Judge Delivers NBA Ultimatum

Saying the courts were being used as a bargaining chip, a federal judge in New York on Friday ordered the NBA and the Players Assn. to resolve contract issues this weekend or face a one-day trial next week in which they would have to live with his decision.

Judge Kevin Duffy would be left to determine the legality of the NBA’s salary cap, draft and restricted free agency, but Duffy said he doubted either side wanted that.

“You’ll have to live with something you don’t like,” Duffy said, noting both sides had brought the issue to court several times before.

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A Louisiana judge extended a temporary restraining order in New Orleans that prevents the NBA from publishing a 1994-95 schedule, despite an order from a federal judge telling the state court to halt proceedings in the matter.

U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum last week ordered a halt to proceedings in Judge Bernette Johnson’s court arising from a suit filed by Top Rank of Louisiana. Top Rank filed suit and won the restraining order in Johnson’s court after the NBA refused to approve Top Rank’s plan to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves and move the team to New Orleans.

Johnson said she will rule Monday on whether she was bound by Rosenbaum’s order.

Track and Field

Leroy Burrell, fresh from setting a world record of 9.85 seconds in the 100 meters, won the event in 10.12 at the BNP Grand Prix meet in Villeneuve D’Ascq, France.

Burrell beat fellow American Andre Cason, who finished second at 10.19 and Davidson Ezinwa of Nigeria, who was third, also at 10.19.

Gwen Torrence easily won the 400 meters in 50.20, beating 1993 world champion Jearl Miles, who finished third.

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Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan set a world record at the TBS Challenge meet in Edinburgh, Scotland, finishing the rarely run 2,000 meters in 5:25.36, but Britain’s Linford Christie failed to break the mark in the unofficial 100-yard event with a 9.30.

O’Sullivan bettered the previous record of 5:28.69, set by Romania’s Maricica Puica in July of 1986 at London.

Football

Starting quarterback Frank Costa Jr. of the University of Miami was released on $1,500 bail after having been arrested on charges of drunk driving with property damage and fleeing the scene of an accident in Miami. Costa’s blood-alcohol level was .19, more than double the .08 legal limit, police said. . . . The Indianapolis Colts signed former New York Jet quarterback Browning Nagle.

Auto Racing

Paul Tracy, who would earn a $1-million bonus with a victory from the pole in Sunday’s Cleveland Grand Prix, held the provisional pole after a top lap of 143.303 m.p.h. . . . Ernie Irvan won the pole for Sunday’s Slick 50 300 with a record-breaking lap of 127.197 m.p.h. at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H. . . . Michael Schumacher, averaging 131.048 m.p.h., held off a late charge by Damon Hill and two Ferraris to take the provisional pole for the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England.

Miscellany

Top-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain continued his straight-set sweep at the $485,000 Swiss Open with an easy 6-3, 6-0 quarterfinal victory over compatriot Emilio Sanchez in Gstaad, Switzerland. . . . Unseeded Australian Todd Woodbridge beat second-seeded countryman Jason Stoltenberg, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), in the quarterfinals of the $215,000 Hall of Fame tournament at Newport, R.I.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Buster Douglas was moved out of intensive care and upgraded to fair condition in Columbus, Ohio. Douglas, 34, is being treated for a diabetic condition. . . . Former Olympic boxer Todd Foster lost a seven-round split decision to Homer Gibbins after an accidental head butt in a junior-lightweight bout at Biloxi, Miss. . . . An incorrect statute number on a police report in Albuquerque, N.M., led to the dismissal of a felony charge of battery on a police officer against Bobby Unser, a three-time Indy 500 winner. Unser, 60, still faces three misdemeanor charges in an altercation with an officer at Albuquerque International Airport on May 16. . . . The 33rd annual Chevron-Manhattan Beach Grand Prix from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday will feature top area and national cyclists in 10 sanctioned pro-am races at Live Oak Park in Manhattan Beach. . . . Thoroughbred trainer Bill Shoemaker’s wife of 16 years, Cynthia, has filed for divorce. They have one daughter, Amanda, 14.