Lakers Pick Up Kersey for Their Bench

The Lakers bolstered their depleted bench by signing free-agent forward Jerome Kersey on Monday.

Kersey, 34, averaged 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in 76 games for the Golden State Warriors last season. He ranked third on the team in steals with 91 and blocked shots with 45.

“Jerome will provide us with additional frontcourt depth and is a player with an outstanding work ethic and playoff experience,” Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said.

The 6-foot-7 Kersey was a second-round pick by Portland in the 1984 draft. He spent 11 years with the Trail Blazers, becoming only the second player in franchise history after Clyde Drexler to register 10,000 career points and 5,000 rebounds.

Details of his Laker contract were not released.

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Following the Islamic custom of prearranged marriages, Houston Rocket star Hakeem Olajuwon and Dalia Asafi were married last week in a traditional ceremony.

“There is no dating process, no boyfriends and girlfriends in Islam,” Olajuwon said in a statement. “Families meet, talk, get to know one another. Then the marriage is arranged.”

Olajuwon, a 33-year-old Nigerian who is now a U.S. citizen, worshiped for years at the same Houston mosque as the 18-year-old bride’s father. But since men and women are separated when praying, he did not meet his future bride or her mother until a meeting was arranged.

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Former Clipper Derek Smith, the Washington Bullet assistant coach who died on a cruise ship with his family, was stricken by respiratory arrest, brought on my motion sickness medications, a preliminary report shows.

The Bullets said a final report on the cause of death is expected after test results are released. Smith, 34, died Friday.

Colleges

Bill Shumard, interim athletic director at Long Beach State since March, was hired on a permanent basis.

Shumard, 45, was appointed following a national search. A 1972 graduate of Long Beach State, he returned to the school two years ago as an assistant athletic director. He spent 13 years doing community relations work for the Dodgers, three years as an assistant athletic director at USC and three years as athletic director at Cal State Fullerton.

Tennis

Top-seeded Alberto Costa fought back from a 0-3 first-set deficit to defeat Felix Mantilla, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3, to win the rain-delayed $300,000 San Marino International tournament.

David Rikl of the Czech Republic defeated Croatian Goran Prpic, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening match of the Croatian Open at Umag. In other first-round matches, Marcos Gorriz of Spain upset sixth-seeded Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Steffi Graf will represent Germany in this year’s Hopman Cup international mixed teams event at Perth, Australia. The Hopman Cup will be played from Dec. 29-Jan. 4 at the Burswood Dome.

Jurisprudence

Todd Harvey and Grant Marshall of the NHL’s Dallas Stars were arraigned on sexual assault charges.

Harvey, 21, of Coppell, Texas, and Marshall, 23, of Ontario, were charged along with two other men in the alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman at house party in Winnipeg. All four were released after the arraignment, and must appear Sept. 9 to enter a plea to the charges.

Former Bronco tight end Clarence Kay was released from jail in Denver after stabbing victim Nick Voth, a Denver paramedic who had picked him out of a photo lineup, could not identify him in a physical lineup. The district attorney’s office said it would not file charges against Kay, who had surrendered to police after an arrest warrant was issued and who was jailed under $500,000 bond.

Hockey

The NCAA upheld Maine’s 1993 men’s national championship, ruling that USA Hockey officials misled players who accepted stipends for playing in the Olympics.

The NCAA had said Mike Dunham was ineligible because his mother accepted a $2,000 honorarium on his behalf from USA Hockey for his participation on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team.

Baseball

A 16-year-old pitcher for the Cuban junior Olympic team defected to the United States, the second team member to do so in a week.

Osmani Fernandez defected Sunday in Fairview Heights, Ill., where he was taking part in the Junior Pan American Baseball Championships. He was expected to arrive in Miami late Monday, said Rene Guim, spokesman for Miami sports agent Joe Cubas.

Cubas will try to get Fernandez residency in the United States or some other country. Fernandez, 5 feet 10 and 155 pounds, has an 89 mph fastball.

A week ago Sunday, Fernandez’s teammate, Yalian Serrano, defected saying virtually the same thing--he wanted freedom.