Hardaway is sent packing by the NBA

The NBA banished Tim Hardaway from All-Star weekend in Las Vegas because of his anti-gay remarks.

Hardaway, who played in five All-Star games during the 1990s, was already in Las Vegas to make a series of public appearances on behalf of the league. But after saying, “I hate gay people” during a radio interview, Commissioner David Stern stepped in.

“We removed him from representing us because we didn’t think his comments were consistent with having anything to do with us,” Stern told reporters Thursday.

JURISPRUDENCE

Judge says he can’t

penalize attorney

The Angels and one of their sponsors said they spent more than $500,000 to defend themselves against the allegation they discriminated against men by giving away Mother’s Day tote bags to women, but the judge that threw out the lawsuit ruled he could not penalize the opposing attorney.

Alfred Rava represented Michael Cohn, a Los Angeles psychologist who filed the suit. When Orange County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Cannon dismissed the suit two weeks ago, he threatened sanctions against Rava for failing to disclose he had recently represented Cohn in similar suits. On Thursday, Cannon said those suits did not necessarily fall under the same legal classifications.

-- Bill Shaikin

Two students who portray the University of Illinois’ Chief Illiniwek sued the NCAA and the school’s board of trustees, seeking to preserve the 81-year-old American Indian mascot.

MISCELLANY

Chivas USA falls

to under-23 team, 2-0

The U.S. men’s under-23 national soccer team defeated Chivas USA, 2-0, in a scrimmage at the Home Depot Center on goals by Adam Cristman of the New England Revolution and Patrick Ianni of the Houston Dynamo.

The squad, which completed a weeklong camp marking the beginning of its preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, flies to Tokyo today for two matches next week against Japan’s Olympic-team-in-waiting and a yet-to-be-determined opponent from the J-League.

-- Grahame L. Jones

Unseeded Croatian Ivo Karlovic had 29 aces to upset second-seeded American James Blake, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (11), 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the SAP Open in San Jose.

Top-seeded Andy Roddick played Sam Querrey late.

Paula Creamer shot a five-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead with rookie Paige Mackenzie and veteran Sherri Steinhauer in the LPGA Tour’s season-opening SBS Open in Kahuku, Hawaii.

Defending champion Cory Kruseman and 2005 champion Damion Gardner will be in the field when the USAC/CRA sprint car series makes its second appearance of the season Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway.

Racing will start at 7.

Marta Fernandez, a 5-foot-11 guard who played for Spain in the 2004 Athens Olympics and whose brother Rudy helped Spain win the men’s world championship last summer, has reached agreement to play for the Sparks.

-- Jerry Crowe

Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board, announced that, effective immediately, the CHRB would begin out-of-competition testing at California racetracks and authorized training facilities. Arthur said the primary focus would involve targeting of performance-enhancing drugs.

Two-time silver medalist Lindsey Kildow will miss the last two events of the world Alpine skiing championships because of a knee injury suffered in training, her team said.