In Brief

BASKETBALL

Shaq takes jab at Kobe in spontaneous rap

Just in case anybody had forgotten that Kobe Bryant has never won an NBA title without Shaquille O'Neal, the big man sent out a reminder.

The Phoenix Suns center can be seen rapping that "Kobe couldn't do without me" in a video posted online at celebrity news and gossip site TMZ.com.

In the two-minute video, a grinning O'Neal lurches through an improvised rap in which he skewers the Lakers' star, with whom he won three straight NBA titles from 2000-2002 while with Los Angeles.

"I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever," O'Neal told ESPN.com on Monday. "I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all."

O'Neal and Bryant last played together in 2004.

Also: The NBA wants to financially "destroy" disgraced referee Tim Donaghy for embarrassing the league during the playoffs with allegations that referees were encouraged to manipulate results through foul calls, his lawyer charged.

The attorney, John Lauro, asked a federal judge to force the league to produce more evidence supporting its demand Donaghy pay the NBA nearly $1.4 million in restitution as part of the sentence in his gambling case.

New Orleans Hornets guard Rasual Butler has been charged with flashing a loaded gun near a South Florida nightclub. A witness told investigators Butler pulled out a gun near a South Beach club early Monday.

The Miami Heat waived forward Alexander Johnson, who played in 43 games last season and averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds.

Two former Duquesne players have sued the school over a 2006 shooting that injured them and three teammates.

Kojo Mensah and Shawn James accuse the university of not providing adequate security at an on-campus dance after which they and three teammates were shot, according to federal lawsuits filed in Pittsburgh.

HOCKEY

ESPN analyst Melrose to be Lightning coach

The Tampa Bay Lightning are scheduled to have a news conference today to announce the hiring of former Los Angeles Kings coach and ESPN analyst Barry Melrose as head coach.

ESPN reported that Melrose will replace John Tortorella, who was fired June 3.

The team declined to confirm or deny the report.

FOOTBALL

Former Giants star Strahan to join Fox

Michael Strahan, the charismatic former New York Giants defensive end who retired this month, will join Fox network's NFL pregame shows. A news conference is scheduled today.

Also: Backup quarterback Jared Lorenzen was waived by the New York Giants.

The Giants also waived receiver Todd Lowber, long snapper Nick Leeson, tackle Brian Soi and offensive lineman Jacobs Hobbs.

Carolina Panthers receiver Dwayne Jarrett pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, minutes before he was scheduled to go on trial in Charlotte, N.C.

Clemson safety DeAndre McDaniel was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after he covered his girlfriend's head with a comforter and began choking her. McDaniel was charged with aggravated assault and battery Saturday.

MISCELLANEOUS

Imus: Race comment was misunderstood

Months after returning to the radio with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by his comments about a women's basketball team, Don Imus is again defending on-air remarks regarding race.

During an on-air conversation Monday about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, Imus asked, "What color is he?"

Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones is "African-American," Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."

Imus said late Monday that he had been misunderstood.

"I meant that he was being picked on because he's black," Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman.

Imus was fired from his previous show last year after he made a racially charged comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Also: The co-owner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown said his stable will be drug-free by the end of the year, and is encouraging other horse owners to follow suit.

Michael Iavarone said IEAH Stables will take its horses off steroids and every other racing medication besides Lasix in an effort to restore the public's confidence in the sport.

Santa Anita will overhaul its troubled synthetic surface in July, four months before the track hosts the Breeders' Cup.

The project calls for removing the existing asphalt base, adding a new grid base material, and treating the entire track with binder and fiber material. The process is expected to begin July 14 and last six weeks.

Goalkeeper Hope Solo was among 18 players picked for the U.S. Olympic women's soccer roster, nine months after she was kicked off the team at the World Cup.

Briana Scurry, who took over from Solo for last year's World Cup semifinal loss to Brazil, was left off the roster by coach Pia Sundhage, who replaced Greg Ryan following the World Cup debacle.

Banned sprinter Justin Gatlin must go to Switzerland if he wants to compete in Beijing.

The International Olympic Committee said Gatlin, whose four-year doping ban recently was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is not eligible to compete in the Beijing Olympics regardless of any ruling by a federal court judge in Pensacola, Fla.

The New Jersey State Police and the National Hot Rod Association will conduct separate investigations into the accident that killed Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, in Englishtown.

Kalitta, 46, died Saturday from multiple injuries after his car went out of control in the fourth round of qualifying.

Rocco Mediate says he's not bothered by NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller saying the 45-year old golfer "looks like the guy who cleans Tiger's swimming pool" and "Guys with the name 'Rocco' don't get on the trophy" during the U.S. Open.

Mediate said Miller's comments had been blown out of proportion.

"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "He definitely didn't do it on purpose."

Miller apologized on Friday.

Candace Parker threw down a dunk on one coast and picked up an honor on the other.

Hours after becoming the second player to dunk in a WNBA game, Parker received the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation's top female college athlete.

Parker led Tennessee to its second consecutive NCAA title in April. The Los Angeles Sparks made her the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft.