Boozer and Okur decide to stay with Jazz

(BOOZER, SEASON, GAMES, ASSISTS, LEVEL, PLAYED)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Utah Jazz starters Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur have decided not to opt out of their contracts to remain with the team for next season, the Jazz said on Tuesday.
Both players had early termination options and could have tested the NBA`s free-agency market, which opens on Wednesday.
Boozer appeared in only 37 games last season after suffering numerous injuries, but averaged 16.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a starting forward.
"We are excited that Carlos has decided to remain with the Jazz," Utah general manager Kevin O`Connor said in a statement on the team`s website (www.nba.com/jazz).
"We are hopeful he can continue to play at an All-Star level and will have an injury-free season."
An NBA All-Star in 2007 and 2008, Boozer also played on the gold-medal winning U.S. basketball team at the Beijing Olympics.
Turkey`s Okur played in 72 games for Utah and averaged 17.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists.
"He has clearly been an integral part of our success since his arrival and we are hopeful that he will continue to perform at such a high level in the future," O`Connor said of Okur.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
Original article

Curry sacked as Pistons coach after one year

(DETROIT, CURRY, PISTONS, SEASON, NUGGETS, IVERSON)

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michael Curry was sacked as Detroit Pistons coach on Tuesday after just one season in charge.
"This was a difficult decision to make," said Joe Dumars, Pistons president of basketball operations in a statement on the team`s website (www.nba.com/pistons).
"I want to thank Michael for his hard work and dedication to the organization. However, at this time, I have decided to make a change."
Under Curry the Pistons finished with a regular-season record of 39-43 and advanced to the playoffs where they were swept from the first round in four games by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The results fell far short of the high expectations for a team that had reached the conference finals the previous six years.
A former Pistons player, Curry watched the season unravel following an unpopular trade in which popular point guard Chauncey Billups moved to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Allen Iverson.
While Billups revived the Nuggets, Iverson flopped in Detroit and ended the season on the injury list.
(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Original article

Russian billionaire Prokhorov may buy NBA`s New Jersey Nets

(PROKHOROV, RUSSIAN, WEBSITE, BASKETBALL, RICHEST, PLANS, WOULD)

Prokhorov jumps to top of Russian richest list, Deripaska tumbles
Richest Russians
MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is part of one of four groups interested in buying the New Jersey Nets basketball team, Sports Illustrated reported on Friday on its website.
SI said a highly placed National Basketball Association source predicted that Prokhorov - Russia`s richest man according to this year`s Forbes list - would get through the league`s vetting process for prospective owners.
The Sports.ru website said that the businessman`s Onexim group had denied having plans to buy the Nets.
"Mikhail Prokhorov has not made any plans to purchase this club nor held any negotiations," Igor Petrov was quoted as saying.
The 2.06-meter (6-foot-9) Prokhorov is known to be a big basketball fan, and as a major shareholder in Norilsk Nickel funded the Euroleague champions CSKA Moscow, before selling his stake in the metals giant last year.
He has long been interested in buying an NBA franchise, and has entered into preliminary negotiations with several teams, Sports.ru reported.
"Prokhorov would prefer to acquire a team, firstly, on the East Coast, where it`s easier for him to fly, and secondly, in a city where there are Russians," the website quoted a source as saying. "New Jersey fits this plan perfectly: it is virtually in New York, and soon will be right in New York - the team plans to move to Brooklyn."
 
Original article

Top U.S. court agrees to hear case on NFL licensing

(COURT, AMERICAN, NEEDLE, NFL, LEAGUE, NATIONAL, ANTITRUST)

By Ben Klayman
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether the National Football League should be treated as a single entity under federal antitrust law in a dispute over an exclusive license to make caps and other headgear.
In a case that could affect other sports leagues, the court agreed to hear an appeal from American Needle Inc, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, on whether the NFL and its 32 teams can be sued under federal antitrust laws for signing an exclusive licensing deal with Reebok International in 2001.
The case will be argued during the court`s upcoming term that begins in October. A decision is expected in the first half of next year.
American Needle, a former licensee of the NFL, challenged the deal, which offered Reebok an exclusive license for 10 years according to court documents, claiming the NFL was 32 separate business entities and not a "single entity" as the popular professional sports league said.
Germany`s Adidas AG bought Reebok in 2006 for $3.8 billion in a move to boost its U.S. presence.
In its original lawsuit, American Needle had charged the NFL with unlawful restraint of trade and monopolizing the team products licensing, manufacturing and wholesale markets by violating antitrust laws by working too closely together, according to court documents. The cost of basic fitted caps jumped to $30 from $19.99, American Needle said in court documents.
American Needle lost the case in U.S. District Court as well as in the federal appeals court in Chicago in 2008.
"American Needle has pursued this litigation because it feels that if it could compete for the use of NFL trademarks in selling hats that it could provide lower priced merchandise than is currently available on the market," said Glen Nager, an attorney at Jones Day, which is representing American Needle.
The NFL also had urged the Supreme Court to take the case in the hope of winning a national victory, as it and other sports leagues have lost similar cases in other appeals courts.
"We look forward to the opportunity to explain why the court should confirm and extend on a nationwide basis the favorable rulings of the Court of Appeals on the application of the antitrust laws to the unique structure of a sports league," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an email.
The National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League filed briefs supporting the NFL with the Supreme Court, while Major league Baseball, which has an antitrust exemption on many issues, did not.
The U.S. Justice Department had urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case, saying neither American Needle nor the NFL had presented a question warranting review by the justices.
The case is American Needle v. National Football League, No. 08-661.
(Additional reporting by James Vicini in Washington; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Original article