Daugherty Views Retirement, But He’s Not Made It Official

Brad Daugherty, sidelined with an injured back for more than two years, intends to retire, although the all-star center has yet to notify the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Daugherty said he has seen doctors around the country and they have told him to give up basketball.

“None was optimistic. They all said that I should not be running,” Daugherty said in Thursday’s editions of The Plain Dealer. “I am through.” Cavaliers president Wayne Embry said Daugherty has not informed the club of his plans.

Asked by Cleveland TV station WJW if he had officially retired, Daugherty replied: “No, I haven’t. I haven’t retired officially.”

Relations between the NBA and its players’ union have deteriorated to the point where the word “lockout” was mentioned publicly.

At a news conference to hype the league’s 50th anniversary plans, commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Russ Granik discussed the impasse over details of last fall’s collective bargaining agreement, which has not yet been signed.

One of four doctors named in a lawsuit by the widow of Boston Celtics captain Reggie Lewis has responded in court papers that he advised the player to change his “personal habits.”

Dr. Gilbert H. Mudge Jr. of Brigham and Women’s Hospital said in a filing in Suffolk Superior Court said Lewis “assumed the risk of injury and death through his personal activities.”

The Los Angeles Clippers, who had considered moving to the Pond of Anaheim, announced they have ended negotiations for the Orange County arena, and will remain at the Sports Arena.

The New Jersey Nets officially announced it has reached an agreement in principle for John Calipari to become its head coach. Calipari molded the University of Massachusetts into one of the nation’s top college teams.