NEW YORK, 20 August 2003 — Team USA took a day off from practice Monday as they prepared to fly to Puerto Rico for the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament. “This is our first day off since last Sunday,” said USA basketball spokesman Craig Miller. “Even during the blackout.”
In an effort to turn a collection National Basketball Association stars into a cohesive team, coach Larry Brown put them through an intense week of workout sessions and a scrimmage, capped by Sunday’s convincing win over Puerto Rico in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden.
The Americans were to practice in San Juan before meeting Brazil the next day when the 10-nation tournament gets underway. The event ends on August 31, with the top three countries earning a berth in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Miller said team management hoped it would know in the next 48 hours whether forward Karl Malone, 40, would rejoin the team in Puerto Rico. The veteran, who was a member of the original Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, was to attend his mother’s funeral in Arkansas yesterday. Team USA. is in Group B of the qualifying tournament with Brazil, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands. Group A is made up of Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Uruguay.
Jamison Goes From Warrior to Maverick in Nine-Man Deal
In Dallas, the Dallas Mavericks made their first major move of the off-season on Monday, acquiring Antawn Jamison in a nine-player deal with the Golden State Warriors that takes Nick Van Exel to California in return. Dallas also receives Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills from Golden State in exchange for Avery Johnson, Evan Eschmeyer, Popeye Jones, Antoine Rigaudeau and Van Exel, who is the key to the deal for the Warriors. Jamison has a career scoring average of 20.2 points per game in five NBA seasons. He has been Golden State’s leading scorer the past four years and is considered one of the premier players in the NBA. Van Exel was the leading scorer off the bench for the high-powered Mavericks last season and had an outstanding playoff, averaging 19.5 points per game as Dallas advanced to the Western Conference finals.
But Dallas has watched this off-season while Western Conference rivals San Antonio, Sacramento and most notably, the Los Angeles Lakers, have all made significant moves to improve their teams.
The deal had been rumored for several weeks, with the Warriors adding depth to their roster while perhaps giving up the best player in the deal in Jamison.
Coca-Cola Looking for Out of Court Settlement in Yao Ming Case
In Shanghai, a lawsuit filed by Houston Rockets center Yao Ming against the Coca-Cola Company was still under arbitration after the US soft drinks-maker presented a settlement plan yesterday.
“We have received Coca-Cola’s settlement plan from Xuhui district court, but we are not satisfied with it,” Yao Ming’s lawyer Wang Xiaopeng said.
Wang refused to divulge the contents of Coca-Cola’s settlement plan but said the proposal was under discussion. “The key question is that Coca-Cola should not only appease us, but they should admit fault and let the public know what they have done,” Wang said.
On May 15, Yao filed a statement claiming the Coca- Cola Company was using his image without permission and demanded it be removed from their products.
The NBA basketball star has also demanded a public apology and one yuan (12 cents) in compensation.
The row began when Coke released bottles in China featuring a photo of Yao and fellow Chinese national team stars Mengke Bateer and Guo Shiqiang wearing their national team shirts.
As a co-sponsor of the Chinese national team, Coke says it is authorized to use images of the squad as long as they contain pictures of at least three team members. “If we are satisfied then we will settle out of court. Otherwise we will demand the court open the case,” Wang said. A Shanghai court has agreed to hear the case if arbitration fails.
