Season Is Over for Butler

Cleveland Cavalier guard Mitchell Butler will have surgery Monday in Los Angeles to remove a herniated disc from his neck and will sit out the rest of the season.

Butler missed nine games because of pain in his neck and shoulders that caused numbness in his arms.

Meanwhile, X-rays were negative on injured rookie point guard Brevin Knight, who left Friday night’s game in Charlotte after turning his left ankle. Knight is listed as day-to-day with a sprain.

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After nearly a year and a half, Rasheed Wallace finally got to spend Christmas with his son.

A North Carolina judge awarded Wallace custody of his son Ishmiel last June. But Wallace, 23, in his second season with the Portland Trail Blazers, had not seen his son since August 1996.

At 12:02 a.m. on Christmas, Wallace watched his 28-month-old boy walk through his grandmother’s door in Durham, N.C.

“Rasheed called it the best Christmas present he’s ever gotten,” said James Williams, Wallace’s attorney.

Anonymous caller led police in Kings Mountain, N.C., to the boy and his mother, Chiquita Bryant, who disappeared with him months ago.