Joe Johnson staying with the Atlanta Hawks for maximum deal

All-Star guard Joe Johnson has agreed to a maximum contract to stay with the Atlanta Hawks, his agent said Sunday.

Arn Tellem confirmed an entry he wrote for the Huffington Post website, in which he said Johnson “announced his intention to re-sign with the Hawks for six more years.”

Tellem wrote that Johnson chose to remain in Atlanta over Chicago and New York, where he would have been reunited with Mike D’Antoni, his former coach in Phoenix.

The Hawks could pay him nearly $120 million, while other teams could only give Johnson five years and pay him about $25 million less.

That made it easy to stick with the Hawks, who have reached the second round of the playoffs the last two years with Johnson as their top player. He’s a four-time All-Star and has averaged more than 20 points in each of his five years with Hawks.

“His priorities are his family, his friends and his game,” Tellem wrote. “Joe could have forced a sign-and-trade deal for five years with another team, but he decided that winning in Atlanta would be more meaningful. When the Hawks offered the maximum — six years — he happily reciprocated.”

The Hawks would not comment, citing the NBA’s moratorium on signings. Deals can’t become official until Thursday.

Johnson has been at the center of the Hawks’ resurgence since arriving in Atlanta from Phoenix in a sign-and-trade deal on Aug. 19, 2005. A 13-win team the season before he arrived, the Hawks doubled that the next season and went 53-29 in 2009-10 before getting swept by Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Johnson averaged 21.3 points during the regular season but played poorly during that series, creating speculation he may have cost himself max dollars. And there was thought he may want out of Atlanta, anyway, since he turned down a $60-million extension last summer and was critical of the team’s fans this season.

Instead, Tellem said Johnson was impressed by the commitment of Hawks ownership and new Coach Larry Drew, and said Johnson was equally committed to the team and its players.

MOTOR RACING

Will Power won the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International with a commanding performance, giving Team Penske its first IndyCar Series win at the storied road course.

Penske drivers had won the first five poles at Watkins Glen but had never won.

Power, the series points leader, started from the pole and led 45 of 60 laps around the 11-turn, 3.4-mile road course. He beat teammate Ryan Briscoe by 1.2 seconds for his third win of the season, all on road or street courses.

“It’s the first race I pushed the whole way,” Power said. “It was a difficult race. I loved it.”

Dario Franchitti was third, followed by Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes, his best finish of the season.

After the second and final full-course caution of the race, Power, who had been dominant, was beaten out of the pits by Briscoe and was second when the race went green on Lap 44. It didn’t take Power long to regain the top spot, passing Briscoe entering the chicane at the top of the hill coming off the high-speed esses.

“I knew that was my only chance,” Power said. “I made sure I got a good restart and got a run on him.”

Franchitti passed Briscoe for second at the same spot two laps later but never mounted a serious challenge. Briscoe passed him for second entering the first turn, a 90-degree right-hander, of the final lap.

ETC.

A person familiar with the decision says Damon Evans is out as Georgia’s athletic director.

The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no official announcement has been made. The person said it was unclear whether Evans resigned or was fired.

A conference call of the athletic association’s board of directors executive committee is scheduled Monday. It will include University of Georgia President Michael Adams. A statement by the school is expected after the meeting.

Evans was arrested and charged with DUI late Wednesday. On Thursday, Evans said he “failed miserably” as a leader and representative of Georgia.

More embarrassment for Georgia came when the incident report of the arrest was released on Friday, including details of 28-year-old Courtney Fuhrmann, who was with Evans in his car and was charged with disorderly conduct.

According to the incident report, Evans attempted to influence the arresting Georgia State Patrol officer, identified in the report as M. Cabe, by telling the officer he was Georgia’s athletic director.

According to the report, Evans said: “I am not trying to bribe you, but is there anything you can do without arresting me?”

Cabe said that Evans asked to be taken to a motel instead of jail or to be let off with a warning.

Evans, a 40-year-old married father of two children, was found with a “red pair of lady’s panties between his legs,” according to the report.

Evans told the officer that Fuhrmann was nothing more than a friend, according to the report. Cabe said that Fuhrmann later told him that the two had been seeing each other for “only a week or so.”

On Thursday, Evans said “My actions have put a black cloud over our storied program.” He also apologized to his wife, Kerri, who attended the news conference.

Evans said Thursday he hoped to keep his job, which he has held since July, 2004. He acknowledged he had placed Adams in a predicament.