Atiba Lyons to focus on coaching

Atiba Lyons has announced his retirement from playing basketball, but he will remain at Sheffield Sharks as coach.

The American was named as player-coach back in 2008, and has since led the franchise to two BBL Cup triumphs, but he will now focus on coaching alone.

He told the Sheffield Star newspaper: “It’s something that I have been thinking about for a while.

“Combining the jobs is difficult and now we’re running the Junior Sharks programme I’m looking after four or five different teams. I enjoyed playing but coaching is something that I really want to do so it makes sense that I do this now.”

However, the newspaper also reports that Lyons will register himself as a player, but will wear a suit during matches to avoid temptation.

The 29-year-old forward made his Sharks debut back in September 2006 against Newcastle Eagles.