Steve Kerr won’t return as general manager of Suns

Steve Kerr won’t return as general manager of the Phoenix Suns, despite building a team that made a surprising run to the NBA’s Western Conference finals.

Kerr told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the decision was solely his and not the result of any disagreements with owner Robert Sarver. He said he is “exploring a couple of possibilities” to return to television work.

Kerr’s contract expires at the end of June. He had said he expected to work out a new deal with Sarver.

Kerr was a TNT color commentator for NBA telecasts for four years before Sarver hired him three years ago. He said in an interview with the AP a month ago that he sometimes longed for the simpler days behind the microphone.

His departure from the Suns first was reported by KTAR in Phoenix, the team’s flagship radio station.

Kerr starred at the University of Arizona and played in the NBA for 15 years. Known for his deadly long-range shooting, he was on five teams that won the championship.

Kerr’s departure comes at an important time for the Suns. The team is negotiating with All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire, who can opt out of his contract on July 1, and is preparing for the June 24 draft.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Tom Izzo is staying at Michigan State, turning down a chance to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers and perhaps LeBron James.

In a statement released by the school on Tuesday Izzo says: “I’m pleased to say I am here for life at Michigan State.”

For the past nine days, Izzo has been trying to decide whether to leave the place that has been his home since 1983 and jump to the NBA to perhaps make $6 million — doubling his salary — and possibly coaching one of the best basketball players in the world.

ETC.

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded outfielder Conor Jackson to the Oakland Athletics for minor league closer Sam Demel, the first of what could be a series of moves by the sputtering team. Jackson, 28, was batting .238 with a home run, 11 doubles and 11 runs batted in in 42 games for Arizona. Demel, a 24-year-old right-hander, was third-round draft pick out of Texas Christian in 2007. He 2-0 with a 1.26 earned-run average and six saves in 28 appearances for Triple-A Sacramento this season.

---

Struggling through another disappointing season, Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones told the Associated Press he was meeting with team officials Tuesday to discuss his future and acknowledged that he’s considering retirement. Jones declined to comment directly on whether he’ll retire at the end of the season, but it seemed clear that he’s made up his mind and merely needed to work out a settlement with the team over the $28 million in guaranteed money he’s owed for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

The 38-year-old Jones, who won the NL MVP award in 1998 and led the league in hitting just two years ago, met before batting practice with team President John Schuerholz, General Manager Frank Wren and Manager Bobby Cox.

---

Seattle Mariners pitcher Ian Snell, 0-5 with a 6.41 ERA, has been designated for assignment.

---

New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis says starting safety Roman Harper has signed his one-year restricted free agent tender offer. Harper’s decision ensures he will make at least $2.52 million in 2010, but it won’t necessarily head off a training camp holdout.

---

“The Tillman Story,” a documentary about the life and death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, who died from friendly fire while serving in the U.S. Military in Afghanistan, will have a limited Los Angeles showing Saturday and Sunday. It will play Saturday at 9:45 p.m. at Regal Cinemas #8 at 1000 W. Olympic Blvd., and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. and the Downtown Independent Theater, 251 S. Main St. Tillman’s mother, Dannie, as well as director Amir Bar-Lev and narrator Josh Brolin, will participate in a question and answer session after the Saturday night screening.

-- Bill Dwyre

A settlement has been reached in the lawsuit over a staph infection that benched former Cleveland Browns receiver Joe Jurevicius. The terms of the settlement will be kept confidential, Fred Nance, the attorney for the team, said. Jurevicius sued the Browns and the Cleveland Clinic last year, saying the team misrepresented the cleanliness of its training facility. He blamed doctors with negligence over the 2008 staph infection in his right knee.

Last year an NFL physicians survey of the 32 clubs determined there were 33 MRSA staph infections leaguewide from 2006-08. The Browns had at least six players stricken with some sort of staph infection in recent years.

---

The two Dallas Cowboys employees who are suing over injuries they suffered in the collapse of the team’s practice facility last year have reached out-of-court settlements with the company that built the structure.

Court filings in the lawsuits brought by Cowboys scout Rich Behm and special teams coach Joe DeCamillas show that both have settled with Summit Structures LLC of Allentown, Pa., and its Canadian parent, Cover-All Building Systems Inc.

The filings were made last Friday, and one says the agreements are confidential.

The settlements do not affect the other defendants named in the suits, including companies controlled by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

The steel and fabric building collapsed in a wind storm in May 2009, paralyzing Behm from the waist down. DeCamillas suffered a broken vertebrae.

---

The Kings signed defenseman Johan Fransson to a one-year contract. The 25-year-old played in the Swedish Elite League this past season and collected 11 goals and 30 points.

---

The Columbus Blue Jackets fired former interim head coach Claude Noel, assistants Gary Agnew and Gord Murphy and strength and conditioning coach Barry Brennan. Scott Arniel, hired last week as the club’s new head coach, will get to start fresh with a new staff.