Duncan Officially Becomes a Spur by Signing Contract

Tim Duncan, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in June, signed with the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, setting the stage for him to play alongside center David Robinson.

The Spurs would not disclose terms of the deal, but under league rules his three-year contract is worth slightly more than $10 million.

Duncan, a 7-foot center from Wake Forest and the consensus national player of the year, averaged 20.8 points a game and led the nation with 14.7 rebounds a game his senior year.

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With Michael Jordan’s condition that Coach Phil Jackson return for another season met and Scottie Pippen apparently off the trading block, the Chicago Bulls’ top priority is resigning Jordan.

Jordan made $30.14 million last season, and the Chicago Tribune, citing sources close to Jordan’s agent David Falk, reported that Falk will seek a one-year, $40-million deal.

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The Lakers have signed free-agent forward James Forrest, a standout on the Laker team in the FILA Summer Pro League.

Forrest, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward from Georgia Tech who played in Israel last season, averaged 15.5 points and seven rebounds in the summer pro league, scoring 37 points against Milwaukee on July 17.

Golf

John Bland of South Africa fired a six-under-par 66 and grabbed the first-round lead in the Senior British Open at Portrush, Northern Ireland.

Gary Player, a two-time winner of the title, was two strokes back, along with Dave Eichelberger of the United States.

Defending champion Brian Barnes of Scotland, bidding for his third consecutive Senior British title, shot a 70 despite playing with damaged tendons in his left leg.

Olympics

Olympic organizer Thomas Welch cut short an African safari and headed home to Salt Lake City to face a domestic battery charge and a possible challenge to his leadership of the 2002 Winter Games.

The SLOC’s executive committee has scheduled a meeting Wednesday. In a notice sent Tuesday, board chairman G. Frank Joklik wrote that the only item on the agenda was the “recent publicity” regarding the SLOC president.”

Jurisprudence

A federal judge in Norfolk, Va., has told an NBA referee on trial for felony tax evasion that it is in his best interest to negotiate a plea because a jury is not likely to be convinced by his defense. Jess Kersey and three other NBA referees--Henry Clinger Armstrong, George Toliver and Mike Mathis--have been charged in the probe, a two-year Internal Revenue Service investigation. The referees allegedly downgraded first-class airline tickets to cheaper fares and then pocketed the difference without reporting the gain as income.

Two 1994 Arizona State University basketball games are among the sports events under apparent investigation by a federal grand jury looking into gambling action, according to news reports.

Miscellany

Pete Sampras, who next month will seek his third consecutive U.S. Open title, has withdrawn from next week’s du Maurier Open in Toronto because of an arm injury, tournament officials said.

Sampras, who won the Australian Open in January and Wimbledon earlier this month, aggravated the injury in practice, according to tournament organizers.

Top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria and third-seeded Alex Corretja, both clay-court standouts, were upset in the third round of the Generali Open in Kitzbuehel, Austria. Muster lost to Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Corretja was beaten by fellow Spaniard Galo Blanco, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

The Kings and restricted free agent Vladimir Tsyplakov, third on the team in scoring with 39 points last season, have agreed to terms on a two-year contract.

Also, the team named Mitch Huberman, Dan Beckerman and Ted Fikre as vice presidents. Huberman and Beckerman are former executives with the Clippers.

Two Boston College players have been reinstated and three others were given additional suspensions by the NCAA for their parts last season in the biggest gambling scandal in college football history.

The school did not identify which players received which punishment, and a spokesman declined further comment.

Six men were indicted last week in connection with the gambling ring--none of them current BC athletes.

City officials in Ontario have chosen Hank Stickney, owner of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes baseball team, to build and operate a 12,000-seat arena in Ontario. The $50-million arena could open by the late summer of 1999.