IN BRIEF

DOPING AND SPORTS

Graham sentenced to home confinement

A federal judge in San Francisco sentenced disgraced track coach Trevor Graham to a year of home confinement Tuesday for lying to federal investigators.

Graham once coached Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin. All were later banned for taking performance-enhancing drugs. Jones was released from prison Sept. 5 after completing most of her six-month sentence for lying about her steroid use.

It's the second time this month that U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston turned down federal prosecutors' calls for prison time for a sports figure caught lying about their involvement with performance-enhancing drugs. Former elite cyclist Tammy Thomas was sentenced to six months of home confinement for lying to a grand jury about her performance-enhancing drug use.

Baseball home run king Barry Bonds has pleaded not guilty to similar charges and faces trial in March.

PRO BASKETBALL

Lakers' Bryant hurts knee in preseason game

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant left an exhibition game in San Diego against the Charlotte Bobcats with a hyperextended right knee.

Bryant, last season's league Most Valuable Player, suffered the injury with 3:08 left in the second quarter under the Lakers' basket when he jumped for a rebound.

The Lakers said Bryant will be re-examined today.

Also: Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, the team's leading scorer, has a staph infection and did not play in the team's preseason game against the Miami Heat.

The team did not reveal specifics of the infection, other than saying it was "in his leg area."

The Washington Wizards waived forwards DerMarr Johnson and Linton Johnson to cut their roster to the maximum 15 players.

DerMarr Johnson, who averaged 8.8 points and 19.6 minutes in five exhibition games, was taken sixth overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2000 NBA Draft.

Harry Mangurian Jr., a former owner of the Boston Celtics and renowned horse breeder, died of leukemia in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He was 82.

Mangurian owned the Celtics from 1979 to 1983, a tenure that included a championship in 1981 and the signings of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, the original "Big Three" of team lore.

MISCELLANEOUS

Armstrong still mulling Tour de France option

Lance Armstrong still could race in the 2009 Tour de France, as long as race organizers make him feel welcome, Astana team director Johan Bruyneel said.

"For the moment, we are going to determine his program based on where he is really welcome and invited ... and we will see about the rest," Bruyneel told The Associated Press ahead of today's unveiling of the 2009 Tour route. "So the main thing is that he is definitely not excluding riding in the Tour, but it would have to be in an atmosphere that is serene and respectful."

The seven-time Tour champion, who is scheduled to race the Giro d'Italia for the first time in 2009, expressed doubts last week over whether he would try for another Tour title because of the problems he might encounter with "the organizers, journalists and fans."

Also: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno plans to have doctors check out his ailing right leg and hip next week, when the third-ranked Nittany Lions have a bye.

Paterno, 81, has been hobbled by the injury since trying to demonstrate an onside kick the first week of the season. He has coached from the press box the last three games.

Unbeaten Penn State plays at Ohio State on Saturday in a key Big Ten showdown.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Andreas Lilja has undergone an appendectomy, but the team said he could return by Friday.