Allen Iverson won’t return to 76ers this season

Allen Iverson’s second stint with the team he once led to the NBA Finals ended with a whimper Tuesday when the Philadelphia 76ers announced he would not return for the rest of the season.

Iverson has mostly been absent from the team for a month, returning to Atlanta to be with his family as they deal with an undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah.

Iverson, who returned to the 76ers as a free agent in December, has not played since Feb. 20.

“After discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply,” team President Ed Stefanski said. “It has been very difficult for Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his career with his personal life.”

The former NBA MVP and four-time scoring champion averaged 13.8 points in 28 games this season. He started the season with Memphis but played only three games before he announced a short-lived retirement.

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Sacramento Kings forward Andres Nocioni has been suspended by the NBA for two games without pay after pleading no contest in California to drunk driving.

The suspension was to begin with Tuesday night’s game between the Kings and the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

Nocioni was arrested about 2 a.m. Nov. 5 when a police officer noticed his car weaving in downtown Sacramento, hours after the Kings had lost a home game to the Atlanta Hawks.

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The number on LeBron James’ back will be different next season. The Cleveland Cavaliers can only hope the logo on the front of his jersey remains the same.

James has filed paperwork with the NBA to change his uniform number next season to No. 6 from No. 23, the league confirmed Tuesday. James said earlier this season he would be willing to give up No. 23 in an effort to have the NBA retire it in honor of Michael Jordan.

Paperwork had to be filed this week to request a number change for next season.

Baseball

New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran talked to federal investigators last week about a Canadian doctor accused of selling an unapproved drug and said he recommended the physician to teammate Jose Reyes.

Beltran went to Toronto last summer seeking Dr. Anthony Galea’s opinion on his bruised right knee, the All-Star said Tuesday. He worked with Galea for a month and felt better following a rehab program, but his knee regressed when he went home to Puerto Rico.

Investigators talked to Reyes last week. New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said Monday that he had been contacted about the probe.

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Turns out the Yankees’ World Series shares didn’t set a record.

A full share for the World Series champions was revised to $350,030 by the commissioner’s office after an accounting error was discovered that caused three people to be left off the original distribution list.

In November, Major League Baseball said a full share was worth $365,053 — topping the $362,173 a full share was worth on the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. The revised figure for last year was below the $351,504 a full share was worth on the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks and young All-Star outfielder Justin Upton are closing in on a six-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press.

The deal would be worth just over $50 million, the person said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been finalized

Football

The Pro Bowl will be played before the Super Bowl when it returns to Honolulu next year.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority and the NFL announced Tuesday that the game will be at Aloha Stadium on Jan. 30, the Sunday before the Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas.

The Pro Bowl had historically been played in Honolulu the week after the Super Bowl, but was changed when the All-Star game moved to Miami this year.

Hockey

Ray Emery’s second chance in the NHL ended prematurely. The Philadelphia Flyers goalie needs surgery to repair his right hip and will miss the rest of the season.

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The Atlanta Thrashers have signed 48-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios. Chelios is a three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman. He has spent the season with the minor league Chicago Wolves.

Etc.

Paraguayan soccer forward Salvador Cabanas has been moved from a Mexico City hospital to a clinic as he recovers from a Jan. 25 shooting. The 29-year-old was shot in the head at point-blank range in January.

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Nationally ranked tennis teams from UCLA and USC meet Wednesday, with UCLA’s fourth-ranked women’s team (11-1) traveling to USC to play the 12th-ranked Trojans (7-3) at 1:30 p.m. and USC’s fifth-ranked men’s team (11-1) taking on the sixth-ranked Bruins (6-2) at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center at 3 p.m.

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Citing ongoing state budget woes, Cal State Northridge Athletic Director Rick Mazzuto has discontinued the men’s and women’s swim teams. It’s the first time since the Matadors cut football in 2001 that the school has discontinued a sports team. Mazzuto said the school will drop from 20 to 18 sports offered.

He said the school will eventually save $300,000 a year when swim scholarships are phased out.

-- Eric Sondheimer