Carter Going to Olympics

Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors will accept an invitation to replace the injured Tom Gugliotta on the U.S. Olympic team for the Sydney Games.

“He’s going,” Dave Haggith, a spokesman for the Raptors, said Friday. “It’s just a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It doesn’t become official until two days from now.”

In a conference call Thursday, the selection committee decided unanimously to offer the spot to Carter after Gugliotta was forced to withdraw because of reconstructive knee surgery. Carter received the invitation Thursday night.

Craig Miller, spokesman for USA Basketball, said a contract and other forms were being forwarded to the player selected by the committee.

“Vince really earned it. They said he wasn’t good enough,” Toronto Coach Butch Carter said. “When I talked to him about what it’s going to feel like when he walks into the Olympic stadium during opening ceremonies, it brought a huge smile to his face.”

*

Larry Brown, the well-traveled coach who has often clashed with star guard Allen Iverson, signed a new multiyear contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I want to see my kids grow up here . . . and I hope that I will be connected with this team for a long time,” said Brown, who has coached seven pro franchises and two college teams.

“And certainly, with a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, if they grow up here, I’ve got a long way to go.”

Brown wouldn’t say how many years the contract was for, but indicated it was a long-term deal.

*

Grant Long’s season with the Vancouver Grizzlies could be finished after he suffered a broken left hand in practice.

Long, playing in his 12th NBA season, was injured when he jammed his hand in a collision with teammate Shareef Abdur-Rahim.