Knicks’ Davis Won’t Be Making Apologies

The fan accused of harassing the wife of New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis will drop threats of a lawsuit if the couple says it’s sorry, the man’s attorney said Friday.

“I’m not apologizing to anybody for anything,” Davis said on a conference call. “I don’t think that my wife did anything wrong, I don’t think that I did anything wrong.”

Davis was suspended five games by the NBA on Thursday, a day after he went into the stands during a game at the United Center in Chicago to confront 22-year-old Michael Axelrod.

Kendra Davis said, “I’ll apologize to Michael Axelrod when he apologizes to my son and to me. We can apologize to each other, but there’s no way on earth I would apologize.”

Attorney Jay Paul Deratany said he was disappointed with the Davises’ comments and that Axelrod was still considering legal action.

Antonio Davis said the incident started because the fan sitting behind his wife was using offensive language around their son, and she asked him to stop. In a statement after the game, Davis said the man he thought was threatening his wife was drunk and had touched her. Axelrod said all he had was a glass of wine at dinner, and that he did nothing wrong.

Axelrod is asking Davis -- president of the NBA players’ association -- to take back his comments. Deratany said several witnesses and videotapes of the event back up his client’s claims.

On Thursday, Deratany said he planned to sue Davis and his wife for more than $1 million, alleging battery by Kendra Davis and slander by her husband. On Friday, Deratany said the figure was inflated but declined to say how much his client would seek.

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Fred Hoiberg, who had open-heart surgery in the off-season, wants to become the first man in the NBA to play with a pacemaker.

Hoiberg met with Dr. Barry Maron, a specialist on athletes with heart conditions, on Friday.

“He didn’t say yes, he didn’t say no,” Hoiberg said. “He just threw everything out there in front of us and told us to try and make the right decision.”

Hoiberg, who led the league in three-point shooting last season, was waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He plans to decide next week whether to return to the NBA, take the season off or retire.