LeBron James says a return to Cavaliers is possible

LeBron James can picture returning one day to the place where his NBA journey began, making an unlikely return to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After practicing in a gym where he refined his game for seven seasons, James said Thursday he would not rule out a return to the Cavaliers, a team he carried to the brink of a title before he spurned adoring fans by leaving as a free agent in 2010 to chase a championship with Miami.

Asked whether he could play for the Cavaliers again, James initially paused before giving his answer.

“It would be great,” he said. “It would be fun to play in front of these fans again. I had a lot fun times in my seven years here. You can’t predict the future and hopefully I continue to stay healthy. I’m here as a Miami Heat player, and I’m happy where I am now, but I don’t rule that out in no sense.

“And if I decide to come back, hopefully the fans will accept me.”

James’ comments may have been calculated, coming one day before the Cavaliers host the Heat for the third time since the superstar’s messy exit from Cleveland. In mentioning a possible reunion, he may be trying to soften the negative response he’ll get Friday from fans who haven’t forgotten what he did to them.

ETC.

Azarenka advances in Qatar

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka defeated Simona Halep of Romania, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the Qatar Open quarterfinals at Doha, and Lucie Safarova stopped Svetlana Kuznetsova, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Third-seeded Sam Stosur took advantage of shaky serving from Petra Cetkovska for a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the third round and earned her first consecutive wins of the year.

Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska saved two set points in the first set and stopped Varvara Lepchenko of the United States, 7-5, 6-1. American Christina McHale will play Radwanska in the quarterfinals after defeating Shahar Peer of Israel, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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Second-seeded Tomas Berdych advanced to the quarterfinals of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament at Rotterdam, Netherlands, when Marcos Baghdatis retired because of a leg injury in the fourth game.

Also, third-seeded Juan Martin del Potro fired nine aces to advance with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Karol Beck of Slovakia.

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Nicolas Almagro of Spain extended the defense of his Brazil Open title to the quarterfinals by defeating Victor Hanescu of Romania, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, at Sao Paulo.

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The San Jose Sharks acquired center Dominic Moore and a seventh-round draft pick this year from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2012 second-round pick.

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The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Nicklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a 2012 second-round pick and a 2013 third-round pick.

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Nevada football Coach Chris Ault agreed to a two-year extension that will bring his salary to $535,000 by 2015. That’s about half the average salary in the Mountain West Conference, in which he’ll begin his 28th season coaching the Wolf Pack next season.

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A third-division Brazilian soccer team fired its coach only two days after officially introducing him.

XV de Jau announced Thursday that it got rid of coach Nem, who was introduced Monday. He was let go after the team’s 3-1 loss to Flamengo in the third division of the Sao Paulo state championship on Wednesday.

Club President Jose Construtor said “the team didn’t play well” and Nem “made poor choices.”

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The U.S. women’s national water polo team made it two straight victories to open the Holiday Cup with a 9-8 win over Canada at Los Alamitos. Lolo Silver scored three goals for the U.S., which closes group play Friday with a match against defending world champion Greece.

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Baltimore County (Md.) police say former Ravens wide receiver Jermaine Lewis was arrested after police saw him driving with his 4-year-old son unrestrained in the front seat of his car.

Lewis was also cited for driving with a suspended license and driving with a revoked license.