In Brief

BASKETBALL

Blazers offer oft-injured Oden
$8.8 million to stay in Portland

The Trail Blazers on Wednesday offered former No. 1 overall draft pick Greg Oden an $8.8 million qualifying offer to stay in Portland.

The offer means the often injured 7-foot center becomes a restricted free agent. The Blazers can match any other offer made for Oden.

Oden didn't play last season after microfracture surgery on his left knee. He missed his rookie season in 2007-08 after microfracture surgery on his right knee. Two seasons ago, he broke his left kneecap.

Also: Mike Woodson, a former coach of the Atlanta Hawks, will interview for the Detroit Pistons' job for a second time, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

Detroit fired coach John Kuester on June 5.

Woodson was an assistant for Larry Brown when the Pistons won the 2004 NBA title, on a staff that included Kuester.

Miami Heat guard-forward James Jones told the team he won't exercise his player option and will become a free agent.

Jones is an eight-year veteran who spent the past three seasons with the Heat. He averaged 5.9 points in 81 games last season.

Veteran center Nazr Mohammed is staying with the Oklahoma City Thunder, avoiding free agency with the possibility of a lockout this offseason.

A 13-year veteran, Mohammed averaged 6.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in 24 games.

Charlie Bell of the Golden State Warriors and Jarrett Jack of the New Orleans Hornets each has been suspended one game without pay for violating the league's conduct code.

The NBA announced that Bell was suspended for pleading no contest to reckless driving in California. Jack was suspended for pleading no contest to reckless driving in Georgia.

Bell and Jack each will be suspended for their team's first game of the 2011-12 regular season for which they are eligible and physically able to play.

Raleigh, N.C., police said they are looking for witnesses to help determine why a charter bus driven by Lorenzo Charles crashed this week, killing the former North Carolina State basketball standout.

The police said the bus ran off Interstate 40 for an unknown reason, rumbled through a grass shoulder, across an on-ramp and into a wooded area. The report said the bus then struck several trees and went back across the road before stopping.

Charles is remembered for his game-winning dunk in the 1983 NCAA championship game against Houston.

Reigning WNBA Most Valuable Player Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm has decided to have surgery to repair the torn labrum in her left hip and probably will be out eight to 12 weeks.

Jackson is scheduled to have the surgery today at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo. The three-time league MVP hurt the hip last week in a victory over Tulsa.

FOOTBALL

Mother of T.O.'s child claims
NFL star shirking child support

The mother of Terrell Owens' child said the NFL star has refused to pay the full $5,000 a month in child support he owes.

Melanie Paige Smith filed court papers June 20 in Atlanta seeking to hold the player in contempt.

Attorney Randall Kessler said Owens has refused to pay the full $5,000 for June. He said in court records that Owens' financial advisers have informed Smith that the athlete has decided to no longer pay the full amount.

Owens, a free agent, is recovering from knee surgery and can't sign with a team until the NFL lockout is resolved.

Also: Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt surrendered to Nashville police on two outstanding warrants alleging that he provided inaccurate information on separate driver's license applications.

Britt was briefly booked into jail before posting a $2,000 bond, according to Nashville police. Police spokesman Don Aaron told WKRN-TV that Britt was not at home when officers attempted to serve him on April 14 with the misdemeanor charges issued by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

MISCELLANEOUS

51s' Mills, Cooper selected to
play in Triple-A All-Star Game

Brad Mills of the 51s will be the starting pitcher for the Pacific Coast League when the Triple-A All-Star Game is played July 13 in Salt Lake City.

The left-handed Mills (6-6, 3.72 ERA) will be joined on the PCL squad by Las Vegas teammate David Cooper, an infielder who leads the league with a .384 batting average. Cooper will be a reserve for the annual game that pits the PCL against the International League.

The 51s return from a day off today to open a four-game home series against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at Cashman Field. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

Also: Former baseball star Roger Clemens is arguing he should be allowed to introduce evidence during his upcoming steroid trial that the leading witness against him raped an unconscious woman and lied to police investigating the assault.

The move is part of Clemens' attempt to discredit his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who was never charged in the assault investigation but admits he lied when questioned by Florida police in 2001. In a filing in Washington, D.C., Clemens' attorneys argued the experience gave McNamee a motive to falsely accuse Clemens of using drugs to save himself from becoming a target of a federal criminal investigation in 2007.

Las Vegas' Max Marsico and UNLV's Derek Ernst advanced to the round of 32 in the match-play portion of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship in Bandon, Ore.

Marsico, a graduate of The Meadows and sophomore-to-be at Pennsylvania this fall, never trailed in beating David Smith of Plymouth, Minn., 2 and 1.

Ernst rallied from three down and outlasted Joseph David of Madison, Tenn., winning on the 19th hole after their match was tied through 18. Ernst, a senior this fall at UNLV, was 1 up after 13, and David pulled even at No. 14. It stayed that way until Ernst made par at the par-4 No. 1 and David bogeyed.

Bethpage Black is back on golf's landscape, this time as the first FedEx Cup playoff event.

The PGA Tour announced that Barclays has signed a four-year extension as title sponsor through 2016 and that its tournament would be played at Bethpage Black in 2012 and 2016.

Tiger Woods signed a three-year deal to promote a Japanese pain reliever, his first endorsement since he was caught in a sex scandal toward the end of 2009.

The deal with Kowa Company Ltd. is geared only toward the market in Japan. Woods already has filmed commercials for "Vantelin Kowa," a heat rub used to relieve muscle and joint pain.

The Pittsburgh Penguins offered former NHL Most Valuable Player Jaromir Jagr a one-year contract and were awaiting word from Jagr's agent.

Jagr, 39, was a Pittsburgh draft pick in 1990 and helped lead the Penguins to two Stanley Cup championships. The franchise's hope is that he accepts the offer, plays at least one season in Pittsburgh and retires with the team with which he started.

Paul Kariya announced his retirement from the NHL after being unable to return from post-concussion symptoms that forced him to miss last season.

The former star left wing finished his long NHL stint with the St. Louis Blues. The 36-year-old Kariya missed six games in December and January of the 2009-10 season because of a concussion and announced in August that he would sit out the entire 2010-11 season after being examined by concussion specialist Dr. Mark Lovell.

The Rangers bought out the final year of captain Chris Drury's contract, making the forward an unrestricted free agent after four seasons in New York.

Drury will be given $3.33 million for the buyout that closes the five-year, $35.25 million deal he signed with the Rangers after leaving Buffalo as a free agent in 2007.

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom has a more serious leg injury that will require surgery, and the colt won't race again this year.

The colt's ownership, Team Valor International, said in a statement that a second set of X-rays revealed Animal Kingdom has a slab fracture in his left hind leg just above the small fracture to the cannon bone found two weeks ago.