Toenail Removal Sidelines Jordan

Michael Jordan will miss the Chicago Bulls’ final three exhibition games after having ingrown toenails removed.

But he should be ready for the regular-season opener Oct. 31, the team said Monday in Deerfield, Ill.

The Bulls already are without all-star Scottie Pippen, expected to be out until at least January after undergoing foot surgery. In addition, six-time league rebounding leader Dennis Rodman refused to sign the contract he agreed to earlier this month.

Rodman is threatening to sit out the start of the regular season if certain incentive clauses aren’t rewritten or eliminated.

“It would be different if I was a guy who hadn’t accomplished anything in this league,” Rodman told the Chicago Tribune in Monday’s edition.

“Now you’re trying to tell me you’re putting restrictions on my contract? There are, like, 25 different incentive clauses in there. I’m 36 years old. I can’t do it.”

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Trail Blazer guard Isaiah Rider, suspended by the NBA for the first two games of the regular season for off-court problems, had his vehicle towed last Tuesday when he was stopped for doing 73 mph in a 50 mph zone shortly after midnight and couldn’t produce an Oregon driver’s license.

Rider was cited by Portland police for speeding and driving without a license and his two female passengers were dropped off at a convenience store.

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The Cavaliers and Nuggets traded newly acquired guards--Sherman Douglas goes to Denver and Greg Graham heads to Cleveland. The trade also will provide Cleveland with a second-round draft pick in 2000 and other undisclosed considerations.