Seattle group raises offer for Sacramento Kings

The Seattle group attempting to buy the Sacramento Kings says it has reached agreement to raise the purchase price by $25 million.

Chris Hansen, who is teaming with Steve Ballmer to lead the group, announced the decision to raise the valuation late Friday night. In a statement on his website, Sonicsarena.com, Hansen says the group has voluntarily raised the purchase price as a “sign of our commitment to bring basketball back to our city.”

Hansen’s group entered into a binding agreement with the Maloof family in January to purchase the controlling interest of the franchise based on a $525 million value. The purchase agreement has been countered by Sacramento’s attempts to put together a potential ownership group that would keep the Kings in California.

The NBA Board of Governors meets next week in New York and is expected to vote on the potential sale and relocation.

ETC.

Kyle Busch wins Nationwide race

Kyle Busch raced to his third consecutive NASCAR Nationwide victory this season and his sixth overall at Texas, leading the 91 of 200 laps Friday night.

Busch is the first six-time winner in the series at the 11/2-mile, high-banked Texas track.

While driving a car he owned last season, Busch didn’t win in the Nationwide Series. He is back in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this year. After finishing 32nd in the season opener at Daytona, he has four wins and a runner-up finish to push his series victory record to 55.

Busch finished 2.27 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski, while Austin Dillon was third and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth.

The Busch brothers will start on the front row at Texas on Saturday night.

Kyle Busch set a track qualifying record with a lap of 196.299 mph Friday night to earn his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Texas. It is his second pole in his Toyota this season.

That was all that could knock Kurt Busch off the pole after his lap of 195.688 mph in his Chevrolet.

The only time the brothers started on the front row together was at Las Vegas in 2009, when Kyle also had the pole position and won that race. Kurt finished 23rd that day.

Series points leader Jimmie Johnson, who won at Texas last fall, starts seventh after a lap of 194.503 mph.

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An investor who helped launch Anthony Bosch’s Biogenesis of America has been trying to sell purported documents from the closed anti-aging clinic to Major League Baseball and players, several people familiar with the matter said Friday.

MLB has bought some of the documents, the people said, all speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the situation. MLB has been investigating the clinic for allegedly distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs to players.

MLB’s purchase was first reported Thursday by the New York Times, which said Friday that MLB investigators have “what they believe is evidence” that a representative of Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez purchased medical records.

An associate who works closely with Rodriguez denied that the player has ever tried to buy the documents, telling the Associated Press the Yankees slugger “doesn’t even care” what’s in the records. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because Rodriguez did not authorize the release of that information.

Those familiar with the situation also told the AP that the person selling the documents has called representatives of players and MLB officials in recent weeks offering the records for a price. Baseball could try to use the documents in disciplinary proceedings against players under the sport’s drug agreement. The individual who provided the documents would be needed, presumably, to authenticate them in any grievance hearing.

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Reggie Theus was introduced Friday as Cal State Northridge’s men’s basketball coach.

Theus, who was hired last week, guided New Mexico State to the NCAA tournament in 2007. He also has been a head coach of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and an assistant at Louisville and for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Theus, a two-time all-star in 13 NBA seasons, most recently was coach of the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League.

Theus, 55, said one immediate goal is for his new team to be “the hardest-playing team” in the Big West Conference.

— Eric Sondheimer

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Tony Bland and Jason Hart have been hired as assistant coaches for Coach Andy Enfield’s men’s basketball staff, USC confirmed in an announcement.

Bland was an assistant at San Diego State, where the former Westchester High star played his final two college seasons after transferring from Syracuse.

Hart is a former NBA player who attended Westchester and Inglewood highs and played in college at Syracuse. He was a Pepperdine assistant last season.

— Gary Klein

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San Diego State guard Jamaal Franklin is skipping his senior season to enter the NBA draft. Franklin led the Aztecs in scoring and rebounding the last two years and helped them to three straight NCAA appearances and the first three NCAA tournament victories in school history.

USC’s final spring football scrimmage begins at 1 p.m., at the Coliseum. Admission is $10. The scrimmage also will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

Quarterbacks Max Wittek, Cody Kessler and Max Browne all will take snaps, but the competition to succeed Matt Barkley as the starter is expected to continue through training camp.

Receivers Marqise Lee and Nelson Agholor are scheduled to participate, but more than 20 players are expected to sit out because of injuries.

— Gary Klein

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Auburn is moving forward with plans for a makeover of Toomer’s Corner that will include planting trees to replace the iconic oaks poisoned by a fan of rival Alabama.

The board of trustees gave the go-ahead Friday to initiate plans to redevelop the site that has long been the scene for victory celebrations. It was the first step in a project that is expected to cost from $1 million to $2 million.

Auburn fans will roll the two live oaks at Toomer’s Corner for the final time after the Tigers’ spring game on April 20, when a design concept will be unveiled. The live oaks will be removed three days later.

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Issues related to travel, insurance and logistics remained unresolved after executives of the NHL, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation met in New York to discuss NHL players’ participation in the Winter Olympics next February in Sochi, Russia.

NHL players have represented their homelands in the Games since 1998, but the distance to Russia and the high cost of insuring players’ contracts have complicated negotiations that would cover the Sochi hockey tournament.

“We had a good working session and were able to discuss all of the issues involved in the possibility of having NHL players participate in the 2014 Sochi Games,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. “The parties are committed to continuing to work through the process, but there remains work to be done on all sides.”

—Helene Elliott

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Inside linebacker Rolando McClain has signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens. He comes to the Ravens as a free agent after being released by the Oakland Raiders this month.

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Fifth-seeded John Isner had 19 aces, the fastest at 146 mph, to overpower Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship quarterfinals in Houston.

The 6-foot-9 American dominated his 5-9 opponent in the first set, but Berankis fought back to take the second set, handing Isner a break in the eighth game. Isner had 10 aces in the third set, two on the final two points, and 90 percent of his first-serve points.

Isner will face third-seeded defending champion Juan Monaco of Argentina, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over qualifier Robby Ginepri.

In the other quarterfinals, top-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain beat Italy’s Paolo Lorenzo, 6-4, 6-4, and American wild-card Rhyne Williams topped Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-4.

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The San Antonio Spurs waived forward Stephen Jackson, ending his second stint with the team.

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The NBA fined Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant for making a “menacing gesture,” when he pretended to slice his throat after throwing down a big dunk during the Thunder’s victory Thursday against the Golden State Warriors.