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Five-Year Deal Will Keep Mutombo With the 76ers

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Dikembe Mutombo and the Philadelphia 76ers reached a tentative agreement on a new long-term contract, a team source said Tuesday.

Under NBA rules, teams cannot sign free agents until July 18, but Mutombo and the 76ers agreed to terms Monday, according to the source.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the agreement is believed to be a five-year deal worth more than $13 million a season, with a 12.5% annual raise and a 15% trade kicker.

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Mutombo, 35, helped the 76ers reach the NBA Finals for the first time in 18 years and was the NBA defensive player of the year for the fourth time.

The Memphis Grizzlies signed Shane Battier, the first senior taken in June’s NBA draft. . . . DeShawn Stevenson, who pleaded not guilty last week to a statutory rape charge in Fresno, was among 17 players listed on the Utah Jazz’s summer camp roster. . . . Forward Kenny Thomas of the Houston Rockets will not play in the Los Angeles Summer Pro League after being bitten in the face by a dog owned by Rocket assistant coach Jim Boylen. . . . Michael Curry of the Detroit Pistons was elected president of the union that represents NBA players, replacing Patrick Ewing.

Tennis

The live telecast of Goran Ivanisevic’s five-set victory over Pat Rafter in the Wimbledon final on MSNBC more than tripled the TV ratings the cable channel averages for that time slot. About 770,000 viewers tuned in to the match, producing a cable rating of 1.0. The match was shown live from 4-7:30 a.m. PDT Monday, when MSNBC averages a 0.3. The taped telecast of the final, later Monday on NBC, drew a 3.0 overnight rating. . . . Andre Agassi returned to the top of the ATP Champions Race after reaching the Wimbledon semifinals. Ivanisevic climbed 73 places to 10th.

Taylor Dent of Newport Beach, a fan favorite because of his overpowering serve, defeated Ola Fukarek of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round of the Hall of Fame Championship at Newport, R.I. . . . Top-seeded Marat Safin of Russia lost to Juan Balcells of Spain, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4, and Roger Federer of Switzerland was routed by Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the Swiss Open at Gstaad. . . . Top-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden, playing his first competitive match since May, made an impressive return from a hip injury by defeating Mariano Puerta of Argentina, 6-2, 6-1, in the first round of the Swedish Open at Bastad.

Miscellany

Defending champion Ernie Els withdrew from the Scottish Open golf tournament at Loch Lomond because of a back injury, hindering his preparations for next week’s British Open. . . . Nick Price birdied the first playoff hole as he and partner Mark Calcavecchia defeated Brad Faxon and Gary Player in the CVS Charity Classic at Barrington, R.I.

The Kings agreed to terms on a two-year contract with defenseman Jaroslav Modry, who had four goals and 15 assists for a career-high 19 points in 63 games last season. . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired center Vaclav Prospal from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice in 2003 and center Ryan Johnson. . . . The New York Islanders agreed to a three-year deal with restricted free agent Mariusz Czerkawski, the team’s leading scorer the last two seasons.

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Five-time Pro Bowl kick returner Michael Bates, released by the Carolina Panthers, signed a two-year, $1.32-million contract with the Washington Redskins.

About 25 million people tuned in to the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night, making it the most-watched stock car race in prime time.

The event drew a 6.1 national rating on NBC, which was airing its first race under a $2.8-billion NASCAR TV rights deal it shares with TNT and Fox. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race at Daytona Beach, Fla., the first at the track since his father was killed in a wreck in the Daytona 500 in February.

The NCAA’s two-year investigation into academic fraud involving athletes at the University of Tennessee is effectively over, school officials said.

Anne Mayhew, vice provost and Tennessee’s NCAA representative, said a review of student work from an upper-level urban studies class completed last month was the final piece of the investigation. No violations were uncovered.

A London court approved a “generous” financial offer from Boris Becker to support the 16-month-old daughter the former Wimbledon champion fathered with Russian model Angela Ermakova. . . . A judge in Daytona Beach issued a final order keeping a student newspaper and a Web site from seeing the Dale Earnhardt autopsy photos. In a move that formalizes his decision last month, Circuit Judge Joseph Will in Volusia County upheld the constitutionality of a new state law barring access to autopsy photos without a court order.

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Argentina will not participate in this month’s Copa America tournament in Colombia partly because of security fears, the country’s soccer association announced. . . . D.C. United’s Bobby Convey will be sidelined six to eight weeks because of a hernia he suffered while playing in the World Youth Championship.

Eric Lucas of Canada knocked out Glenn Catley of England at 2:03 of the seventh round at Montreal to win the World Boxing Council super-middleweight title.

Willow Wind, the Cal 40 sloop of Sunset Beach’s Wendy Siegal, arrived in Hawaii about 2 1/2 days after the first boat in her division, but she still won the Aloha A title at the 41st Transpacific Yacht Race.

Jim Marshall, a former Minnesota Viking who started more games than any defensive player in NFL history, suffered a broken vertebra and some ribs in an auto accident.

Passings

Pat McKernan, longtime president and general manager of the Albuquerque Dukes minor league baseball team, died Tuesday in Albuquerque. He was 60. (Story, B10). . . . Lou Kusserow, a star running back for Columbia in the 1940s, died last month in California, the school said. He was 73. . . . Al Lary, who pitched briefly for the Chicago Cubs and was the older brother of former Detroit Tiger pitcher Frank Lary, has died at 72.

*

T.J. Simers is on vacation.

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