Nelson Reportedly to Be Named Knick Coach

Don Nelson, who left as coach and general manager of the Golden State Warriors this year, will be the next coach of the New York Knicks, two newspapers reported Sunday.

The New York Times and Sunday Boston Globe said that a deal has virtually been completed, and an announcement would be made this week, possibly Thursday. A Knicks spokesman said Sunday that no announcement was imminent.

If a multiyear contract is agreed upon, Nelson reportedly will receive $2 million per year, the Times said. The new coach will replace Pat Riley, who resigned after the 1994-95 season.

New York general manager Ernie Grunfeld had the final decision and chose Nelson over former Boston coach Chris Ford, even though, according to the Globe, team president Dave Checketts was not a fan of Nelson.

Cycling

Italy’s Fabio Baldato won the first stage of his first Tour de France with a long, uphill power sprint that left Laurent Jalabert of France and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov of Uzbekistan gasping in his wake at Lannion.

Jacky Durand barely held on to the overall lead, with two other little-known Frenchmen within two seconds of first place.

Swiss contender Tony Rominger finished sixth, while Miguel Indurain was 12th.

Basketball

Yugoslavia, playing its first international event after 2 1/2 years of U.N. sanctions, won the European Championship in a controversial 96-90 victory over Lithuania at Athens, Greece.

Aleksandar Djordjevic scored 41 points for the Yugoslavs in a game in which the Lithuanians nearly walked off the court with two minutes left to protest the officiating of George Toliver of the United States and Nikos Pitsilkas of Greece.

“We were not brave enough to do that,” Lithuanian Coach Vladas Garastas said. “It was terrible refereeing. There was a political hand in the game, someone wanted to prove that Yugoslavia is the best team in Europe.”

Croatia won the bronze with a 73-68 victory over host Greece. Italy beat Spain, 82-75, for fifth place and Russia defeated France, 108-89, for seventh place.

Miscellany

Third-seeded Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan won their third consecutive Bally Total Fitness Shootout beach volleyball event, defeating the top-seeded pairing of Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno, 15-6, at Newport, R.I.

Coach Bobby Bowden and Florida State University are close to reaching a $1 million deal that includes a proposed $50,000 bonus for winning a national championship, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Bowden’s current contract expires Jan. 31, 1997. But Bowden, 65, would like to coach through the turn of the century, the Democrat reported.

The United States became only the second crew in the 156-year history of the Henley Royal Regatta to break the six-minute mark for the one mile, 550-yard course at Henley, England.

The San Diego Training Center boat held off a strong comeback by Britain’s national team, Leander and Molesey, to win by one-third of a length. Their time of 5:59 was one second off the record held by Germany’s Hansa Dortmund.

Britain’s Jonathan Edwards jumped beyond the 59-foot mark for the second time in a week, but again wind robbed him of a triple jump world record at the Gateshead Games at Gateshead, England.

Edwards jumped 59-2 on his third attempt, but a wind of 2.9 meters per second--over the allowable of 2.0 for record purposes--denied him from breaking Willie Banks’ 10-year-old world mark of 58-11 1/2.