Sports People

Mel Daniels, 51, former Indiana Pacers center and longtime scout, is recuperating from open heart surgery. He is expected out of intensive care today and should be released from Methodist Hospital within a week… . Indiana tailback Michael Batts will miss the rest of the season and possibly might not play football again after injuring his left knee during practice last week… . Steffi Graf’s lawyer criticized General Motors subsidiary Opel for ending a sponsorship deal with the tennis star, and said Opel had acted on rumors rather than hard fact. The lawyer, Peter Danckert, said, predicting, however, that sponsors will flock to Graf when the tax authorities end their investigation.