Suns to Drop, Honor Chambers

The Phoenix Suns will not exercise their option on Tom Chambers, giving the four-time All-Star an early release “to help his marketability.”

Sun owner Jerry Colangelo said Friday that Chambers, who is vacationing in Hawaii, called him late Thursday and made the request.

“The request was that if our decision was going to be not to exercise the option on his contract for the ‘93-94 season, that we go ahead and make that decision quickly,” Colangelo said during a news conference.

After four years as a starter at power forward, Chambers was relegated to the bench last season when the Suns acquired Charles Barkley. They had to decide whether to pay Chambers $2.4 million next season or $750,000 for his release and return to unrestricted free agency.

However, Colangelo said that when Chambers leaves, his No. 24 will be retired by the Suns.

Jurisprudence

The Kings’ Wayne Gretzky has sued Nike Inc. for $6 million, alleging that the athletic clothing company backed out of an endorsement deal when he was sidelined sidelined because of a back injury.

Gretzky claims that he was to receive 2% of the net wholesale sales of Nike denim clothing under an agreement reached in 1988, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Gretzky claims he refused other endorsement offers, including one for a competing line of denim wear, and modeled the Nike clothes for advertising photos because of the contract.

“Nike made its promises at a time when Gretzky was at the peak of his athletic performance, popularity and fame, and then in a callous and despicable manner refused to honor its promises at a time when Gretzky was severely injured and unable to perform as a consequence,” the lawsuit said.

Nike spokeswoman Liz Dolan said that she was unaware of the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.

Colleges

Paul Dee, the top lawyer for the University of Miami, became the school’s athletic director.

Dee, Miami’s general counsel since 1981 and a vice president since 1986, replaces Dave Maggard, who left in May to join the organizers of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Dee had been serving as interim athletic director since Maggard’s departure.

Kentucky and Louisville announced they will play in football in 1994 for the first time in 70 years.

Auto Racing

Emerson Fittipaldi bumped Nigel Mansell off the provisional pole for Sunday’s Budweiser-G.I. Joe’s 200 Indy car race at Portland, Ore., with less than a minute remaining in the opening round of qualifying.

The Indianapolis 500 winner, driving a Penske-Chevrolet, had a fast lap of 115.069 m.p.h. Mansell’s best lap in a Lola-Ford was 114.739.

Ernie Irvan of Modesto won the pole at Watkins Glen, N.Y., for today’s Fay’s 150 Grand National Series stock car race. Irvan, driving a Chevrolet, qualified at 114.632 m.p.h.

High Schools

Five finalists have been selected in the search for a new CIF City Section commissioner. They are Lee Joseph, longtime athletic administrator; Charles Didinger, vice principal at Banning High; Barbara Fiege, athletic director at Belmont High; Myra Fullerton, athletic director at Franklin High, and Neil Stone, vice principal at Eagle Rock High. The winner will replace Hal Harkness, who will step down Oct. 1 after seven years on the job.

Miscellany

Archie Williams, a black runner whose gold medal performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics helped foil Adolf Hitler’s hopes of using the Games to showcase Aryan athletes, died in the Bay Area at 78.

After winning three national titles and 499 games, women’s basketball Coach Pat Summitt signed a five-year contract with the University of Tennessee, the first the school has offered for a coach of a women’s team.

Golfer Ian Woosnam of Wales was arrested and charged with drunk driving after crashing his luxury car in London.

Individual tickets for the Raiders’ 1993 home schedule at the renovated Coliseum will go on sale Thursday at the Raider ticket office in El Segundo, the Sports Arena box office and TicketMaster outlets.

Four U.S. players won the World Junior Golf team championship at Kobe, Japan, finishing 11 strokes ahead of second-place Sweden.