Timberwolves’ Saunders has Hodgkin’s
NBA: The Timberwolves announced Tuesday that coach Flip Saunders has a “treatable and curable form of cancer” and will continue with his duties.
The team’s release said Saunders, also the team’s president of basketball operations, has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
The release said the initial diagnosis came eight weeks ago during an examination by Timberwolves doctor Sheldon Burns and Saunders started treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system, part of the immune system, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Cells in the lymphatic system grow abnormally in Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and may spread beyond the lymphatic system. As the cancer progresses, it compromises the body’s ability to fight infection.
New Jersey Devils sign first-round pick Zacha
HOCKEY: The New Jersey Devils have signed first-round draft pick Pavel Zacha to a three-year, $2.78 million entry-level contract.
Devils executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero announced the signing, saying that the forward will have an average annual salary of $925,000.
Had Zacha not signed by Saturday, the 18-year-old would not have been allowed to play in the NHL this season.
• Poulin signs with Islanders: The New York Islanders have signed goalie Kevin Poulin to a one-year contract.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
IAAF: 28 athletes with positive doping tests
MISCELLANY: Twenty-eight athletes tested positive and are facing disciplinary action after their doping samples from the 2005 and 2007 world championships were reanalyzed, the IAAF said Tuesday.
Track and field’s governing body did not name any of the athletes, who produced 32 positive findings in tests from the 2005 championships in Helsinki and 2007 meeting in Osaka.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said none of the athletes will be competing in the upcoming world championships in Beijing, which begin Aug. 22.
If athletes are found guilty of doping violations, the IAAF said it “will correct the record books and re-allocate medals as necessary.”
In 2012, the IAAF conducted a first round of retesting of urine samples from Helsinki and caught six athletes for doping. A second round of retesting began in April of this year, resulting in the 32 new positives, the IAAF said.
• Government asking for Armstrong medical records: The federal government says it wants Lance Armstrong’s medical records from his 1996 cancer treatments because they could prove just how far he was willing to go to conceal performance-enhancing drug use from the public and his sponsors.
The former cyclist is vigorously fighting release of his medical records from the Indiana University School of Medicine as part of a whistleblower lawsuit in which the government wants to recover more than $30 million in sponsorship the U.S. Postal Service paid Armstrong and his teams.