Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — MOTOR SPORTS Annett out indefinitely

NASCAR driver Michael Annett has a fracture and dislocation of his sternum that will require surgery. Aric Almirola will replace him in the Nationwide Series this weekend at Phoenix. Annett was injured in a wreck during the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Daytona Beach, Fla. He spent one night in the hospital, but was seen Tuesday by two doctors in North Carolina who diagnosed the injury. Annett will not be able to compete for an indefinite amount of time. Almirola will drive the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford, and Richard Petty Motorsports will evaluate its options moving forward. Annett was injured in an accident that stopped the race for nearly 20 minutes. It was before the last-lap accident in which debris from a car injured more than two dozen fans.

BASKETBALL Center dismissed

Western Kentucky has dismissed senior center Teeng Akol from the team. Akol started 16 of 27 games this season and averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Hilltoppers Coach Ray Harper said Akol will remain on scholarship to focus on academics and earn his degree, adding, “That’s what’s best for him and this basketball team at this time.” The 6-11, 220-pound South Sudan native had missed two of Western Kentucky’s past five games for academic reasons. He was also suspended for the first three games of the 2011-2012 season for violating team rules. Akol transferred to Western Kentucky from Oklahoma State during the 2009-2010 season. He scored a career-high 23 points against North Texas in last year’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game.

Taj Gibson is expected to miss at least two weeks with a sprained left knee, forcing the Chicago Bulls to play without one of their key reserves. Gibson says his leg buckled when he stepped on the foot of Oklahoma City guard Reggie Jackson in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 102-72 loss to the Thunder. Gibson had a magnetic resonance imaging and was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament.

HOCKEY Flyers get Gagne

The Los Angeles Kings traded struggling left wing Simon Gagne back to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick. Gagne hasn’t scored a goal in 11 games this season for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who sent the veteran forward back to the city where he spent his first 10 NHL seasons. Los Angeles will get a thirdround pick if Philadelphia makes the playoffs or a fourth-round pick if the Flyers miss the postseason. Gagne had 259 goals and 528 points in his decade with the Flyers, scoring a career-high 47 goals during the 2005-2006 season. The Flyers traded himto Tampa Bay in 2010, and the Kings signed him a year later.

Less than 24 hours after picking up a career-best three assists in a loss at Nashville, Dallas Stars right wing Michael Ryder and a thirdround draft pick were traded to the Montreal Canadiens for right wing Erik Cole in a swap of veteran forwards. The 32-year-old Ryder has six goals and eight assists in 19 games this year for the Stars. The 34-year-old Cole has three goals and three assists in 19 games for the Canadiens. Ryder will be returning to the organization that drafted him in the eighth round (216th overall) of the 1998 draft.

The New Jersey Devils have placed goaltender Martin Brodeuron injured reserve with a sore back. The move is retroactive to Sunday, in which the Devils lost at home to Winnipeg 4-2 with Brodeur on the bench. He also didn’t play in a 5-1 loss the day before in Washington. Brodeur, 40, last played Thursday, finishing with 17 saves in New Jersey’s 3-2 victory at Washington. He is 8-2-3 with a 2.27 goals-against average this season.

Montreal Canadiens forward Rene Bourque will be out indefinitely with a concussion. Coach Michel Therrien said Tuesday that Bourque is not sure what caused the injury. He missed the past two games with what the team said was a flu. Bourque has five goals and five assists in 17 games.

BASKETBALLFisher rejoins Thunder, not planning on retiring

OKLAHOMA CITY - Fivetime NBA champion Derek Fisher isn’t planning on his latest stint with the Oklahoma City Thunder being his last chance to play in the league. He has just one goal in mind and he’ll wear a reminder of it on his jersey in every game.

Fisher (Little Rock Parkview, UALR) chose No. 6 to wear on his uniform, to represent his quest for a sixth NBA title. He won five alongside Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers and for the second consecutive season will join the Thunder for the stretch run to try and help Kevin Durant win his first.

“It symbolizes something for me in terms of No. 6 but it also symbolizes for me the reason why I’m here to be a part of this team and that’s to help get No. 1,” Fisher said Tuesday after his first practice.

Fisher wore No. 37 last season to reflect his age and deliver a message that he could still playafter getting traded away by the Lakers. He wasn’t offered the chance to return to Oklahoma City during the offseason, but he was signed Monday as a free agent after the Thunder traded away thirdstring point guardEric Maynor.

Fisher played in nine gamesearlier this season with Dallas, but asked for his release to spend more time with his family after he had injured his right knee.

“I knew that I still wanted to play the game. I knew I still had the love, the work ethic, the passion,” Fisher said. “The injury was a setback. The biggest struggle was for me, even after 16 years [in the NBA], playing in a different city, being away from my family. Those are things that I struggled with. But as I was leaving Dallas, I understood the risks that that could possibly be my last game or my last opportunity.”

He said his knee was healthy enough by Jan. 1 for him to resume training, and he hopes the end of career is not near.

“I’m not planning on retiring at the end of the season but if this is my last season, I deserve this opportunity to be here with this group,” Fisher said. “So, that’s really what brought me back.”

Coach Scott Brooks wouldn’t say if Fisher or swingman Ronnie Brewer (Fayetteville, Arkansas Razorbacks), who was acquired in a trade last week, will be activated for tonight’s game against New Orleans. He said both will get playing time, but he’s not divulging how he plans to shake up his rotation to mix in the two playoff-tested veterans.

Brooks said he would prefer to settle into a steady rotation, so players can understand when they’ll have chances to impact thegame, rather than use the newcomers based on situations and match-ups.

Last season, Fisher essentially claimed the minutes of backup point guard Reggie Jackson, although he usually played off the ball with James Harden running the show. The dynamics of the team have changed now, with Harden gone to Houston in an offseason trade.

“We’re a different team. Things are different,” Brooks said. “One thing I think we know we’re going to get from him is a competitor, a winner, a guy that’s going to do everything for the team, and you can never have enough guys like that.”

Fisher said he believes Jackson, a second-year player, “deserves the opportunity to continue to play” but left those decisions in Brooks’ hands.

“He’s been a champion many times over. He gives us leadership. Does he take spots on the floor, minutes from the other guys? To have a good team, you have to have sacrifices from everybody,” Brooks said. “I don’t know what they all will entail at the moment, but definitely he will play.”

Brewer, viewed as a defensive stopper, joins a crowd of wing players on the Thunder roster. Durant, the three-time scoring champion, eats up the lion’s share of minutes at small forward while starter Thabo Sefolosha and sixth man Kevin Martin split the time at shooting guard.