Lakers, Bryant Agree to Terms

The Lakers and Kobe Bryant, having originally planned to wait another month before signing a contract to avoid the red tape that comes will employing a minor, instead went ahead Thursday and signed a three-year package worth $3.5 million.

After consulting with various officials, the sides determined that Bryant can do the deal now and then re-sign the contract after he turns 18 on Aug. 23.

Bryant, a 6-foot-6 swingman making the jump from high school to the pros, was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets at No. 13 and then traded to the Lakers for Vlade Divac. In four summer league games, he averaged 25 points and 5.3 rebounds.

The signing means the Lakers have all nine players under contract. The final three roster spots will be filled by free agents who come in at the league minimum of $247,500.

--SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

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The New York Knicks eased a logjam at guard by trading Hubert Davis to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a first-round draft choice.

Davis became expendable when the team signed free-agent shooting guard Allan Houston on June 14.

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Anthony Mason, the former Knick forward traded to the Charlotte Hornets, was arrested when police broke up a dispute among a group of people on a Manhattan street corner at 2:40 a.m.

Mason, 29, was held on charges of assault, menacing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Three officers were hurt slightly tangling with the 6-foot-7, 250-pound player. Mason refused to be handcuffed and it took 10 officers to finally place him under arrest.

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Former Kentucky guard and Final Four most valuable player Tony Delk, the 16th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, signed a three-year contract with the Charlotte Hornets. Terms were not announced.

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Memphis center Lorenzen Wright, the Clippers’ top pick in last month’s NBA draft, had a small screw inserted into his right foot during a minor surgical procedure. Wright, the seventh player picked in the draft, fractured a bone in the foot while jogging at the NBA pre-draft camp in Chicago. He is expected to resume training in three weeks.

Tennis

Top-seeded Thomas Muster defeated Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-3, 6-3, in the second round of the $435,000 Generali Open at Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Muster, whose victory took 71 minutes, will play Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina in the third round. Zabaleta advanced by defeating Spain’s Jordi Burillo, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6, after facing three match points in the final set.

In other matches, Emilio Alvarez beat fellow Spaniard Francisco Clavet, 6-3, 6-3, and Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine edged Alexander Volkov of Russia, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

Miscellany

Marco Antonio Barrera, who won the WBO junior-featherweight title in March of 1995, will defend his crown against top-ranked contender Jesse Magana on Sept. 14 at the Forum. . . . Freshman cornerback Dock Pollard and sophomore offensive tackle Pat Browning will miss games due to “conduct inappropriate for a Florida football player,” Coach Steve Spurrier said, declining to elaborate. . . . Five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson was selected to replace David Graham as captain of the International Team for the Presidents Cup golf tournament. . . . Avery Curry, a guard who started 18 games as a sophomore at Florida State last season, will transfer to Nebraska and be eligible to play in 1997-98, Cornhusker basketball Coach Danny Nee said.