Warriors’ Walton can talk with Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers received permission from the Warriors to interview top assistant Luke Walton for their coaching vacancy. Golden State coach Steve Kerr said Wednesday before Game 5 of the playoffs against Houston that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak contacted Warriors GM Bob Myers, who said Walton could interview once the first-round series is done. The 36-year-old Walton won two championships during his nine seasons playing for the Lakers and guided defending champion Golden State to a record 24-0 start this season while filling in for Kerr when the coach was on a leave of absence following complications from two back surgeries. The Lakers fired Byron Scott on Sunday night.

Knicks interviewed Blatt

The New York Knicks have interviewed former Cleveland coach David Blatt for their head coaching position, a person with knowledge of the details told the Associated Press. Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson met with Blatt this week. Blatt was fired by the Cavaliers after leading them to the NBA Finals last year in his first season and a 30-11 record this season . . . Michael Jordan, the billionaire owner of the Charlotte Hornets, reiterated his NBA franchise was opposed to North Carolina’s recently passed House Bill 2, a controversial “bathroom law” that could prevent the NBA All-Star Game from coming to Charlotte. . . . North Carolina State junior BeeJay Anya has declared for the NBA Draft but hasn’t hired an agent . . . Wake Forest added graduate transfer Matt Williams, a 6-foot-5-inch guard from Central Florida, to its roster.

Auriemma is feeling better

Geno Auriemma, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach, said he was feeling much better after spending a few days in the hospital last week after taking himself off a plane on April 16. ‘‘It started the week of the Final Four. It got worse when I got home,’’ Auriemma said. The diagnosis? ‘‘I was just exhausted and run down,” said Auriemma, who missed UConn’s victory parade after the team won its 11th national title this month.

Olympics US women’s hoop roster setFour-time Olympians Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and Tamika Catchings will headline the US women’s national basketball team roster headed to Brazil for the Rio Games this summer. The trio will be joined by newcomers Elena Delle Donne, Brittney Griner, and Breanna Stewart, the UConn star who will play for her college coach, Auriemma, and with UConn alums Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Taurasi, and Bird. Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Angel McCoughtry, and Sylvia Fowles round out the American squad . . . Shane Sutton, one of the key figures behind Britain’s successful Olympic cycling team, resigned after being suspended by the national governing body for allegedly making discriminatory remarks to riders . . . Tennis star Rafael Nadal, who was selected to carry the Spanish flag at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics but had to pull out with an injury, will get a second chance after he was unanimously chosen as Spain’s flag-bearer for the games in Rio de Janeiro.

Baseball Mariners’ CEO to step down

Seattle Mariners chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln is retiring from day-to-day operation of the franchise as part of Nintendo of America’s $1.4 billion sale of all but 10 percent of its majority stake in the team to a group of minority owners, First Avenue Entertainment LLP, led by new chairman and CEO John Stanton . . . The Tigers optioned outfielder Tyler Collins to Triple A Toledo, although manager Brad Ausmus said the move was not related to the obscene gesture Collins, who went 2 for 20 in 10 games with the Tigers, directed at booing home fans Monday. It was part of a corresponding move after Detroit activated closer Francisco Rodriguez from the family medical emergency list.

Hockey Vezina Trophy finalists set

Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, Washington’s Braden Holtby, and Los Angeles’s Jonathan Quick were named finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. The winner will be announced June 22 during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Miscellany

Real Madrid’s Ronaldo out?

Cristiano Ronaldo’ s injured hamstring and his presence in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals for Real Madrid likely is to remain a mystery until next week’s game against Manchester City. Ronaldo underwent new tests on his injury, but the team didn’t reveal the extent of the problem . . . Saul Niguez, 21, had an early goal to give Atletico Madrid a gritty 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in their Champions League semifinal . . . In the MLS, Dominic Oduro scored in stoppage time as the Montreal Impact escaped with a 1-1 draw against host New York City FC . . . Victor Espinoza, the jockey of the last two Kentucky Derby winners, will try for an unprecedented three-peat May 7 aboard long shot Whitmore . . . UFC is replacing the canceled Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz fight with another rematch, Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title at UFC 200 July 9 . . . Robert Talley stepped down after nine seasons as Stonehill College’s football coach. Eli Gardner was named interim coach.