Dominique Wilkins Sued by Greek Team

Dominique Wilkins, accused of faking injuries and leaving at times without notice, is now unwanted and being sued by the Greek team he led to the European championship last season.

In a civil suit filed last week in Massachusetts, Panathinaikos asks that Wilkins and his agent, Steve Kauffman, be barred from access to $4 million in letters of credit granted as part of the three-year, $11-million deal Wilkins signed last summer.

The court issued a temporary restraining order last week and the case was continued until Tuesday. The suit was filed June 27, three days before the team would have to paid a $1.75-million advance on his 1996-97 salary of $3.5 million.

Kauffman and Wilkins were notified June 19 that the contract was going to be terminated. Reached Wednesday by the Boston Globe, Kauffman called the lawsuit “totally bogus.”

Attempts to reach Wilkins were unsuccessful.

The suit cites four examples of Wilkins leaving the team to attend to injuries or personal matters.

According to the suit, the fourth incident was three days before the fifth and decisive game of the Greek Basketball Championships, which Panathinaikos lost. The team disputed Wilkins’ claim that he was hurt.

Panathinaikos “lost the game by a wide margin in large part because of Wilkins’ desertion of the team and the resulting confusion on the part of his teammates,” the suit says.

Jurisprudence

An officer accused of making a down payment to have Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin killed reportedly turned first to a man trusted by several officers who were under investigation for police corruption.

The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday that the man was an informant who tipped off police about the incident and put officer Johnnie Hernandez in touch with the “hit man,” an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Sources told the newspaper the corruption investigation was being made into allegations that several police officers were suspected of providing protection for cocaine dealers.

Raymond Priester, who set a single-season rushing record at Clemson last year, has been arrested for allegedly charging long-distance phone calls to someone else.

Priester, 21, is the eighth Clemson player to be arrested in the past 4 1/2 months. He was released Wednesday on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.

Campus police say Priester allegedly billed eight calls totaling less than $50 to the telephone of Edith Craps, a retiree in Hampton.

If convicted, the Allendale native would face a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine on the misdemeanor charges.

Auto Racing

Jeff Gordon outran the rain at Daytona International Speedway.

A winner five times already this year, Gordon was the fastest of the few to finish before showers postponed qualifying for Saturday’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona Beach, Fla.

The defending champion’s speed of 188.869 mph could well earn the pole, even though 34 drivers will get a chance to bump him today.

Darrell Waltrip had the second-fastest lap at 186.776 mph. Jeff Purvis was third at 186.474 and Dale Earnhardt fourth at 186.409.

Miscellany

Baltimore Raven receiver Andre Rison has rejected the team’s request to lower his salary by $1 million and add incentive clauses, according to his agent.

The Ravens need to free up money under the league’s salary cap. The Ravens are only $79,000 under the cap and need at least $3 million to sign their seven rookies, including No. 1 draft picks Jonathan Ogden of UCLA and Ray Lewis of Miami.

A team of 12-year-old soccer players learned a lesson in tolerance when they decided to forfeit a championship game after one of their teammates was told he couldn’t play and wear his bandanna.

Tristan Coffin said he wouldn’t remove the bandanna for religious reasons. He practices Sikhism, an Indian-based religion that requires its followers to keep their heads covered in public.

Coffin wore the bandanna during the regular season and throughout four other championship games at the Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Mass.

But in an Easton Classic championship game Monday, referee Ron Quintiliani cited tournament rules and said the boy could not wear the bandanna for safety reasons.

Coffin walked off the field.

After pleading with the referee to let Coffin play, his Franklin teammates walked off the field in support.

The opposing team from Dudley also refused to play.

“I was really mad, that’s the first thing that came to my mind,” Coffin said. “But when everyone supported me, I felt a lot better.”

When Dudley received first-place trophies for its forfeit victory, the players presented one of them to Coffin.

“It was an absolute miracle,” said Coffin’s mother, Sherry. “It was a blessing to us as a religion and a family to see how the teams responded.”