’re still going to get there
Anthony Miller Jersey ,” Blues coach Mike Yeo told nhl.com. “It’s our job now as coaches to make sure that the players match that feeling.”
St. Louis’ situation could have been direr had the Los Angeles Kings not beaten Colorado 3-1 on Monday. The positive feelings from the reprieve were noticeable at the Blues’ practice on Tuesday morning.
“For me, everything is about tomorrow,” Yeo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch following the skate. “Move on. We have to look at, and we talked about, what we didn’t do well enough to win the hockey game yesterday and what we need to do better to win the game tomorrow.”
The Blues have won both meetings against the Blackhawks this season, including a 5-4 comeback overtime win in Chicago on March 18.
The Blackhawks (32-37-10, 74 points) are coming off a 5-0 drubbing at Colorado on Friday. Chicago might be playing out the string but would love to play spoiler to their longtime rivals.
“St. Louis being a big rival, these next two games on the road and at home here will be pretty intense games and the crowd will be into it
Jarvis Landry Browns Jersey ,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane told Blackhawks TV. “It would be nice to see them miss the playoffs so it would be nice to have a hand in that.”
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville confirmed following the team’s skate on Tuesday that center Jonathan Toews (upper body) was out for Wednesday’s game, but could still play in the rematch in Chicago on Friday.
Chicago announced Monday that they have recalled goaltender Jeff Glass on an emergency basis from the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs and assigned goaltender Collin Delia to Rockford.
Even if the Blues do get into the playoffs, they will be without defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, who underwent surgery to repair a tear in his left ACL on Tuesday. Gunnarsson was injured March 23. He will be re-evaluated in six months.
.
