Blake Griffin signs five-year contract extension with Clippers

Blake Griffin signed a five-year contract extension with the Clippers on Tuesday night that could be worth up to $95 million.

The deal could keep Griffin, who has an opt-out clause after the fourth year of the extension, in a Clippers uniform until 2018.

Griffin signed the contract in Las Vegas, where he was training with the U.S. basketball team in preparation for the London Olympics. Clippers President Andy Roeser and director of player personnel Gary Sacks flew from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to get their All-Star power forward signed.

Griffin skipped practice with the USA team on Monday to fly to L.A. to take a physical, but he returned to Las Vegas and was back at practice Tuesday.

Griffin, who will make $7.2 million next season, will make the maximum if he is voted to start in two All-Star games.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, players coming off their rookie-scale contract are eligible to sign for 30% of the salary cap if voted to start in two All-Star games, are named to an All-NBA team twice or are named the most valuable player.

Also, every team is allowed one “designated player” who can get a five-year maximum extension on his rookie contract.

— Broderick Turner

Tim Duncan will sign a three-year contract to stay with the San Antonio Spurs, Yahoo Sports reported. Duncan’s representatives and the Spurs are finalizing a few items in the contract, according to the report, but the structure has been agreed upon.

Duncan, 36, declared himself “a Spur for life” during the Western Conference finals. He averaged 15.4 points and nine rebounds last season.

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Rashard Lewis has decided to join the Miami Heat, becoming yet another shooting option for the reigning NBA champions. Agent Tony Dutt said the free-agent forward and the Heat agreed to terms on Tuesday, and Lewis is expected to sign his contract Wednesday in Miami.

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A person familiar with the decision says the Golden State Warriors have agreed to trade starting small forward Dorell Wright to the Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to a player currently in Europe.

Etc.

Joe Paterno’s family says the late Penn State football coach didn’t cover up for convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, and didn’t act to prevent a proper investigation of the retired defensive coordinator.

Paterno’s family also called Sandusky a “master deceiver” in the statement released Tuesday after former FBI director Louis Freeh announced he would release the findings of his investigation into the scandal Thursday.

Freeh was hired to investigate by the Penn State trustees, who ousted Paterno days after Sandusky was arrested in November. Paterno’s family said the Freeh team declined its offer to respond to recent news leaks after the family asked to review the findings. They said Paterno never got a chance to present his case before he died of lung cancer in January.

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NASCAR has penalized two championship contending teams for problems found during qualifying at Daytona.

Three-time champion Tony Stewart was docked six points, and crew chief Steve Addington was fined $25,000 because of a cooling hose found inside Stewart’s car during qualifying. He forfeited his second-place qualifying spot, but still won the race Saturday night.

In the Nationwide Series, Austin Dillon was docked six points for the same violation as Stewart. Crew chief Danny Stockman and car chief Robert Strmiska have both been suspended until July 25. The team was also penalized last week.

NASCAR also fined crew chief Adam Stevens $10,000 and docked Joe Gibbs six points because Joey Logano’s car failed the Nationwide Series post-race inspection Friday.

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IndyCar has penalized A.J. Foyt Racing for an illegal fuel cell in Mike Conway’s car at Toronto. Foyt was fined $15,000 and the team was docked 10 points.

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Eager to resolve his suspension for a failed drug test, AJ Allmendinger said that he has formally asked NASCAR to test his second urine sample and insisted that he would never “knowingly” take a prohibited substance.

Allmendinger was informed hours before Saturday night’s race at Daytona he had failed a random June 29 drug test. NASCAR does not disclose what substance was found, and Allmendinger and Penske Racing have not revealed details.

In his first statement since the suspension, Allmendinger confirmed Tuesday that he has requested his “B” sample be tested and is following the steps listed in the 2012 rule book regarding the drug testing policy.

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The jabs that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., 26, has taken about being the babied son of a champion and a silver-spooned boxing novelty act are over.

Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 knockouts), the WBC middleweight champion, will step into the ring Sept. 15 in Las Vegas against a recent fighter of the year, former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.

“You will know what type of fighter I am on September 15,” Chavez Jr. said Tuesday in launching a national press tour in Los Angeles.

Chavez was emboldened by his June 16 seventh-round technical-knockout victory over Andy Lee, overwhelming the challenger in his third title defense with his size, body punching and power shots at the close.

The 37-year-old Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) said he was surprised to learn Chavez had accepted the bout. “He was losing his credibility. But he’s getting better each fight,” Martinez said.

Martinez, a former WBC and WBO middleweight champion, lost his titles for failing to fight a mandatory challenger. He expects his experience to determine the outcome of the Chavez bout. “I’m going to hurt him,” Martinez said, “and the fight will end in a knockout before the 10th round.”

— Lance Pugmire

New York Mets pitcher Dillon Gee has undergone surgery to remove a blood clot from an artery in his throwing shoulder. The team said no timetable has been set for the right-hander’s return, but he will miss his next start and likely will be put on the disabled list.

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A medical examiner says an enlarged heart probably caused the death of a former Stanford University basketball player who collapsed during an adult league recreational game in New York.

Peter Sauer of Scarsdale died Sunday night in a park in White Plains. The 35-year-old had been a captain of the Stanford team that reached the Final Four in 1998.

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Diego Maradona was fired as coach of Al Wasl in United Arab Emirates after a season in which the soccer club finished in eighth place in a 12-team league and even failed to win a second-tier competition.