Sampson seeks rebirth with Bucks

Kelvin Sampson wants to restore his reputation and continue his career, and hopes he took a step in that direction by accepting a job as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks.

But Sampson will pass on the chance to explain his version of a messy divorce with Indiana University until after an NCAA hearing in mid-June.

“More will come out, and I’ll be more than happy to talk after that,” Sampson, 52, said Monday in Milwaukee.

Sampson’s new boss, Bucks Coach Scott Skiles, cautioned people not to jump to conclusions about Sampson’s character.

“Maybe when this all comes out, it will end up not being as serious as originally thought,” Skiles said.

Sampson, who resigned from Indiana on Feb. 22 and accepted a $750,000 buyout after an NCAA report charged him with five major rules violations, agreed this month to become an assistant to Skiles and was introduced at a news conference Monday.

Sampson said his reputation is “very important” to him, but he knows only one way to regain it.

“Just be who I’ve been my entire life,” Sampson said. “Sometimes you take hits that you have to overcome, but that’s something that I just work at as I go forward.”

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Utah Jazz forward Paul Millsap will have surgery Thursday to repair a torn left thumb ligament suffered in the Lakers’ series-clinching Game 6 victory Friday in the Western Conference semifinals.

General Manager Kevin O’Connor says Millsap’s recovery time won’t be known until after the surgery.