O’Neal Is Cleared for Surgery

Shaquille O’Neal was found Friday to be rid of the virus that gripped him for most of the past month, and so was cleared to undergo surgery on his arthritic big toe Wednesday at UCLA Medical Center.

Doctors told O’Neal’s agent, Perry Rogers, that blood tests administered this week were normal. O’Neal had twice been admitted into an Orlando-area hospital to be treated for high body temperatures and other complications, including a swollen liver.

Dr. Robert Mohr will perform the cheilectomy, a procedure he expects will relieve O’Neal’s pain and restore his mobility. The recovery is expected to take at least six weeks, and so there is a chance O’Neal would miss part of the regular season. The Lakers open Oct. 29 against San Antonio.

Tim Brown

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The San Antonio Spurs hired P.J. Carlesimo, a former NBA coach turned broadcaster, as an assistant coach. Carlesimo last coached in the NBA in 1999, when he was fired by Golden State after a 6-21 start. Shortly after he was hired by the Warriors in June 1997, Latrell Sprewell choked him during a practice and was suspended for 68 games.

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A trial date of Feb. 18 was set in Flemington, N.J., for former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams, who is accused of fatally shooting a limousine driver at his mansion and then trying to cover it up.... The Milwaukee Bucks signed veteran guard Kevin Ollie.

Golf

Neal Lancaster and Billy Andrade shot five-under-par 67s to share the lead at 11-under 133 in the Canadian Open at Markham, Ontario.

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Tracy Hanson shot a six-under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Cristie Kerr after the first round of the Williams Championship at Tulsa, Okla.... Andy North fired an eight-under 64 to tie the course record and take a two-shot lead in the first round of the Kroger Senior Classic at Maineville, Ohio.

Auto Racing

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 190 laps and easily won the Funai 250 NASCAR Busch Grand National race at Richmond, Va. Earnhardt built a lead of more than 13 seconds in a span of 60 green-flag laps to win the crash-filled event.

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Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman added a little bit of history to their impressive debut seasons, becoming the first rookie drivers to sweep a Winston Cup front row since 1972.... Tony Stewart has been accused of shoving a female fan following the Sharpie 500 Winston Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee last month.

Miscellany

Olympic champion Marion Jones won the 100-meter dash to win a share of the lucrative Golden League prize at the ISTAF track and field meet at Berlin. Jones finished in 11.01 seconds, completing a sweep of the dash in the Golden League series. The seven consecutive wins gave Jones a share of the $500,000 jackpot.

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Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, the league MVP who led the NHL in goals scored with 52 last season, re-signed with the Flames. The contract is worth $13 million over two years.

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Hector Camacho Jr. of Puerto Rico survived a 12th-round knockdown to win a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Arturo Urena for the U.S. Boxing Organization welterweight title at the Crystal Park Casino in Compton. Camcho, 23, is 24-1; Urena, 29, is 19-4.

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Dennis Conner, with Peter Burton and Al Pleskus as crew, finished sixth in the first race at the Etchells North American Championships and then first in the second race.

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Mexico’s President Vicente Fox on Friday told several government officials that he would postpone for at least two months the implementation of a regulation that would allow the resumption of commercial gill-netting and long-line fishing within 50 miles of the country’s coastline.

The regulation, which would allow large-scale commercial fishing as close as half a mile from shore in what was previously a sportfishing-only zone, was to have gone into effect Thursday but will be delayed to at least Nov. 12, some say because of the controversy it has generated as the country hosts ongoing Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings. The postponement will be made official Monday.

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Karch Kiraly became the first beach volleyball player to top $3 million in career earnings when he and Brent Doble beat Kevin Wong and Stein Metzger, 21-19, 29-27, in the Paul Mitchell Assn. of Volleyball Professionals shootout in Las Vegas. Kiraly and Doble will face top-seeded Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren in the semifinals today.