Stackhouse Is Sidelined

Guard Jerry Stackhouse, who has a sore right knee, did not play in the Washington Wizards’ exhibition game Friday night in Greensboro, N.C., and said he could be out for an extended period of time.

Stackhouse, who led the Wizards in scoring last season at 21.5 points a game, first had pain in his knee at the end of the season but did not have surgery.

With the knee still bothering him, he said before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers that he could skip the rest of the exhibition season -- and possibly more.

“I’d love to say I’d be ready for the start of the [regular] season, that’s in a perfect world,” he said. “But in all actuality that may not happen.”

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Latrell Sprewell’s leg injury will keep him out of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ exhibition game against his former team today in Madison Square Garden. He doesn’t mind at all.

That’s because he wants his performance to matter when he plays against the New York Knicks. Sprewell holds a grudge against James Dolan, Scott Layden and Steve Mills -- the trio that runs the Knicks.

Sprewell says the team’s management didn’t appreciate him enough while he played in New York.

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The Milwaukee Bucks waived Anthony Mason after reaching a settlement with the forward, General Manager Larry Harris said.

The Bucks were in talks with Mason to end his contract since Sept. 29. He signed a four-year, $21-million contract with the Bucks in October 2001.

Mason averaged 7.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in the 2002-03 season. He appeared in 65 games.

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The Charlotte Bobcats have interviewed Maurizio Gherardini, the general manager of Italian club Benetton Treviso, for the same position with their expansion team.

Gherardini turned Benetton into a top European team and produced two of the top 15 picks in the last NBA draft. Nikoloz Tskitishvili was taken by Denver with the fifth pick and Bostjan Nachbar was selected by Houston with the 15th picks.