Bryant likely will miss world championships
Kobe Bryant had minor surgery on his right knee Saturday and is highly unlikely to play for the United States in the world championships this summer.
The announcement that the U.S. team will be without the NBA’s leading scorer comes just five days before the Americans open their training camp in Las Vegas.
USA Basketball said Bryant will still attend part of the camp and will travel with the team in Asia for training in exhibitions in China and South Korea, and the world championships in Japan.
But full recovery from the procedure normally takes eight to 12 weeks, leaving it doubtful Bryant will be available for any of the world championships, which run from Aug. 19-Sept. 3.
The U.S. has to choose its 12-man roster for the worlds before competition starts, and it can’t be changed.
Bryant’s withdrawal is the fourth this week for the U.S. team, but easily the biggest blow.
Already this week, the 24-player U.S. roster lost J.J. Redick (back injury), Lamar Odom (personal reasons) and Paul Pierce (expected to have elbow surgery in August).
•Coach Eddie Jordan signed a three-year contract extension with the Washington Wizards.
Tennis
Sabatini makes Hall
Gabriela Sabatini’s rival and doubles partner Steffi Graf introduced her into the Tennis Hall of Fame.
Sabatini was enshrined into the Hall of Fame on the grass courts at Newport, R.I., along with Australian Patrick Rafter and Italian journalist Gianni Clerici.
Sabatini, the first Argentine woman elected to the Hall, defeated Graf to win the 1990 U.S. Open and her only Grand Slam singles title. Sabatini and Graf won the 1988 Wimbledon doubles title.
•Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated Agustin Calleri 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Swedish Open final in Bastad, where he will face second-seeded Tommy Robredo.
The Spaniard rallied from 4-2 down in the third set to beat Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Robredo lost three previous semifinals at the Swedish Open.
•U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters and late substitute Kirsten Flipkens gave host Belgium a 2-0 lead over the United States in the Fed Cup semifinals in Ostend.
Clijsters defeated Jamea Jackson 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in just less than two hours, after Flipkens beat veteran Jill Craybas 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 on indoor hard courts.
Boxing
Mosley stops Vargas
Shane Mosley stopped Fernando Vargas in the sixth round of their 154-pound rematch in Las Vegas, flattening Vargas with a walloping left hand for his second victory in the rivalry in five months.
The charismatic four-time world champion is back in form after four losses from 2002-04, and he might get a matchup with Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Antonio Margarito next year if Mosley drops to 147 pounds.
Mosley was more aggressive and sharp from the opening bell, patiently landing the right hand that hurt Vargas repeatedly in their first fight. Vargas seemed frustrated and disorganized, never winning a clear-cut round.
Mosley opened a cut above Vargas’ right eye in the fifth round, but neither fighter had done much in the sixth until Vargas failed to block the crushing left hand from Mosley, buckling Vargas’ knees and sending him to the canvas. The fight was stopped shortly thereafter.
On the undercard, Houston’s Juan Diaz retained his WBA lightweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Randy Suico. Daniel Ponce De Leon then defended his WBO junior featherweight belt with a first-round knockout of Thailand’s Sod Looknongyangtoy.
•Spain’s Javier Castillejo stopped Germany’s Felix Sturm in the 10th round to win the WBA middleweight title in Hamburg, Germany.
Miscellany
Barbaro still stable
Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro remained in stable condition while being treated for a painful and often-fatal foot disease.
Barbaro has dreaded laminitis in his “good” left hind leg. On Wednesday, veterinarians performed a procedure to remove 80 percent of the hoof wall to combat the disease, usually caused by uneven weight distribution in the limbs.
The disease could appear in another limb at any time, and if it does, it would likely result in the horse being humanely destroyed.
•Kristine Lilly scored in the 92nd minute to lead the United States to a 3-2 exhibition soccer win over Sweden in Blaine, Minn.
The U.S. controlled most of the match, outshooting Sweden 12-3 in the near 100-degree heat.
•Crystl Bustos homered and drove in five runs as the United States jumped on China for a 10-run first inning in a 14-0 win at the World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City.