WNBA Season in Danger If Accord Is Not Reached

The 2003 WNBA season -- and the league itself -- appear to be on the brink of self- destruction.

The players’ union was warned Tuesday by NBA Commissioner David Stern to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the league by April 18, or the 2003 season would be canceled.

Even though the WNBA was not supposed to be underwritten by the NBA this season, for the first time in its six-year existence, Stern and the NBA agreed to provide an additional $12 million to the WNBA.

“We want to get a deal and work with the players,” Stern told Associated Press. “But if it’s not meant to be, it’s not meant to be.”

Officials of the Women’s National Basketball Players Assn., which represents the WNBA players, and the NBA Players Assn., which represents men and women, could not be reached for comment.

The collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and the players’ union expired Sept. 15. The union has aggressively sought free agency and freedom for players to individually market themselves for endorsements as well as increased salaries.

Union officials say that the minimum salary for veteran WNBA players is $40,000 for a 32-game season, which was being increased to 34 games this season. The minimum rookie salary is $30,000. League officials put the minimum salary at closer to $60,000 because it includes housing and cost-of-living allowances.

Coach Michael Cooper, whose Sparks have won the last two WNBA championships, said it would be “a sad day for women’s basketball” if the sides were unable to reach an agreement.

-- Mike Terry

Pro Football

Linebacker Dwayne Rudd signed a two-year contract with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The seven-year veteran was released by the Cleveland Browns in February. ... The Green Bay Packers signed defensive end Chukie Nwokorie and offensive lineman Grey Ruegamer to free-agent contracts.... The Seattle Seahawks re-signed unrestricted free-agent fullback Mack Strong, who has been with the team for 10 seasons.... Richard Dent, a ferocious pass rusher and mainstay of the Chicago Bears’ vaunted defense of the mid-1980s, has been hired by the team as an assistant defensive line coach.

Tennis

Third-seeded Lindsay Davenport needed only 54 minutes to defeat Daja Bedanova, 6-0, 6-1, in the second round of the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, S.C., Davenport’s first clay-court match in nearly three years.... Australian Open runner-up Rainer Schuettler lost to Feliciano Lopez, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, in the first round of the Estoril Open at Oeiras, Portugal.... Younes El Aynaoui opened defense of his title at the Grand Prix Hassan II tournament by beating Albert Montanes, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, at Casablanca, Morocco.

Miscellany

The Kings exercised club options on the contracts of Ziggy Palffy and Lubomir Visnovsky.

Palffy, who led the Kings in scoring in two of the last three seasons, will be paid $7 million in the last year of a six-year contract he signed during the 1998-99 season while playing for the New York Islanders.

Jason Allison is the only King who will be paid more next season. He will make $8 million.

World champions Michelle Kwan and Evgeni Plushenko completed perfect seasons by winning the International Figure Skating Challenge at Bridgeport, Conn..

Dario Franchitti will sit out this week’s IRL race in Japan after injuring his back in a motorcycle accident during a family visit in Scotland.

Mississippi State junior center Mario Austin signed with an agent and will make himself available for the NBA draft.... Minnesota sophomore forward Rick Rickert has made himself available for the NBA draft but won’t hire an agent immediately.

The 23rd Swim With Mike event will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

The program benefits USC’s Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund.

Passings

Ed McCaskey, a former singer who married George Halas’ daughter and went on to become the Chicago Bears’ chairman, died at 83. Story in Section B.