Oakley Blames NBA for His Latest Run-In

Charles Oakley of the Toronto Raptors said Wednesday that the NBA is to blame for his latest confrontation with an opponent during a morning shoot-around and that it “does not care” about the Raptors because the team is in Canada.

Oakley was suspended for one game without pay and fined $10,000 for confronting Tryone Hill of the Philadelphia 76ers and striking him in the head with a basketball Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t hurt my team,” Oakley said. “The league hurt the team. They hurt the team by putting it in Canada.

“NBA security reported what happened, but didn’t report about not getting them off the court until 11:15 when we’re there at 11. I told the NBA, ‘You all let go on what you want to let go on, but you’re making me out [to be] the issue.’ I’m not the issue. The league is the issue.”

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The Dallas Mavericks celebrated the highly anticipated, hard-earned signing of Wang Zhizhi, the first Asian-born player in NBA history.

“I’m very excited,” the 7-foot-1, 255-pound Wang, 23, said through an interpreter. “I also feel very calm because finally I can play in the NBA.”

The Mavericks made Wang a second-round draft pick in 1999, then began trying to get him released from his Chinese Army team, the Bayi Rockets.

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NBA teams will vote April 12 on a package of rules changes, including allowing zone defenses for the first time. . . . Harry Glickman, founder of the Portland Trail Blazers and a top official with the city’s triple-A baseball team, is recovering in a California hospital after surgery for a bruise to his brain. Glickman, 76, was expected to be released from the hospital in the next few days, according to a statement released by the parent company of the Portland Beavers. . . . For the second time in three weeks, Michael Jordan has practiced with the Washington Wizards and, once again, he has had to deny he’s attempting a comeback. “The only thing this signals is that I’m getting some exercise,” said Jordan, who wore a Wizard No. 23 jersey when he took part in Monday’s workout.