Report Says Nelson Will Step Down

Golden State Warrior Coach Don Nelson might not return to the team after the All-Star break, according to a story in the San Jose Mercury News.

New Warrior owner Chris Cohan denied that Nelson’s departure is set but said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Nelson’s health kept him from completing the season.

Nelson missed seven games because of pneumonia, which some blamed in part on stress.

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The Minneapolis City Council approved $75 million to buy the Target Center, which should enable Glen Taylor to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves from financially strapped Harvey Ratner and Marvin Wolfenson.

Baseball

Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) will introduce legislation that partially repeals the major league owners’ antitrust exemption. The move will be made Tuesday, and union head Donald Fehr said its passage will prompt him to ask the players to end their strike.

The Toronto Blue Jays said they will propose playing home games with replacement players at their spring training camp in Dunedin, Fla. They are prohibited by law from using the players in Toronto.

The Dodgers confirmed the signings of six minor leaguers expected to become replacement players: infielders Edwin Alicea, Richard Parker and Chris Butterfield, and pitchers Rafael Montalvo, George Tsamis and Tom McCarthy.

The Angels reduced ticket prices for spring training games by $2 at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Miscellany

Michael Johnson set a world indoor 400-meter record with a time of 44.97 seconds at the Reno Air Games, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee broke her own American indoor record in the women’s 50-meter hurdles by sprinting to victory in 6.67 seconds. The old 400 record of 45.02 was set by Danny Everett in 1992. The old hurdles record, shared with Kim McKenzie and set in 1993, was 6.84. . . . Sun Caiyun of China raised her own women’s world indoor pole vault record by half an inch, clearing 13 feet 6 1/4 inches in a meet at Berlin.

Mike Campbell’s Victoria, from the Long Beach Yacht Club, had the early lead among the last six starters in Del Rey Yacht Club’s 13th biennial race from Marina del Rey to Puerto Vallarta.

Trace Worthington of Park City, Utah, former men’s overall champion, won a World Cup aerials meet at Altenmarkt, Austria, scoring 242.59 points to 226.79 for Sebastien Foucras of France. Norway’s Hilde Lid scored 171 points and beat Colette Brand of Switzerland in the women’s competition.

A decision by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, to cancel next month’s world youth soccer tournament in Nigeria because of reported outbreaks of cholera and meningitis was described as “an insult to Nigeria and black Africa” by Babasola Rhodes, the administrator of the National Sports Commission for Nigeria.

Jurisprudence

Raul Bey, 51, who bankrolled a shopping spree for Florida State players in late 1993, faces a year in prison under a plea bargain in which he would admit failing to register as an agent in Florida.

Kansas City Chief cornerback Dale Carter was sentenced to 15 days in jail and 75 days of home detention in Kansas City, Mo., for violating his probation on a 1993 weapons conviction. The action was prompted by a hotel fight last May.

Former Olympic boxer Michael Carbajal was sentenced to 300 hours of community service after pleading guilty in Phoenix to recklessly shooting a gun.

Daniel Wieland, convicted of reckless driving for slamming into the car of Sacramento King guard Bobby Hurley, was sentenced to three years’ probation.

Tennis

Andre Agassi held off wild-card entry Brian MacPhie, 6-4, 6-3, and Michael Chang won two tiebreakers to beat Greg Rusedski, 7-6 (6-4), 7-6 (8-5) in the quarterfinals of the San Jose Open. . . . Lisa Raymond upset fifth-seeded Amy Frazier, 6-4, 6-3, in a quarterfinal match of the Ameritech Cup in Chicago and advanced to a match against Zina Garrison-Jackson, who beat Brenda Schultz, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). Gabriela Sabatini and Magdalena Maleeva also won.

Names in the News

In Albuquerque, N.M., Johnny Tapia (29-0-1) retained his WBO junior bantamweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jose Rafael Sosa (15-8-5), and Dezi Ford (7-1-1) stopped former U.S. Olympian Pepe Reilly (11-2) of Glendale at 1:26 of the first round in a junior welterweight bout.

Skip Bertman, coach at Louisiana State, was named U.S. Olympic baseball coach.