NBA Rejects Deals Signed by Grant and Green

The NBA, in another signal of its intent to preserve the salary cap, Tuesday rejected the contracts signed by forwards Horace Grant and A.C. Green.

Grant, a free agent from the Chicago Bulls, had signed with the Orlando Magic. Green had left the Phoenix Suns after exercising a clause that allowed him to become a free agent.

The contracts, seen by the league as well below market value, were similar to the one Chris Dudley signed with the Portland Trail Blazers last year. That deal was validated in federal court after the league contended it violated the salary cap.

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The possible departure of Richard Dumas for a team in Greece would free the Phoenix Suns from his five-year, $9-million contract, but Sun President Jerry Colangelo said that’s not the issue.

“The money’s not important,” he said. “It’s just time to part company.”

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The Washington Bullets traded Michael Adams to the Charlotte Hornets for two second-round draft picks, clearing the way for Scott Skiles to be the Bullets’ starting point guard. The Hornets said forward-center LeRon Ellis signed a one-year contract to play with FC Barcelona of the Spanish League.

Colleges

Commissioners of college football conferences have decided to unanimously recommend that the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl rotate a national championship game after the 1995 season, the Miami Herald reported.

The decision must be approved by the conferences’ athletic directors. The athletic directors have veto power, but the commissioners do not expect them to use it, the Herald quoted unidentified sources as saying.

Bob Goin, the Florida State athletic director on extended leave to resolve allegations of ethical misconduct, predicted he would be cleared of wrongdoing.

Goin faces state investigations into whether he used his position to get a discounted price on a new roof and help his son get a job with a sports promoter. He has denied doing anything improper.

Golf

Paul Azinger will rejoin the PGA Tour on Thursday in the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich. It will be his first competitive round of golf since November, when cancer in his right shoulder ended a season in which he won three times and had 10 top-three finishes, the most since Tom Watson in 1980.

After nine months away from the tour, after six months of chemotherapy and five weeks of radiation, Azinger is believed to be free of cancer.

Kurt Schuette, whose teams won four conference titles in his six seasons at Pepperdine, has become coach of the USC men’s golf team.

Tennis

Top-seeded Goran Ivanisevic defeated Herbert Wiltschnig, 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the EA Generali Open at Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Kimiko Date, ranked fifth on the WTA Tour, has withdrawn from next week’s Virginia Slims of Los Angeles at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach.

Miscellany

Lawyers for one of the men charged with killing the father of Michael Jordan filed a motion suggesting James Jordan faked his death because of financial problems.

Lawyers for Daniel Andre Green said the elder Jordan “was in a very precarious financial position with the IRS, the State Department of Revenue, banks, credit card providers and other creditors.”

Jeremy Williams (18-1, 15 knockouts) of Long Beach won by a six-round technical knockout over Mark Wills (14-14-1) of Los Angeles in a heavyweight bout at the Olympic Auditorium.