Onsi Saleh was officially hired Thursday by the Hawks as an assistant general manager, coming to Atlanta from Golden State.

Saleh served last season as vice president of basketball strategy and team counsel for the Warriors. He adds to a front office that already includes assistant GM Kyle Korver, with both now working under general manager Landry Fields.

Before joining Golden State in 2021, Saleh spent five years with the San Antonio Spurs, finishing as the team’s director of strategy and process, along with the role of chief of staff.

Saleh joins a team that hasn’t won a playoff series since a surprising run to the Eastern Conference final in 2021. The Hawks went 36-46 this season, finishing 10th in the East before a quick elimination during the play-in round.

Golf

Woods gets special exemption to US Open at Pinehurst >> Tiger Woods accepted a special exemption for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, the first time the three-time champion has needed an exemption to play.

Woods has been exempt for every U.S. Open since he first played in 1995 as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion. His five-year exemption from winning the 2019 Masters expired last year.

The exemption was expected and likely to be the first of many. The USGA is particular about who is exempt from qualifying, last awarding one in 2021 to Phil Mickelson.

Oosterhuis, Ryder Cup stalwart and CBS announcer, dies at 75 >> Peter Oosterhuis, a two-time winner of the European Tour money title who later brought his distinguished British voice to CBS golf telecasts as an analyst, died Thursday. He was 75.

The PGA Tour announced his death without listing a cause, though Oosterhuis had retired from broadcasting in 2014 with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Oosterhuis won seven times on the European Tour, twice at the French Open, and his lone PGA Tour victory was the Canadian Open in 1981 when he beat Jack Nicklaus, Andy North and Bruce Lietzke by one shot.

Boxing

Garcia denies using performance-enhancing drugs after >> Ryan Garcia denied using performance-enhancing drugs in a video posted on social media Wednesday night after ESPN reported that he had tested positive for a banned substance.

Garcia defeated Devin Haney, a former amateur rival, by majority decision on April 20 in New York. Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion his first loss but did not win the title because he was over the weight limit.

ESPN reported that the 25-year-old Garcia tested positive for the performance-enhancing substance Ostarine the day before and the day of the fight, citing a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association letter. Ostarine is a selective androgen receptor modulator, and its use can stimulate muscle growth. The drug is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Garcia’s victory could be overturned if the positive drug test is confirmed.

MLB

Former Dodgers pitcher Urías pleads no contest >> Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor domestic battery.

According to court records, four other misdemeanor charges against Urías were dropped. Urias had also been facing one count of spousal battery, one count of domestic battery involving a dating relationship, one count of false imprisonment and one count of assault. All the charges stemmed from his arrest in September on suspicion of domestic violence.

Los Angeles City Attorney’s office spokesman Ivor Pine said Urías was placed on 36 months of summary probation and ordered to complete 30 days of community labor. Urías must also complete a 52-week domestic violence counseling course, pay a domestic violence fund fee, not possess any weapons, not use any force or violence, pay restitution to the victim and abide by a protective order.

Average game time drops 1 minute in second season of pitch clock >> The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 36 minutes through the first full month of the major league season, down 1 minute from 2023 in the second year of the pitch clock.

Over objections from the players’ association, MLB lowered the timer to 18 seconds from 20 with runners on base while keeping it at 15 seconds with no runners.

Last year, the average increased gradually through the season, from 2:37 through April to 2:38 in May, 2:39 in June, 2:41 in July and August to 2:44 in September.