Off the wire

BASKETBALL

Allen fined $5,000 for flop

The NBA has fined Grizzlies guard Tony Allen $5,000 for violating the league’s anti-flopping rule during Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Officials called a flagrant foul on Manu Ginobili for grabbing Allen’s arm as the Grizzlies guard drove to the basket with 26.1 seconds left in regulation Tuesday night. Allen hit the court and rolled over, holding his hands to his head. A replay showed the Grizzlies guard never hit his head on the court. Allen hit both free throws, and the Grizzlies also got the ball to force overtime. The Spurs won 93-89 in overtime.

Flynn Robinson, the former NBA guard who played on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1971-1972 championship team, has died after a two-year fight with cancer. He was 72. Flynn’s wife, Nancy Pitts-Robinson, told the Lakers he died Thursday at Keck Hospital in Los Angeles. Called “Mr. Instant Point” by late Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, the 6-1 Robinson averaged 9.9 points and 2.2 assists in 64 games in 1971-1972, helping the Lakers win an NBA-record 33 consecutive games and the franchise’s first title in Los Angeles. “We are very sad to hear of the passing of Flynn Robinson,” said Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ executive vice president of business operations. “Flynn played an important role on the 1971-1972 Lakers team.” Robinson had his best season in 1969-1970 with Milwaukee, averaging 21.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 81 games and appearing in his lone All-Star game. In seven NBA seasons with Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, the Lakers and Baltimore, the former University of Wyoming star averaged 14.5 points and 3.1 assists. He finished his career in the ABA with the San Diego Conquistadors in 1973-1974.

MOTOR SPORTS Panel upholds penalties

A NASCAR appeals panel has upheld the penalties for two Richard Childress Racing Nationwide crew members who were also criminally charged for fighting with Nelson Piquet Jr. at Richmond last month. Crew members Thomas Costello and Michael Scearce of driver Brian Scott’s team were both suspended for four Nationwide Series races and fined $15,000 each. The suspensions begin next week at Dover. The two will be able to return in late June at Kentucky. RCR Chief Operating Officer Torrey Galida said Friday that he was unsure if his organization would appeal the ruling by the three-person panel. He said RCR appealed because it thought the NASCAR penalties were excessive. Henrico County police have also charged Scearce with two counts of misdemeanor assault. Costello received one count of misdemeanor assault.

HORSE RACING Santa Anita, Del Mar get dates

Santa Anita and Del Mar will pick up extra racing dates in 2014 after the closure of Betfair Hollywood Park in December. The California Horse Racing Board assigned dates for the next two years at its meeting in Sacramento, with Santa Anita and Del Mar receiving the bulk of the extra dates. Santa Anita’s winter-spring meet will begin on Dec. 26 as usual and run until July 6, 2014, instead of closing as it usually has in April. The track’s fall meet will run from Sept. 26 to Nov. 2. Del Mar, located north of San Diego, will run from July 16 to Sept. 3 this year, and have a new fall meet from Nov. 5 to Dec. 7, 2014. Fairplex Park will run its usual meet from Sept. 4-23 during the Los Angeles County Fair.

FOOTBALL Goodson to practice Tuesday

A person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press that Jets running back Mike Goodson is expected to return to practice Tuesday despite his legal troubles. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the team hasn’t announced anything regarding Goodson’s status. He missed the Jets’ first three organized team activity practices this week after being arrested last Friday on multiple charges of drug and weapons possession. He offered a plea of innocent to all charges Wednesday in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, N.J. The Jets’ next OTA will be Tuesday. It will be the fourth of 10 voluntary practices this spring. Goodson has also played for Oakland and Carolina in his four NFL seasons, and has 722 career yards rushing.

The Seattle Seahawks have lost backup tight end Anthony McCoy for possibly the entire 2013 season after he suffered a torn Achilles during an organized team activity earlier this week. The Seahawks confirmed McCoy’s injury on Friday, which was first reported by USA Today. McCoy has already undergone surgery to repair the injury and recovery time is typically six to nine months. McCoy went limping off the field late in Monday’s organized team activity that was open to the media. Trainers examined his ankle on the field before using a cart to take him into the team’s practice facility. Coach Pete Carroll had limited information after practice ended and believed it was an ankle injury. McCoy was entering his fourth season with the Seahawks. Last year, he had a career best 18 catches and three touchdowns.

The Cincinnati Bengals have signed running back Giovani Bernard of North Carolina, leaving only one of their 10 draft picks without a deal. Bernard was the second of their two picks in the second round. He’ll get a chance to win a spot as a change-of-pace back to complement BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Earlier in the week, the Bengals signed defensive end Margus Hunt of Southern Methodist, their other second-round pick. The only draft choice still without a contract is tight end Tyler Eifert, taken 21st overall in the first round. They’re hoping that Eifert can learn the offense quickly enough to give Cincinnati another pass-catching option in formations using two tight ends.

Dick Evey, a tackle who played most of his eight seasons in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, has died at age 72. Smith Funeral & Cremation Service in Maryville, Tenn., said he died Thursday at the Ben Atchley State Veterans Home in Knoxville after a long illness. Evey played from 1964-6199 with the Bears, who selected him out of Tennessee in the first round of the 1964 draft. Evey played with the Los Angeles Rams in 1970 and the Detroit Lions in 1971.

A New York City lawyer for two massage therapists who sued retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre over racy text messages says the case has been settled. Lawyer David Jaroslawicz said Friday that the lawsuit has been resolved. He would not comment on the terms of the settlement. Massage therapists Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole said Favre sent sexually suggestive texts to another therapist when he was with the New York Jets in 2008. The women said they lost their part-time jobs with the Jets after they complained about the texts. They sought unspecified damages from Favre, the Jets and a team massage coordinator. Lawyers for Favre and the Jets did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment.

TENNIS

Becker behind Asian league

Boris Becker is backing a new tennis league in Asia featuring former and current players. The three time Wimbledon champion is joining ex-players Justin Gimelstob and Mahesh Bhupathi in founding the International Premier Tennis League. Plans for the league were announced Friday. It will consist of mixed teams in various Asian cities, with a player draft held in January in Melbourne, Australia. Play is expected to start in December 2014. Retired players and a number of current top-10 stars plan to participate. Among them are Pete Sampras, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki. Becker hopes the league will get “TV networks excited” and “grow into a worldwide property with multiple team owners.”

France’s Gael Monfils beat Spain’s Pablo Andujar 7-5, 6-4 in the Nice Open on Friday to advance to the final. Monfils will face Spain’s Albert Montanes, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 winner over French wild-card entry Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the first semifinal in the clay-court, warm-up tournament for the French Open. A former top 10 player, Monfils was hampered last year by a right knee injury and has dropped to 109th in the rankings. Monfils hit 17 winners to eight for Andujar to take the first set, when the Spaniard netted a backhand volley. The Frenchman then rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the second. The French Open starts Sunday.

Three U.S. men have qualified for the French Open for the first time in more than 30 years. Jack Sock of Lincoln, Neb., Denis Kudla of Arlington, Va., and Steve Johnson of Orange, Calif., all won their qualifying matches Friday to earn berths in the main draw at Roland Garros. Three American men haven’t done that together in Paris since 1982, when Charles Strode, Craig Wittus and Derek Tarr qualified. That year, all three lost in the first round of the main tournament. Kudla tweeted: “Americans on clay. We are not that bad !”