Briefly

Seattle SuperSonics guard Ray Allen spoke for the first time Friday about an alleged plot to kill his stepfather, saying his family had been aware of the situation for more than a year.

Ernest C. Garlington, 37, of Southington, Conn., is being held on a $1.7 million bond on charges he conspired to murder Derek Hopson, Allen’s stepfather. Garlington and Terrence Battle, 31, of Waterbury, Conn., were charged Wednesday in a murder-for-hire plot against Hopson, a psychologist.

“It’s something we have known that has been going on,” Allen said after Seattle’s practice.

Hopson was once married to Garlington’s wife. He’s now married to Flora Allen-Hopson, Allen’s mother. Allen said the two have been married for just less than three years.

Garlington and Battle are accused of conspiring with a third man, 34-year-old Robbie Santos of Waterbury, to shoot Hopson in 2003.

Santos is serving an 18-year prison term for firing a shot from a .25-caliber pistol at Hopson on May 21, 2003, outside a mental health clinic in Middletown where Hopson worked.

Prosecutors alleged Santos was offered $8,000 to kill Hopson.

•The SuperSonics released guards Tre Simmons and Ezra Williams, reducing their roster to 18 players.

•Eddy Curry officially joined the New York Knicks after a team of doctors hired by the club cleared him to play. An NBA cardiologist also reviewed the test results and signed off on Curry’s return to practice.

Curry was traded to the Knicks by the Chicago Bulls earlier this week, more than six months after the 22-year-old center had an irregular heartbeat that caused him to miss the final 13 games of last season and the playoffs.

•Anthony Johnson of the Indiana Pacers was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge for his role in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history.

He was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service, directed to attend counseling and fined $250.

Olympics

IOC chief calls for independent inquiry

IOC president Jacques Rogge called for outside “independent observers” to investigate allegations that seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong tested positive for EPO at the 1999 race.

Both the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency have announced separate inquiries into the case, but Rogge said he prefers a fully independent probe.

“I have asked that an independent inquiry be started to pinpoint the different responsibilities,” Rogge said, adding he hoped “the inquiry, if possible, would also be able to show whether the sample was positive.”

•Three months after being cut from the 2012 Olympics, baseball found out that it lost its place in the Olympics by three votes, international federation president Aldo Notari told the Associated Press.

The result – 54-50 against, with 53 votes in favor needed to remain – was tight enough for the sport to push for a vote of reinstatement in February.

“We have a duty to get back in the Olympics,” Notari said.

•Sports officials in North and South Korea hope to field a unified team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rogge said.

Tennis

Clijsters’ bid for top ranking derailed

Elena Dementieva ended Kim Clijsters’ bid for the top ranking, beating the U.S. Open champion 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Clijsters would have unseated Maria Sharapova at No. 1 by winning the event, but instead was dealt just her second loss in 29 matches by the eighth-ranked Dementieva.

•Serena Williams pulled out of her last two scheduled tournaments of the season in hopes of being healthy for 2006.

Figure skating

St. Paul awarded ‘08 U.S. Championships

St. Paul, Minn., will host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 2008, returning the event to the Twin Cities for the first time in 17 years.

St. Paul was chosen over Colorado Springs, Colo., and Providence, R.I., for the nationals, which will be held Jan. 20-27, 2008, at the 18,064-seat Xcel Energy Center.

This year’s nationals, which also are the Olympic trials, will be in St. Louis from Jan. 7-15. The 2007 nationals will be in Spokane from Jan. 21-28.

Horse racing

Afleet Alex on comeback trail

Afleet Alex took another huge stride in his comeback with a solid half-mile workout at Belmont Park.