McGee of WNBA’s Sparks Involved in Custody Battle
Pam McGee of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks has been ordered by a judge in Mount Clemens, Mich., to turn her 3-year-old daughter over to her former husband while court officials decide if her basketball career interferes with her parenting.
McGee, a starting forward for the Sparks, said the court is punishing her because she plays basketball.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Sept. 18, 1998 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday September 18, 1998 Home Edition Sports Part C Page 6 Sports Desk 1 inches; 31 words Type of Material: Correction
Colleges--The UCLA Hall of Fame ceremony will be held Oct. 3. Included among the inductees as pioneers are former baseball coach Art Reichle and 1956 Olympic javelin champion Cy Young. The date was incorrect Thursday.
Circuit Judge Peter J. Maceroni ruled this week that McGee’s ex-husband, the Rev. Kevin E. Stafford of Mount Clemens, will have temporary custody of their daughter, Imani, while a Friend of the Court investigation is pending.
Stafford’s attorney, Peter Lucido of Mount Clemens, told the Macomb Daily, “This child cannot be on the road with a parent. It’s totally against any good parenting skills.”
McGee, 35, has been staying with her family in Flint, Mich., during the off-season. She has two residences, one in Los Angeles and another in Sacramento. Until the court renders its decision, Imani is not to be taken out of Michigan.
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The Sacramento Kings reportedly have offered their vacant coaching job to Rick Adelman, who twice coached the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA finals.
If Adelman signs the multiyear contract, he will become the Kings’ eighth coach since the team moved to Sacramento in 1985.
The Kings said they did not want to announce the deal until it was completed, perhaps today.
The coaching job has been vacant since Aug. 18, when the Kings fired Eddie Jordan.
Portland State interim basketball Coach Joel Sobotka will be named head coach today, a school official said. Portland State had pursued Adelman for the job.
Golf
John Daly has told teammate Mark O’Meara that he will play on the U.S. Dunhill Cup team despite his recent setback.
O’Meara talked about Daly’s chances of playing alongside him and Tiger Woods next month in the Dunhill Cup at St. Andrews in Scotland as he prepared to defend his Lancome Trophy title at Versaille, France.
“John’s going through difficult times,” said O’Meara, the Masters and British Open champion. “But as far as I know, he’s going to be in the team. We’ll need him.”
There had been rumors that Daly, a recovering alcoholic, would withdraw from the U.S. team after suffering a minor breakdown on the course during the Greater Vancouver Open three weeks ago.
Tennis
Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia moved into the quarterfinals of the ATP Tour President’s Cup at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over David Nainkin of South Africa. . . . Top-seeded Alberto Berasategui of Spain needed three sets to advance to the quarterfinals of the Samsung Open at Bournemouth, England. He outlasted Martin Rodriguez of Argentina, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, in a second-round match. . . . Judy Levering, who has been a U.S. Tennis Assn. board member since 1994, was appointed the first woman president of the 118-year-old organization. Levering, who has been serving as first vice president, will assume her new responsibilities Jan. 1.
Miscellany
The UCLA Hall of Fame will induct 12 new members at a ceremony Oct. 13 at Brookside Golf Club in Pasadena before the Bruins’ football game against Washington State at the Rose Bowl. Honored will be former tennis coach Glenn Bassett; softball player and Olympic gold-medalist Sheila Cornell; football All-Americans Randy Cross, Gaston Green, Ken Norton Jr. and Tom Ramsey; track and field gold medalist Florence Griffith-Joyner; swimming gold medalist Tom Jager; Dodger first baseman Eric Karros, and NBA player Reggie Miller.
Light-heavyweight boxer Frank Vassar has been acquitted in Spokane, Wash., of molesting a teenager and exposing himself to a female boxer.
An NCAA relocation committee has reached its goal of $15 million in private donations to help move the organization’s headquarters from Overland Park, Kan., to Indianapolis next year. . . . Twenty-seven university presidents and athletic directors will review outside influences on NCAA Division I basketball and how the NCAA can best protect its players. Recruiting, agents, illegal sports-wagering, low graduation rates, players leaving college early for the NBA and the overall image of college basketball are expected to be on the group’s agenda.