Injured Rose Should Be Ready for NBA Season

Chicago Bull swingman Jalen Rose could be sidelined for the exhibition season because of sprained ligaments in his right thumb, but probably won’t need surgery, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The team expects Rose to be ready for the regular season.

Rose, who consulted a hand surgeon, will wear a cast to immobilize the thumb for a week and then be re-evaluated, the newspaper said.

He injured the thumb Saturday at practice when he landed after a drive to the basket.

Rose, 30, hasn’t sat out a regular-season game since 2000 -- a span of 237 games, the fifth-longest current streak in the NBA.

It is unlikely Rose will sit out the Oct. 29 opener against Washington at home.

“We thought it was much worse,” Coach Bill Cartwright said. “He’ll be out anywhere from two to three weeks. If it was torn, there would have been a surgical procedure, and he could have been out for a few months. So we’re lucky that this is all it is.”

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Cleveland Cavalier guard Dajuan Wagner is to visit a specialist at Birmingham, Ala., to help determine what should be done about his swollen right knee. Wagner has been out since the Cavaliers’ first full-team practice Friday.

Wagner, Cleveland’s No. 1 pick and the sixth overall selection in the 2002 draft, was troubled by health problems throughout his rookie season.

His season ended early when he tore cartilage in his right knee. He had an operation in March.

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Indiana point guard Kenny Anderson was held out of most of Monday’s practice because of a strained hamstring.

Anderson grimaced in pain while participating in conditioning drills but said he was not sure if he would be able to play in Indiana’s exhibition opener Wednesday against Chicago.

“It’s slowing me down a little bit,” Anderson said after practice. “I think I’ll be all right.”

The free-agent signee said his main concern now is developing chemistry with his teammates, not playing in exhibition games.

Still, the 12-year veteran is taking precautions to make sure the injury does not worsen.

The injury puts Anderson in jeopardy of falling behind in the Pacers’ crowded point-guard race that includes incumbent Jamaal Tinsley and free agents Anthony Johnson and Omar Cook.

Meanwhile, Anthony Johnson, another free-agent signee at point guard, suffered a broken left ring finger in Sunday’s practice and is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks.

Johnson backed up Jason Kidd at New Jersey last season.

Jurisprudence

A judge sided with Indiana University in Bob Knight’s breach-of-contract lawsuit over his firing as men’s basketball coach at the school three years ago.

Judge Kenneth Todd of Monroe Circuit Court in Indiana granted the university’s motion for summary judgment, effectively dismissing Knight’s lawsuit without a trial.

Knight was fired in 2000 for violating a “zero tolerance” behavior policy. Knight sued two years later, claiming the university violated his employment contract.

Knight, now men’s coach at Texas Tech, claimed the firing cost him more than $2 million in media and clothing contracts, endorsements and camps.

Tennis

Pete Sampras, who retired at the U.S. Open, has become an investor, partner and special consultant to Tennis magazine and tennis.com.

Fourth-seeded Felix Mantilla lost to Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 7-6 (2), in the first round of the Lyon Open in France.

Youzhny will play Dominik Hrbaty, who beat Rafael Nadal, 6-3, 7-5.

Former tournament champion Tim Henman defeated Stefano Pescosolido, 6-2, 6-3, and sixth-seeded Tommy Robredo lost to local player Jurgen Melzer, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), in the first round of the CA Tennis Trophy at Vienna.

Silvia Farina Elia defeated Amanda Coetzer, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), and Conchita Martinez beat Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in the first round of the indoor WTA Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Miscellany

Shares of Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc. face removal from the New York Stock Exchange because of the open-wheel racing series’ deteriorating financial condition, CART said.

The Indianapolis-based company is in talks with an investor group that plans to take the series private.

CART said the NYSE notified it that it had failed to meet criteria for continued listing because its market capitalization has fallen below an average $15 million over the last 30 trading days, and the average closing price of its shares has dropped below $1.

Salzburg, Austria, was selected to stage the 2006 World Road Cycling Championships.

This year’s championships run today through Sunday at Hamilton, Canada. Verona, Italy, will play host to the championships in 2004, and Madrid will stage the event in 2005.

USA Football, an advocacy group representing all levels of amateur football, has joined a coalition of medical, public health and sports organizations to support legislation on the regulation of dietary supplements that contain steroid precursors or ephedra.

T.J. Simers is on assignment.