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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Golden State Hires Adelman, Ex-Portland Coach, Papers Report

Associated Press

Former Portland Trail Blazers coach Rick Adelman has been hired to coach the Golden State Warriors, The Oregonian and San Jose Mercury News reported today.

The Warriors were to announce Adelman’s appointment at a news conference this morning in Oakland, Calif., the two newspapers reported. The job opened after Don Nelson quit under pressure. Bob Lanier has been interim coach.

Warriors general manager Dave Twardzik refused on Thursday to confirm that he had chosen Adelman for the post. But he told the San Jose Mercury News that he had not spoken to any other candidates and that it might not be necessary.

Adelman traveled to Oakland on Wednesday and met with Twardzik, the papers reported. The two became well acquainted when Adelman was an assistant with the Blazers and Twardzik was a radio broadcaster.

They met again Thursday morning and reached agreement on a contract Thursday afternoon, the two papers said. Terms and length of the contract were not available.

Adelman coached the Blazers from Feb. 18, 1989 until May 19, 1994, when he was fired by owner Paul Allen. Adelman’s Portland team won 291 games and lost 154, a .654 winning percentage that is best in team history. The Blazers went to the NBA Finals twice under Adelman.

No decision has been made on who Adelman’s assistants will be. The Mercury News reported, though, that Nets assistant John Wetzel is a likely choice. Lanier is not expected to stay, the Mercury News reported.

Rookies honored

Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons and Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, who shared the NBA rookie of the year award, were picked for the All-Rookie team, along with Glenn Robinson of Milwaukee, Eddie Jones of the Lakers and Brian Grant of Sacramento.

Kidd was a unanimous selection of the head coaches with 52 points. Hill received 51 points and was followed by Robinson with 50, Jones with 45 and Grant with 42.

Chosen for the second team were Juwan Howard of Washington (38), Eric Montross of Boston (31), Wesley Person of Phoenix (24), Jalen Rose of Denver (16) and Donyell Marshall of Golden State and Sharone Wright of Philadelphia, who tied with 14.

Suns cut Dumas

Richard Dumas, whose brilliance on the court was dulled by substance abuse, was waived by Phoenix.

Heat under fire

Kip Hunter Epstein, former Miami Heat vice president of corporate sales, filed suit Wednesday in Broward (Fla.) Circuit Court against the team and executive vice president Pauline Winick. Epstein claims Winick eavesdropped on her phone calls and wanted a man in her job.

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