In Brief

BASKETBALL

Veteran Iverson wants to return next season

Veteran guard Allen Iverson is planning a return to the NBA next season, his personal manager said Friday. Iverson returned to the Philadelphia 76ers in December and took a leave of absence in March because of family issues.

Iverson, 35, has not talked publicly since ending his second stint with the Sixers. His wife, Tawanna, filed for divorce the same week he left Philadelphia.

Sixers president Ed Stefanski said on an NBA.com chat this week the team was “not aware of what his plans are for the future.”

Also: The Miami Heat exercised their option for the final year of guard Mario Chalmers’ contract. Chalmers, who has started 104 games in two seasons with the Heat, is due to make about $850,000 in his third season.

Game 7 drew the highest preliminary rating for an NBA Finals game since 1998. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 83-79 victory over the Boston Celtics on Thursday on ABC earned an 18.2 overnight rating, the highest since Michael Jordan won his last title with the Chicago Bulls in 1998.

HOCKEY

Blake, 40, retires after 20-year career in NHL

San Jose Sharks captain Rob Blake retired after a 20-year career as one of the NHL’s top defensemen.

Blake, 40, won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman for Los Angeles in 1998 and an Olympic gold medal for Canada in 2002. He is 10th on the career list with 240 goals as a defenseman.

Blake helped San Jose post the top regular-season record in the Western Conference in each of his two seasons with the team but was unable to get the Sharks to their first Stanley Cup final. The Sharks were swept by eventual champion Chicago in this year’s West final.

Also: The ECHL Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the Las Vegas Wranglers to Wranglers Hockey LLC. The sale was announced in April, when the Wranglers said the team would remain in Las Vegas.

MOTOR SPORTS

Super Late Models leader heads LVMS card

Scott Gafforini carries a two-race Super Late Models winning streak into tonight’s Chris Trickle Father’s Day Weekend Doubleheader at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring.

Gafforini took over the division’s points lead two weeks ago in the NASCAR All-American Series. The night features two 35-lap Super Late Models races.

Chargers, Legends Cars, Thunder Cars, Bombers and Bandoleros will also race. Racing will begin at 6 p.m.

Also: Rick Hendrick dismissed a report that Kasey Kahne will drive for Phoenix Racing next season, the gap year before he moves into Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 5 car.

Kahne signed with Hendrick Motorsports in April to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in 2012, after current driver Mark Martin’s contract expires. The deal called for Hendrick to find a place for Kahne next season.

Ashley Force Hood claimed the provisional pole in Funny Car at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. She had a 4.151-second pass at a top speed of 296.70 mph. Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) led their divisions in qualifying.

MISCELLANEOUS

Steinhauer leads LPGA event; Gulbis one back

Sherri Steinhauer shot a 7-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Henderson resident Natalie Gulbis and rookie Tania Elosegui of Spain after the first round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway Township, N.J.

The 47-year-old Steinhauer, who missed the 2009 season after surgery on both hips, had six birdies and a 30-foot eagle on No. 9. Gulbis had six birdies and no bogeys in launching her bid for a second career win.

Also: Robert Dinwiddie of England shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Saint-Omer Open in France. He is at 6-under 136.

The Seattle Seahawks released wide receiver Reggie Williams, a former NFL first-round pick. Williams, 27, starred at the University of Washington and signed with the Seahawks after a free-agent tryout in April. He has been out of the league for a year.

Restricted free-agent wide receiver Lance Moore signed his one-year, $1.76 million tender with the New Orleans Saints.

Justine Henin defeated Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-2 to reach the final of the Unicef Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands. The top-seeded Henin will play seventh-seeded Andrea Petkovic in the final.

In the men’s semifinals, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia upset defending champion Benjamin Becker of Germany, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Tipsarevic will play unseeded Sergiy Stakhovsky in the final.

Qualifier Ekaterina Makarova upset Samantha Stosur 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the semifinals of the Eastbourne (England) International grass-court event. Makarova will play Victoria Azarenka in the final.

Lance Armstrong finished 27th in the seventh stage and remained seventh in the overall standings of the Tour of Switzerland. Marcus Burghardt of Germany won the stage, and Robert Gesink of the Netherlands remained the overall leader.

Wayne Webb defeated Walter Ray Williams Jr. 705-628 to win the U.S. Bowling Congress Senior Masters championship at the South Point. Webb, who went 7-0 in the tournament in winning his third career Senior PBA Tour major title, earned $16,000.

Ben Loorz resigned as UNLV’s assistant swimming coach to become the women’s head coach at Cal State East Bay.

The Southern Nevada team scored five runs in the first inning and four more in the third in a 13-5 rout of Northern Nevada in the Kelley Baseball Showcase at the College of Southern Nevada.

The nine-inning, wood-bat game featured the state’s top underclassmen.

Arbor View’s Zachary Quintana went 2-for-3 with four RBIs on his way to Most Valuable Player honors for Southern Nevada.