Off the wire

BASKETBALL James MVP again

LeBron James is getting his fourth MVP award - and theonly mystery left is whether the vote was unanimous. The Miami Heat star will be introduced Sunday as the award winner, according to a person familiar with the results and who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league has not publicly announced the result. James will become the fifth player with at least four MVP awards, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. No one has ever swept every first-place vote in the NBA’s MVP balloting. After the season he had, James could be the first. “I don’t know who else you’d vote for,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said Friday. “No offense to everybody else, but that’s just how good he has played this year.” James averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists this season, shooting a career-best 56 percent. It was absolutely no surprise that he won the award, and given the timetable for Miami’s next game - the Heat don’t open Eastern Conference semifinal play until Monday night against Brooklyn or Chicago - it had been widely assumed for several days that Sunday would be the day. “I absolutely have not even thought about it,” James said earlier this week when asked if he considered the weight of winning the award four times in five years. “I have not thought about it, until you just brought it up. I know the history. It would be a unique, unbelievable class I would be a part of, so we’ll see.” Only Russell had won four MVPs in five years, and only Abdul-Jabbar had gone back to-back on the award twice. James won the award in 2009 and 2010, only got four first-place votes in 2011 - his first season with the Heat - then reclaimed the award last season.

Dallas Mavericks assistant Jim O’Brien is retiring after a 30-year career that included heading coaching stints in Boston, Philadelphia and Indiana. Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle said Friday that O’Brien is being replaced by Kaleb Canales,who was the interim head coach in Portland last year. The 61-yearold O’Brien spent one season with the Mavericks under Carlisle, who was replaced by O’Brien at Indiana in 2007. O’Brien was fired by the Pacers during the 2010-2011 season after missing the playoffs three straight years. “Jim said he loved working in the Mavs organization, but being away from family made his decision easy,” Carlisle said. “I consider Jim O’Brien a great basketball man of high integrity and thank him for everything he taught me, my staff and our players this past season.” O’Brien, who is married to the daughter of former NBA coach Jack Ramsay, has a home in Ocean City, N.J., that was affected by Superstorm Sandy early in the season. O’Brien was head coach of the Celtics for two full seasons and parts of two others. He took over midseason for Rick Pitino in 2001 and a year later led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1988. In one season with the 76ers, O’Brien oversaw a 10-game improvement before losing to Detroit in five games in the first round of the 2005 playoffs. He has a career record of 303-327. Canales, 34, has ties to the Dallas area after working as a student assistant at Texas-Arlington a decade ago before catching on with Portland as a video intern. The Trail Blazers gave him the interim job when they fired Nate McMillan last season.

Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng says the illness that kept him out of a playoff game against the Brooklyn Nets was far more serious than the flu. He missed the Bulls’ loss in Game 6 on Thursday with what Coach Tom Thibodeau said were flulike symptoms. In one of a series of tweets from the hospital Friday, Deng wrote: “It really upsets me that everyone thinks I would miss a game” because of the flu. He also confirmed he had a spinal tap to rule out meningitis earlier in the week. And he indicated he will join the team for Game 7 in Brooklyn if he’s medically cleared, although he might have to spend the night in the hospital.

FOOTBALL Ravens hire Spagnuolo

The Baltimore Ravens have hired former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo as a senior defensive assistant. Spagnuolo was fired in January following one season in New Orleans in which the Saints’ defense allowed a single-season NFL record 7,042 yards. However, his record as a defensive coach before 2012, when the Saints were floundering in the wake of their bounty scandal, was far better. Spagnuolo was the New York Giants defense coordinator when the club won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2007-08 season against a Tom Brady-led New England squad that came into the game undefeated. Spagnuolo also spent three season as the St. Louis rams’ head coach from 2009-11. Ravens Coach John Harbaugh says Spagnuolo has a wealth of experience that will make Baltimore’s defense stronger.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington was arrested Friday after being accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, who authorities said is the mother of his baby daughter. Maricopa County prosecutors said Washington posted $4,200 bond and was released following his initial court appearance after he had been booked into jail on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault. A probable cause statement released by Phoenix police said Washington’s ex-girlfriend claimed he grabbed her by the throat and shoved her to the ground following an argument at her apartment Wednesday. The woman told police that Washington also pushed her with two hands, causing her to fall and break her right collarbone, according to court documents. Sgt. Steve Martos, a Phoenix police spokesman, said officers later interviewed the woman and their report noted her clavicle injury along with “road-rash type of scrapes, bruising and cuts to her right arm, right hip and right leg.” The alleged assaults occurred inside the woman’s apartment and in a parking lot after Washington and his ex-girlfriend argued during his visitation with the 5-month-old child, Martos said. Washington, 26, is expected back in court Thursday for a status conference with a preliminary hearing set for May 13.

MOTOR SPORTS Hamlin OK to race

Denny Hamlin ran 16 laps at full speed Friday, turned his car over to Brian Vickers and then didn’t exactly rule himself out of running a full race this weekend as he recovers from a back injury. Hamlin insisted he’ll again give Vickers the car at some point Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. But Hamlin left the door open to run a full race in his return from a compressed fracture of a vertebra in his lower back. After missing four races, he was cleared Thursday to get back in the car this weekend and said doctors gave him permission to run the entire race. He said his intention was to “take a knee” after the start by getting out of the car during a caution and allowing Vickers to finish the race. That slightly contradicted crew chief Darian Grubb, who said earlier Friday they’d play race-day by ear and see how the race flows. When asked about that after his practice stint, Hamlin stammered about his true plans. “Ummm, yeah. I’d say there’s going to be a caution at some point and I’d like to get out and just ensure myself of one more week of healing,” Hamlin said.

X Games star Travis Pastrana won his first career pole on the Nationwide Series at Talladega Superspeedway. The 10-time X Games gold medalist-turned-NASCAR driver starts up front in today’s Aaron’s 312 after posting the fastest qualifying time of 54.255 Friday on the 2.66-mile tri-oval. Pastrana called it “a dream come true.” It’s his second top 10 start in only 17 Nationwide races. He also secured the first Nationwide pole at Talladega Superspeedway for owner Jack Roush. Austin Dillon is set to start second with a lap of 54.359 followed by Trevor Bayne (54.387), Danica Patrick (54.447) and Justin Allgaier (54.450). John Wes Townley’s qualifying time was thrown out because his car failed pre-qualifying inspection. His sponsorship was moved to Jeff Green’s car so he could race today.

HOCKEY Gryba suspended

Ottawa Senators defenseman Eric Gryba was suspended for two games by the NHL on Friday for his crushing hit to head on Montreal Canadiens center Lars Eller in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Gryba caught Eller with his head down at the Montreal blue line Thursday night in the second period of the Senators’ 4-2 victory. Eller crashed face-first to the ice, and was bleeding heavily as he was taken from the Bell Centre ice on a stretcher. He suffered a concussion and facial and dental injuries. Elller was released from the hospital Friday and was resting at home.

Sports, Pages 20 on 05/04/2013

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