NBA Plans Minor League for International Market

In a shift in strategy on international expansion, NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league might place a developmental league overseas within five years.

“We might be the first league that decides to have a minor league that will move lock, stock and barrel to another continent for another season,” Stern said Saturday. “An NBA developmental league, once it exists, has enormous potential for international play.”

Stern said such a venture would be modeled after the WNBA--with the league owning all franchises, setting salary levels and centralizing business operations.

Stern’s comments, made in a meeting with reporters on the final day of the league meetings at Vancouver, marked a significant shift in the league’s position on expanding overseas. Previously, the NBA insisted it preferred to support the development of foreign leagues and would not want to place its own product into those markets for fear of diminishing the home-grown commodity.

Other topics Stern addressed included his dismay that many people in Vancouver have taken it as a foregone conclusion that the Grizzlies, who were sold Thursday, will be moved to St. Louis, the fact that increased scoring need not be an “essential” by-product of the new rules changes and at 57, he has no plans to step aside as commissioner.

Auto Racing

Sprint car driver Kevin Gobrecht died early Saturday at a hospital after an accident during a World of Outlaws preliminary race at Greenwood, Neb. Gobrecht, 30, was on lap 15 of the 20-lap Channellock Fall Classic at NAPA I-80 Speedway on Friday night when his car rolled during a turn. Gobrecht’s car was on its top when it was hit by a car driven by Matt Moro, who was not injured.

CART rookie Juan Montoya, 23, won the pole for the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston, turning in a fast lap of 93.651 mph, and adding a point to his series lead over Dario Franchitti. Montoya leads by 29 going into today’s 100-lap race. . . . Heinz-Harald Frentzen of Germany drove his Jordan to the pole position for the Formula One European Grand Prix during rainy qualifying at Nuerburgring, Germany.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed into Matt Kenseth, knocking Kenseth out of the race, and Casey Atwood made the best of it, winning the crash-filled MBNA Gold 200 NASCAR Busch Grand National race at Dover, Del., with a 91.382 mph average. Earnhardt, the series leader, leads Kenseth by 113 points with five races remaining. . . . A post-race inspection by NASCAR officials Friday night found that Greg Biffle’s Ford truck was using an unapproved part during his victory in the Orleans 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas. Action will be taken Monday.

Tennis

France will play Australia in the final of the Davis Cup after a convincing doubles victory.

It is the third time this decade that France has made the finals.

The French pair of Olivier Delaitre and Fabrice Santoro defeated the inexperienced Belgian team of Xavier Malisse and Christophe Van Garsse, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, giving France an insurmountable 3-0 lead in a best-of-five semifinal series.

Delaitre and Santoro, Wimbledon doubles semifinalists this year and both top 20 doubles players, were favored against a Belgian pair playing together for the first time.

In the other semifinal, Australia defeated Russia, 3-1, clinching on Lleyton Hewitt’s 6-4, 7-5, 6-2 win over Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Kafelnikov and Andrei Olhovskiy had kept Russia alive earlier with a 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 8-6 doubles victory over Mark Woodforde and Sandon Stolle.

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated No. 2 Monica Seles, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), in the Princess Cup final at Tokyo.

An auction at the MGM Grand raised more than $2 million for the Andre Agassi Foundation, which benefits underprivileged children in Las Vegas. Two final items, one-hour tennis lessons from Agassi and Steffi Graf, went for $120,000 each.

Golf

Juli Inkster, winner of the U.S. Open and LPGA Championship, moved within one round of entering the LPGA Hall of Fame after shooting a two-under-par 70 to take a three-stroke lead in the Safeway LPGA Championship at Portland, Ore. Inkster needs one more point to reach the 27 needed to qualify for the Hall. If she doesn’t win another tournament, Inkster still could make it if she won player of the year or the scoring title. . . . Stephen Ames shot a five-under 67 and his 16-under total kept him in the lead of the Texas Open for the third consecutive round, although 12 players were within five strokes at San Antonio. . . . Ed Dougherty shot a five-under 65 and holds a one-stroke lead over three players with a seven-under 133 after two rounds of the $1.4-million Kroger Senior Classic at Mason, Ohio.