Fast Break

NBA

James’ girlfriend delivers son

There’s another dribbling James.

As he prepared for Game 4 of the NBA finals, LeBron James became a father for the second time. His girlfriend, Savannah Brinson, gave birth Thursday to their second son, Bryce Maximus James.

James was at the hospital for the delivery and appeared sleepy following Cleveland’s morning shootaround at Quicken Loans Arena.

“It was a late night for him,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “But he’s young. He’s fine.”

Maximus is the name of the lead character in “Gladiator,” a movie about a powerful Roman general, who is betrayed and seeks revenge for his family’s murder as a gladiator. The film is James’ favorite.

Bryce weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Hockey

Cowen invited to national tryout

Defenseman Jared Cowen, selected first overall by the Chiefs in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft, has been invited to try out for Canada’s Summer Under-18 team which will compete in an international tournament Aug. 14-18 in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Cowen if one of 40 players, and only one of two born in 1991, who have been invited to compete for one of 22 roster spots.

Cowen appeared in six regular-season and six postseason games for the Chiefs last season and will be eligible to play in Spokane for the full 2007-08 season.

Women’s basketball

GU wins awards for TV spots

Gonzaga University received two awards for television commercials from the 2007 season at the annual National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators convention held recently in Orlando, Fla.

Gonzaga won Gold and Silver awards for Group II TV Commercial for women’s basketball commercials “Father/Daughter” and “Like a Girl,” respectively. Produced by North By Northwest Productions in Spokane, “Father/Daughter” depicted a father and daughter attending a women’s basketball game, buying tickets and concessions, and cheering on the team. They got autographs after the game as well as the commercial showed the outreach of women’s basketball to the fans.

“Like a Girl” went against the stereotype of the saying “like a girl” and highlighted the intense action of women’s basketball showing that the saying is only that – a saying. It portrayed women’s basketball as fun to watch and ended with the tagline “come see for yourself.”