Kevin McHale Takes Leave of Absence From Rockets

Rockets coach Kevin McHale has taken a leave of absence from the team to deal with a family matter, and assistant Kelvin Sampson will grab the reigns while the former Celtics great is out. Per ESPN: “Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale took a leave of absence on Saturday to deal with a family matter. The team announced the move and said assistant coach Kelvin Sampson will be in charge while McHale is out. Sampson said McHale called him Saturday afternoon and asked him to coach the team. ‘Hopefully whatever the family matter is, it gets taken care of,’ Sampson said. ‘That’s the most important thing.’ There is no timetable for the return of the second-year coach and Hall of Fame player.”