Lakers Split Pot; 76ers Pick Guokas

Laker players have voted to divide the $455,000 they earned in the playoffs into 13 shares.

Twelve players and trainer Gary Vitti will each receive $34,339.62. Among the dozen players are forward Jamaal Wilkes, who did not play after Feb. 1 because of a knee injury, and guard Ronnie Lester, who did not join the team until Nov. 29. Backup center Chuck Nevitt, who appeared in just 11 regular-season and seven playoff games for a total of 96 minutes, was given the quarter share.

Coach Pat Riley will receive a full share from the league. His assistants, Bill Bertka and Dave Wohl, will get the equivalent of a full share from Laker management.

The players and coaches also put money into a separate pool for Laker staff members.

Matt Guokas, an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, will be named head coach of the NBA club today, team spokesman Harvey Pollack announced.

Guokas, 41, will succeed Billy Cunningham, who resigned May 28.

The announcement came four days after the only other contender named by the team, Detroit Pistons Coach Chuck Daly, became unavailable. The Pistons removed Daly from consideration after the 76ers refused to accept Detroit’s demand for a first-round draft choice in exchange for Daly, who has a year left on a three-year contract.

The Tampa Bay Bandits and the Denver Gold will both remain in the USFL in 1986, Commissioner Harry Usher announced.

Tampa Bay owner John Bassett had balked at the USFL’s planned move to a fall season in 1986 and said at an April league meeting that he would start his own spring league. However, Bassett’s plans were halted by his deteriorating health. Bassett has two brain tumors, one of which is inoperable.

Ralph Campbell, the Bandits’ director of business operations, indicated that Bassett would not be involved in the team’s future.

Denver owner Doug Spedding had joined Bassett in opposing the move to the fall.

Manager Billy Martin took a swipe at General Manager Clyde King for what he believes the New York Yankees failed to accomplish in spring training.

Martin made his comments at a mandatory off-day workout for pitchers at Yankee Stadium.

“A lot of things have to be corrected here, but these things should have been done in spring training,” said Martin, whose Yankees are fifth in the American League East. “That’s why a manager should always manage in spring training.”

Yogi Berra was the Yankee manager until Martin replaced him April 9, with the team 6-10. Since then, its record is 22-17.

A senior North Korean official, Li Chang Son, was quoted as saying his country will not take part in the 1988 Olympics at Seoul, South Korea.

Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers was awarded the Hart Trophy as the National Hockey League’s Most Valuable Player for the sixth straight year.

Other award winners: Edmonton’s Paul Coffey, Norris Trophy as best defenseman; Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux, Calder Trophy as rookie of the year; Philadelphia’s Pelle Lindbergh, Vezina Trophy as the top goaltender, and Philadelphia’s Mike Keenan, Adams Trophy as the coach of the year.

Names in the News

Guillermo Vilas has reconsidered retiring from tennis, claiming he was misunderstood when he apparently announced Tuesday that he was quitting after a loss to Yugoslav Goran Prpic.

Former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Harold Carmichael announced his retirement from pro football. Carmichael, 35, said he decided to retire when the Dallas Cowboys cut him after 10 games last fall.

Robert Shannon, the Olympic bantamweight fighter from Edmonds, Wash., will fight Ralph Gutierrez of East Los Angeles on the June 24 card at the Irvine Marriott Hotel.