Johnson and Bird will be honored together at the NBA Awards later this summer GETTY IMAGES
MAGIC JOHNSON and LARRY BIRD will be co-recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the NBA Awards on June 24. The two previous recipients of the award were BILL RUSSELL ('17) and OSCAR ROBERTSON ('18) (NBA).
NAMES: Chiefs S TYRANN MATHIEU is "hosting a three-day charity event this weekend in New Orleans." The event starts tomorrow with a "reception-style fundraising party at the Jazz Market, continues with the Celebrity Kickball Classic on Saturday at the Shrine on Airline, and will conclude Sunday with a free football camp for area children" (NOLA.com, 5/15)....Boxer CLARESSA SHIELDS' summer camp centered on "teaching kids coping methods" kicked off earlier this week in Flint, Mich. (MLIVE.com, 5/15)....Brewers VP/Community Relations & Family Liaison KATINA SHAW will receive one of the Milwaukee Business Journal's '19 Women of Influence Awards (Brewers)....A federal judge ordered former Louisville men's basketball coach RICK PITINO and the school to "meet for a settlement conference Sept. 10 in Louisville, and Pitino is among the parties required to attend in person." He filed a lawsuit against the school in November '17 after being fired (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 5/16).
IN MEMORY: ROB BABCOCK, a former T'Wolves exec "during two different stints spanning more than two decades," died yesterday at age 66. He had been "battling pancreatic cancer" since '17. Babcock in the '90s rose to become the T'Wolves VP/Player Personnel. He was named Raptors GM in '04, but he was let go in '06 and later "returned to the Wolves as an executive for another decade" until '16 (STARTRIBUNE.com, 5/15). T'Wolves VP/Fan Experience JEFF MUNNEKE called Babcock "one of the all-time good dudes with the franchise." T'Wolves CRO & Senior VP RYAN TANKE: "Rob was an incredible human being who had such a profound and lasting impact on so many people" (TWITTER.com, 5/15).
