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From The Associated Press

Ravens’ McNair retires after 13 seasons

OWINGS MILLS, Md.—Steve McNair intended to complete the final three years of his contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He worked hard during the offseason and arrived at minicamp ready to assume his role as the starting quarterback.

His body had other plans.

McNair announced his retirement Thursday, ending a 13-year career in which he was selected co-MVP, led the Tennessee Titans to the Super Bowl and orchestrated the most successful regular season in the Ravens history. He received a standing ovation from his teammates after revealing his decision, then contained his emotions during a hastily arranged news conference.

“Coming out and making this decision, it was hard,” he said. “In your mind, you feel like you can play, that you can still compete. But when your mind and your body are not in accord, it’s not going to work in the National Football League.

“My mind was there. Mentally, I could go out and play. But physically, I couldn’t do it anymore. Not to the capacity that I need to help my teammates win a football game.”

The 35-year-old McNair guided the Ravens to a franchise-best 13-3 record in 2006, his first season in Baltimore. But he injured his groin during the season opener last season and never regained the form that enabled him to earn a berth in four Pro Bowls.

UCLA’s Love declares for NBA draft

LOS ANGELES—UCLA’s Kevin Love is NBA-bound.

The All-American freshman announced Thursday that he’ll skip his final three college seasons and enter the NBA draft.

Love led the Bruins in scoring (17.5 points) and rebounds (10.6) on the way to a 35-win season and a trip to the Final Four, where UCLA lost to Memphis.

Scouts have projected Love to be a top-10 pick in the June 26 draft, according to his coach Ben Howland.

Love made the announcement at a campus news conference Thursday afternoon, joined by Howland and Love’s father, Stan Love.

Kansas’ Rush, Arthur headed to the NBA

LAWRENCE, Kan.—Kansas stars Brandon Rush and Darrell Arthur declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft Thursday, less than two weeks after leading the Jayhawks to their second national title in 20 years.

Rush was set to enter the NBA draft a year ago, but injured his knee during a pickup game and withdrew his name. The 6-foot-6 junior guard averaged a team-best 13.3 points this season, helping Kansas to its third national championship overall.

By declaring for the draft a second time, Rush loses his college eligibility.

Arthur has not signed with an agent, meaning he can return to Kansas. The 6-9 sophomore forward tied Mario Chalmers as Kansas’ second-leading scorer this season at 12.8 points per game and was second with 6.2 rebounds.

Chicago Bulls fire interim coach Jim Boylan

DEERFIELD, Ill.—John Paxson used words like “disappointing” and “disturbing” while describing the Chicago Bulls’ nightmare of a season. The general manager talked about pride and accountability, too.

“I’m most accountable,” he said.

But Jim Boylan took the fall.

The Bulls fired their interim coach on Thursday, likely the first of several changes after a disappointing season in which individual agendas wrecked whatever chance the team had at getting back to the playoffs.

While Paxson went out of his way to praise Boylan and said there was no “defining moment” that led to his dismissal, it was clear a change was coming. That happened during a morning meeting at the team’s practice facility, and Boylan left without commenting.

The firing was the first move of what figures to be a busy offseason for a team that finished 11th in the Eastern Conference just one season after reaching the second round of the playoffs.

The Bulls won 49 games last season, but took a big step backward in 2007-’08, finishing 33-49.

Milwaukee Bucks fire Larry Krystkowiak as coach

MILWAUKEE—The Milwaukee Bucks have fired Larry Krystkowiak after his first full season as an NBA head coach.

“Larry and I met this morning, and came to the decision that he would not return,” new Bucks general manager John Hammond said Thursday.

The move has been expected since Larry Harris was dismissed as general manager last month. Bucks owner and U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl hired Hammond to replace Harris, and Hammond had promised to quickly deal with the coaching situation and make it a top priority.

Reached by The Journal Times of Racine, Krystkowiak said, “I am not the coach anymore. I am going to sit at home the next couple of days and decompress.”

Hammond has ties to several veteran coaches without top jobs, including Larry Brown, Rick Carlisle and Alvin Gentry. Former Bulls coach Scott Skiles also could be considered for the job.

Touted as a potential playoff contender going into the season, the Bucks finished a dismal 26-56 and were one of the league’s worst defensive teams.

Warriors miss playoffs, despite winning 48 games

OAKLAND, Calif.—Never before has a 48-win NBA team been forced to prepare for the lottery instead of the playoffs the day after the season ended.

That’s the predicament the Golden State Warriors are in this year, after their best season in 14 years wasn’t enough to make it into the postseason in the power-packed Western Conference.

“We had an incredible year and I’m very proud of the team,” coach Don Nelson said. “We deserve to be a playoff team and we’re not. So here we sit. We’ve had an incredible year.”

It just wasn’t good enough. The Warriors overcame an 0-6 start during Stephen Jackson’s suspension by winning 40 of their next 57 games to move into position for another playoff berth.

But the heavy minutes logged by stars Jackson, Baron Davis and Monta Ellis during that run paid a toll down the stretch. The Warriors (48-34) looked tired in the closing weeks of the season and stumbled to an 8-11 finish, losing twice to Denver in what ultimately decided the final playoff spot.

“This was a very successful season,” forward Al Harrington said. “We proved to be a better team than we were last year. We played in one of the most unusual, tough seasons in the history of the game. For a team to have 48 wins and not make the playoffs is crazy. That’s just how it was this year. Our goal was 50. We thought 50 would get us in the playoffs.”

This season that’s exactly what it took to make it to the postseason in the West. All eight playoff teams won at least 50 games, with the Nuggets (50-32) finishing two games ahead of Golden State for the final spot.

The Warriors have more wins than any team that failed to make the playoffs since the NBA expanded to the 16-team format in 1984. Houston held the previous mark of 45 wins in 2000-01. The only team ever to win more games without making the postseason was the 1971-72 Phoenix Suns, who went 49-33. But only four teams in each conference made the playoffs then.

What makes this miss even more painful is that Philadelphia (40-42) and Atlanta (37-45) are still playing despite having losing records in the weaker Eastern Conference.