Detroit Pistons hire Maurice Cheeks as new coach

The Detroit Pistons have hired former 76ers and Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks. The team announced the move Monday night.

Detroit fired Lawrence Frank in April, a day after the once-proud franchise finished 29-53. Frank was 54-94 in two seasons with the Pistons.

Cheeks was 284-286 in the regular season and 5-11 in the playoffs as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers.

He was fired by Philadelphia during the 2008-09 season with a 9-14 record. Cheeks spent the past four seasons as an Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach. The Chicago native played 15 seasons in the NBA, helping the Sixers win a championship in 1983.

Tampering attacked

The Atlanta Hawks and two other teams have been fined an undisclosed amount by the NBA for tampering. A league spokesman says a memo was sent to teams informing them of the penalties, but didn't say which clubs were punished or provide the amount of the fines.

However, the Hawks said Monday they were one of them, saying that they "fully understand and respect the NBA's decision." The team recently sent a letter to potential ticket-buyers promoting its chances of signing Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, who will become free agents on July 1.

Teams are not allowed to discuss their interest in players who are under contract to other teams.

Kobe's auction

A New Jersey auction house will sell only six items of memorabilia from Kobe Bryant's career as part of a settlement between the Los Angeles Lakers' star and his family that included an apology from his mother and father and a percentage of the proceeds from the auction going to charity.

Bryant's mother, Pamela, had originally consigned a significantly larger number of items to Goldin Auctions.