In Brief

BASKETBALL

Retaliation for robbery focus
of Crittenton investigation

A former NBA player who is accused of shooting an Atlanta woman to death appeared to be retaliating for being robbed of $55,000 worth of jewelry, police said.

Javaris Crittenton, who was suspended from the NBA along with his former teammate Gilbert Arenas for having guns in a locker room, was arrested late Monday at a Southern California airport. He has been charged with murder in the Aug. 19 shooting death of Jullian Jones outside her house in Atlanta, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

Crittenton's attorneys have said he will be exonerated.

Crittenton told police he and a friend were leaving a barbershop at 10:50 p.m. on April 21 when two teenagers surprised them as they returned to their car, according to police report.

One teenager held Crittenton at gunpoint and ordered him to "give me what you got," he told police. He said he handed over a $25,000 black diamond necklace, a $30,000 black diamond watch, an iPhone and $25 cash, according to the report.

Jane Robison of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said prosecutors expect to charge Crittenton today with being a fugitive from justice and he might be arraigned later in the day.

Jones, a 23-year-old mother of four, was outside her house with 18-year-old Trontavious Stephens when a black Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid pulled up and opened fire. Authorities have said they don't think Jones was the intended target, but they haven't said who they think the gunman was after.

Also: Rick Adelman met with executives of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the second time this month he has traveled from his Oregon home to talk about the team's vacant coaching position.

Adelman met with owner Glen Taylor and other team officials. He also traveled to Minnesota on Aug. 23 to talk about replacing the fired Kurt Rambis.

He left again with no deal done.

Former Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl has taken a job with a Knoxville-based wholesale grocery company as a vice president of marketing.

Pearl had been considering an offer to coach the Texas Legends of the NBA's developmental league but said in a statement he thinks Knoxville is home for him and his family.

He will begin working at H.T. Hackney on Thursday. The company is led by Chairman and CEO Bill Sansom, a former University of Tennessee trustee.

MISCELLANEOUS

Bonds to be sentenced Dec. 16
on felony obstruction of justice

Home run king Barry Bonds will be back in federal court Dec. 16 to be sentenced for his felony obstruction of justice conviction.

A jury convicted Bonds in April of giving an evasive, rambling reply when asked whether he received drugs that required a syringe. Jurors couldn't unanimously decide three other perjury charges alleging that Bonds lied to the grand jury when he denied knowingly taking human growth hormone, steroids and receiving injections from anyone but his doctor.

His conviction carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, yet federal guidelines call for 15 to 21 months. For similar offenses in the BALCO steroids ring case, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sentenced cyclist Tammy Thomas to six months of home confinement and track coach Trevor Graham to one year of home confinement.

Also: The Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League added some depth at quarterback by signing free agent Brian Brohm, who had starred in college at Louisville and played in the NFL with Green Bay and Buffalo.

Brohm is one of four quarterbacks in camp, along with starter Chase Clement and backups Zac Lee and Chad Friehauf.

Brad Keselowski will return to the Nationwide Series this week at Atlanta after missing the past five races with a broken ankle.

Keselowski, the defending Nationwide champion, has not raced in the series since breaking his ankle in a crash during a test session this month at Road Atlanta.

He did not miss any Sprint Cup Series events during the stretch. Since the injury, Keselowski has two wins, a second and a third in four Cup races.

A Kentucky racetrack is turning farmland into parking to avoid a repeat of the gridlock that marred an inaugural Sprint Cup event and shifted attention from the roaring racecars to the idling cars as irate fans missed the race.

Officials at Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns and operates the Sparta, Ky., track, said they have acquired a 143-acre tract that will boost available parking by 35 percent to accommodate huge crowds that surpassed 100,000 for last month's race.

The Los Angeles Kings are changing their jerseys and dropping purple from their team colors.

Kings executive Luc Robitaille said fans have been clamoring for the club to return to the black, silver and white color scheme adopted in 1988.