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Celtics Trade Radja for a Pair of 76ers

From Staff and Wire Reports

The Boston Celtics traded Dino Radja to the Philadelphia 76ers for Clarence Weatherspoon and Michael Cage on Friday, marking the first player moves by the teams’ new regimes.

Radja and Cage are center-forwards, and Weatherspoon has played small and power forward in his five years with the 76ers.

“Now we have another big guy who can play more than one position,” new 76er Coach Larry Brown said. “It gives us more of an option.”

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Boston Coach Rick Pitino said the trade gives him roster flexibility because Weatherspoon has one year left on his contract and the Celtics can buy out the second year of Cage’s deal.

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Marcus Camby, the beleaguered forward of the Toronto Raptors, was back in Toronto, trying to repair his tarnished reputation after his arrest for marijuana possession June 13 near his home at South Windsor, Conn.

Camby would not discuss the marijuana charge at a packed news conference, where he announced he was giving $151,000 to his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts, to cover another transgression.

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The school was stripped of its 1996 NCAA Final Four record and $151,000 in tournament revenue after it was revealed that Camby had accepted money and gifts from agent Wesley Spears. Friday, Camby said he had donated $75,000 for minority scholarships to the school’s education department and that he would be donating $76,000 to the school’s health services division on or before Aug. 29.

“I don’t like seeing negative stuff printed in the paper every time I come up here,” Camby said. “I want to see something positive. To all my fans, I’m a good guy.”

Tennis

Andre Agassi, who hasn’t played since April, withdrew from Wimbledon, citing a recurring wrist injury. He has played only 12 matches this year.

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Michael Chang defeated eighth-seeded Spaniard Francisco Clavet, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8), 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the Heineken Trophy tournament at Rosmalen, Netherlands.

Chang will play Dutchman Richard Krajicek today. Krajicek defeated 47th-ranked Czech Martin Damm in his quarterfinal, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4).

The women’s tournament was hit by an evening downpour, which cut short top-seeded German Anke Huber’s semifinal against Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands with Huber leading, 6-4, 4-6. In the other semifinal, third-seeded Ruxandra Dragomir defeated No. 8 Asa Carlsson of Sweden, 6-4, 6-2.

Jana Novotna was three points away from clinching a place in the semifinals when rain washed out play at the Eastbourne women’s grass-court tournament in England. Novotna was leading Ai Sugiyama, 6-2, 6-5, and serving for the match at 15-15 when the quarterfinal match was suspended.

Rain forced play from grass to indoor hard courts as Tim Henman, Karol Kucera, Greg Rusedski and Sandon Stolle advanced to the semifinals of the Nottingham Open in England. Kucera beat Scott Draper, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; Henman defeated Grant Stafford, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6); Rusedski downed last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist, Jason Stoltenberg, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); and Stolle outlasted American Alex O’Brien, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4). . . . Bjorn Borg defeated Henri Leconte of France, 6-3, 6-3, on the second day of the ATP Senior Tour event at Prague, the Czech Republic.

Hockey

Defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov of the Detroit Red Wings and team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov showed slight signs of improvement but remained in a coma with injuries suffered a week ago in a traffic accident.

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“There’s movement in some cases,” said Colette Stimmell, a spokeswoman at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., where the men remained in critical condition. “The best thing is that they continue to show signs of improvement.”

Boxing

Orlin Norris has settled his federal lawsuit against promoter Don King and the World Boxing Assn. Norris had charged that he had been barred from the top rankings and a shot at the heavyweight title.

The settlement calls for Norris, 48-4 with 26 knockouts and currently ranked sixth by the WBA, to fight the winner of a bout tonight between No. 2 Francois Botha and No. 11 Lee Gilbert. The winner of the Norris-Botha/Gilbert fight will then be next in line for a title bout.

The lawsuit had sought to bar the WBA from sanctioning the rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield next Saturday.

Mitch Halpern, the referee when Holyfield upset Tyson to win the WBA heavyweight title, will be the referee again in the rematch.

Pro Football

Halfback Dorsey Levens, whose play down the stretch was pivotal in the Green Bay Packers’ drive to the Super Bowl, re-signed with the club.

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The team also announced the signing of unrestricted free agent Steve Bono as backup to quarterback Brett Favre. Bono was waived by Kansas City earlier this month.

The Dallas Cowboys signed defensive lineman Chad Hennings to a four-year contract extension. . . . The Detroit Lions released cornerback Robert Bailey and safety Harry Colon. . . . Max Lane, a key to the restructuring of the New England Patriots’ offensive line, was one of three veterans re-signed. The Patriots also re-signed backups John Burke, a tight end, and Hason Graham, a wide receiver.

Miscellany

A Tremonton, Utah, man accused of threatening to blow up the Delta Center to extort money from Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller is being freed from jail, pending his next court appearance.

Richard Lewis Christiansen, 43, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce, and Boyce set a $20,000 bond.

Members of the International Olympic Committee dropped a complaint against the men’s downhill for next year’s Winter Olympics, allowing the track at Nagano, Japan, to remain the shortest in recent times. . . . Italian Olympic speedskating silver medal winner Mirko Vuillermin suffered a broken left leg in a motorcycle accident at Rome.

According to published reports, Keith Olbermann, who is leaving his anchor position at ESPN, will have a talk show five nights a week on MSNBC.

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Marie-Jose Perec of France, gold medalist in the 200 and 400 meters at the Atlanta Olympics, said she is not in shape for the 400 hurdles this season and will concentrate on defending her 400-meter title at the World Championships at Paris.

Paul Sanderford, Nebraska’s new women’s basketball coach, will make at least 40% more than the previous coach, Angela Beck. . . . FIFA soccer player of the year Ronaldo signed a five-year contract with Internazionale of Milan. . . . Texas El Paso has responded to NCAA sanctions with a 100-page appeal that maintains the penalties imposed against the university were too harsh. The NCAA announced May 1 that it was putting UTEP on probation for five years because of a lack of institutional control.

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