Stern Set to Go Before Congress

NBA Commissioner David Stern will testify before Congress next week about his league’s drug-testing policy, making him the third head of a major U.S. sport called before lawmakers investigating steroids.

NBA vice president Rick Buchanan also will appear before the House Government Reform Committee on May 19, league spokesman Tim Frank said Wednesday, adding that others might testify too.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue have appeared before the committee.

The NBA suspends first-time violators of its steroid policy for five games. But only two players, Matt Geiger and Don MacLean, are believed to have been suspended for steroid use since the NBA implemented its current policy in 1999.

Stern has said he would like to strengthen testing for performance-enhancing drugs in the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, which is being negotiated with the players’ union.

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The Washington Wizards won’t lift forward Kwame Brown’s suspension for the rest of the playoffs, leaving the frontcourt perilously thin following an injury to center Etan Thomas.

Coach Eddie Jordan said there was no chance of a reinstatement for Brown, who was suspended a week ago over what the team described as “philosophical differences.”

Jordan also said he didn’t expect Thomas to play in tonight’s Game 3 against the Miami Heat at Washington. Thomas left the second quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2 loss because of an abdominal strain, the same injury that cost him 32 games at the start of the season.

The Wizards are left with only two big men -- Brendan Haywood and Michael Ruffin -- to battle Shaquille O’Neal.

Brown, the 2001 No. 1 overall draft pick, was suspended after he missed a game and a practice during the first-round series against the Chicago Bulls. Brown, who had played four minutes in the previous game, told the team he had a stomach virus.

Brown approached the team about a reinstatement but was rebuffed.

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Indiana Pacer forward Ron Artest told ESPN that he thought his season-long suspension for the Nov. 19 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills with the Detroit Pistons was “a bit harsh.”

The NBA suspended Artest for the rest of the season for his part in the melee.

“It was a bit harsh,” Artest said, adding that he respected Stern’s decision. “I’m a team player. I understand the decision he made.”

Asked whether he thought the penalty was fair, Artest said, “Although it hurt myself and the Pacers, if it’s going to make the whole NBA better, then I’m with it.”

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B.J. Armstrong resigned after five seasons as a special assistant to Chicago Bull General Manager John Paxson to pursue other opportunities, the team said.