Paul Pierce signs for four more years with Boston Celtics

Paul Pierce never planned to leave Boston when he opted out of the final year of his contract. He just wanted to help the Celtics find him some teammates.

“I never thought once about leaving the Celtics,” Pierce said Thursday when the team announced he had signed a four-year deal. “I wanted this team to get better, knowing we didn’t win a championship. … Also, I wanted to ensure that I had a chance to retire as a Celtic.”

Since losing the NBA finals in seven games to the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston re-signed Ray Allen, who will be 35 on Tuesday, to a two-year contract and gave free agent center-forward Jermaine O’Neal, 31, a two-year deal. Kevin Garnett, 34, also has two years left on his contract. Those three, plus Pierce, 32, have a total of 54 seasons of NBA experience.

Pierce’s old contract would have paid him $21.51 million next season. The Celtics didn’t disclose the value of the new deal, agreed to last week, but the Boston Herald said it was $61 million.

If Pierce spends the next four seasons with Boston, he will tie John Havlicek’s record of 16 years with the club. But it’s unlikely he’ll pass Havlicek’s team record of 26,395 points.

---

Mike Miller has signed his five-year contract with the Miami Heat, joining LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to chase a championship.

Miller announced it on Twitter, saying “It’s official” and thanking Heat owner Micky Arison and team President Pat Riley.

The 6-foot-8 sharpshooter becomes the latest player to take less money than he could have made elsewhere to play for the Heat. James, Wade, Bosh and Udonis Haslem all left millions on the bargaining table in order to ensure the Heat would have flexibility to sign players like Miller.

Terms were not immediately disclosed, but Miller’s deal was expected to be worth around $25 million.

---

The Clippers will play a preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 12 in Mexico City, the NBA announced Thursday.

“NBA Mexico Game 2010 and the appearance of NBA teams in Mexico for the 19th time shows the league’s ongoing commitment to grow the game of basketball and engage fans in the region,” Raul Zarraga, Mexico’s country director for the NBA, said in a statement.

The Clippers played two games in Mexico — on consecutive days — in 1994.

— Lisa Dillman

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West pleaded guilty to weapons charges and received a home detention sentence that includes flexibility to travel to NBA games if the league allows it.

In Prince George’s County Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro, Md., Judge Graydon S. McKee III sentenced West to eight months of home detention with electronic monitoring, two years of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service and psychological counseling.

Prosecutors said the sentence would allow West to attend practices and travel to NBA games as his team’s schedule requires, but NBA officials would not say whether any he’ll face any additional discipline that could keep him off the court.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank said the league would “review the court’s decision before making any disciplinary decisions.”

Authorities said the basketball player was carrying two loaded handguns, a loaded shotgun and an 8 1/2-inch Bowie knife while speeding on a three-wheel motorcycle on the Capital Beltway last September. Police said West, who owns two homes in Prince George’s County, was pulled over after cutting off an officer.

West pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed dangerous weapon and transporting and carrying a loaded handgun, but prosecutors dropped six other traffic and weapons charges as part of the plea agreement.

SOCCER

Major League Soccer plans to keep Landon Donovan. MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the league has no intention of accepting transfer offers for the Galaxy midfielder.

Donovan was the best U.S. player at the World Cup, scoring three goals to become the American career leader with five. He agreed in December to a four-year contract with MLS that pays him a base salary this year of $2.05 million.

Though Donovan struggled during previous stints with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, he played strongly and attracted renewed attention in Europe when MLS loaned him to Everton for 10 weeks in January. Donovan scored two goals in 13 matches, helping the club Toffees beat Chelsea and Manchester United, and draw against Arsenal.

Garber said additional offseason loans are possible but isn’t interested in a permanent transfer.

---

Spain’s Madrid Zoo has made an offer to buy Paul, the octopus that became a pop culture sensation by correctly predicting the outcome of as many World Cup matches as he has legs — all seven of Germany’s games plus the Spain-Netherlands final.

The zoo said it received dozens of requests from Spaniards for Paul’s transfer from a German aquarium after Spain won the World Cup last Sunday.

Zoo spokeswoman Amparo Fernandez said Wednesday that an unspecified amount of money was offered for the purchase of Paul, now a hero in Spain.

The zoo said in a statement that it was expecting a response within days from the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.

JURISPRUDENCE

Erin Andrews has sued several hotel chains for negligence and invasion of privacy in connection with the secret videotaping of her by an Illinois man.

The videos were taken through a modified peephole while the ESPN reporter was undressed in hotel rooms in Nashville, Tenn., and Milwaukee in 2008.

Andrews filed the lawsuit Thursday in Cook County court in Chicago against Marriott International, Radisson Hotels International and other chains.

Also named was Michael David Barrett, who pleaded guilty to interstate stalking. Andrews alleges Barrett called the hotels to determine if she made reservations. She claims the hotels confirmed she intended to register and revealed her room number.

The Marriott and the Radisson would not comment.

---

The trustee in Michael Vick’s bankruptcy case is seeking repayment of at least $2 million that Vick doled out to friends and family members in the months before he was sent to federal prison.

A complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News, Va., says Vick knew his lucrative NFL career was in jeopardy and that he would be facing huge legal bills.

Yet the complaint claims he continued to give money and gifts to his mother, siblings, fiancee and friends that should have gone to Vick’s creditors.

Vick’s bankruptcy attorney, Paul Campsen, did not immediately return a phone message.

TRACK AND FIELD

Caster Semenya won her first race since being cleared to return to competition after underdoing gender tests, winning the 800 meters on Thursday against a weak field but in front of a supportive crowd at the Lappeenranta Games in Lappeenranta, Finland

The South African won in a time of 2 minutes 4.22 seconds, almost 10 seconds slower than the national record she set when she won gold at the world championships in Berlin last August in 1:55.45.

HOCKEY

The Ducks signed defenseman Brendan Mikkelson to a one-year contract. Mikkelson, 23, had two assists in 28 games for Anaheim last season and seven goals and 22 points in 49 games for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

---

The Minnesota Wild has signed center Mikko Koivu to a seven-year contract extension, which would keep the franchise center in Minnesota through the 2017-18 season.

Koivu was selected as the Wild’s first permanent captain in October and is considered the cornerstone of a franchise that has very little depth behind him at center. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

L.A. MARATHON

Registration for the 2011 Los Angeles Marathon is now open and available online at lamarathon.com. Fees for the March 20 race: $145 for U.S. participants, $170 for both the marathon on the 5K warmup run, and $35 for the 5K run alone.