Duncan Deal With Spurs: 3 Years, About $10 Million

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 re-signing Jordan. Jordan made $30.14 million last season, and the Chicago Tribune, citing sources close to Jordan’s agent David Falk, reported that Jordan 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

Wayne Levi and Eric Johnson shot mistake-free rounds of six-under-par 64 to share the lead at the rainy Greater Hartford Open at Cromwell, Conn. Steve Pate, who had six birdies and a bogey, was one stroke off the lead. Defending champion D.A. Weibring finished with a 69.

John Bland of South Africa fired a six-under 66 for 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. Two-time defending champion Brian Barnes of Scotland shot a 70 despite playing with damaged tendons in his left leg.

Fullerton’s Jin Park advanced to the third round of the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, defeating Napa’s Todd Miller, Johnny Miller’s son, 5 and 4, and Sacramento’s Jason Hartwick on the 19th hole at Newtown Square, Pa.

Tennis

Pete Sampras, who next month will seek his third consecutive U.S. Open title, has withdrawn from next week’s du Maurier Open in Montreal because of an arm injury, tournament officials said. . . . Second-seeded Monica Seles easily defeated Rita Grande of Italy, 6-2, 6-1, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with Spain’s Conchita Martinez at the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto. Martinez routed Amy Frazier, 6-1, 6-1. . . . 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.

Miscellany

Tony Stewart helped the Indy Racing League launch its invasion of NASCAR country with a lap that was more than 31 mph faster than anything a stock car ever recorded at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Stepping up his late-season surge toward the IRL points championship, Stewart turned a fast lap of 217.164 mph night to easily capture the pole for the VisionAire 500.

Restricted free agent Vladimir Tsyplakov, third on the Kings in scoring with 39 points last season, has agreed to a two-year contract.

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 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.

An internal investigation by the University of Michigan has been unable to prove or disprove any major recruiting violations involving a booster, the Detroit News reported.

Pasadena Muir sprinter Sultan McCullough has been named California high school boys’ track and field athlete of the year by Gatorade.

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.