Baron Davis and his agent are demanding that the New Orleans Hornets trade the two-time All-Star guard to improve Davis' chances to win an NBA title.

The Hornets have reached the playoffs seven of the last eight seasons while competing in the Eastern Conference. The team moves to the Western Conference this season after the expansion Charlotte Bobcats displaced them in the East. The Hornets will compete in the new Southwest Division, which also includes San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Memphis and is regarded as the most competitive division in the NBA.

"After talking with Baron and evaluating what the Hornets organization has been doing this offseason, I'm concerned with Baron's current status and his future with the team," Todd Ramasar, Davis' agent, told sources. "Baron was really disappointed with them losing the first round of the playoffs. I want to put him in the position where he can contend for a title or at least be in a position where he can reach the NBA Finals."

Davis, 25, is in the second year of a six-year, $85 million contract and the Hornets said that while there are some issues that need to be addressed, they will not trade him.

"We've got to straighten out some things," Hornets general manager Allan Bristow said but would not go into any details. "He's our franchise player. There's no possibility we'll trade him. We have no intention of even inquiring about trading Baron."

Davis didn't name a specific team he would like to play for but Ramasar said that his client would be a good fit with teams such as New York, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami.

"I trust my agent," Davis said. "He has my best interests at heart. I'm just focused to play well in the NBA."

Ramasar said he and Davis had hoped the Hornets would add a veteran to help Davis carry the scoring load. Davis averaged a career-high 22.9 points per game last season but to get it he averaged 40 minutes a game, eighth in the league.

"I think it's too much pressure that the Hornets are putting on Baron as an All-Star to carry that team," Ramasar said.

Davis met with Hornets officials following their first-round loss to Miami in May and told them that he believed they needed to upgrade the roster. The Hornets' only moves have been to sign forwards Rodney Rogers and Chris Andersen and guard Alex Garcia. They also drafted high school star J.R. Smith.

-USAT

Kobe Bryant Case Dropped

"EAGLE, Colo. — Kobe Bryant will not face trial for rape. In a dramatic but not unexpected decision, the sexual assault case against the Los Angeles Lakers star was thrown out Wednesday after prosecutors said the young woman decided not to participate.

Eagle County District Court Judge Terry Ruckriegle accepted the prosecutors' motion to dismiss the case as the jury was being selected. Opening statements were scheduled to begin next Tuesday. District Attorney Mark Hurlbert and Bryant's attorneys told the judge they agreed the case against Bryant would never be refiled.

"The case of the people vs. Kobe Bryant is dismissed," Ruckriegle said after a half-hour hearing in the courthouse in this small town west of Colorado's posh ski resorts.

Bryant was not in the courtroom, but the woman's parents were. Defense lawyer Pamela Mackey later issued a statement from Bryant in which he apologized to his accuser for his behavior and any consequences.

The woman's attorney, John Clune, told the court of the extraordinary pressures she has lived under for more than a year. "The difficulties this case imposed on this young woman in the last year are unimaginable," Clune said. He added, "For the solace of all the people involved ... there is an unwavering desire to see this finished."

Hurlbert told Ruckriegle he was requesting dismissal "solely on the fact the victim at this time is unable to go forward."

Mackey said Bryant was at home with his family in the Los Angeles area. She said he regretted not being present and agreed with the dismissal. "Mr. Bryant is thankful this proceeding has come to an end," she said.

In the statement issued later, Bryant said: "First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. ... Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did."

The woman filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant Aug. 10 asking for unspecified money damages. That case is still pending.

The ending to the high-profile criminal case came 14 months after the woman, then 19, accused Bryant of raping her while staying at a mountain resort where she worked as a concierge.

"Today, justice is sadly interrupted," Hurlbert told reporters outside the courthouse as sunset shadows fell. "The casualty in this interruption has been a brave young woman who has been grievously hurt."

Hurlbert insisted his prosecution team was prepared to go forward.

"This decision is not based upon a lack of my office's commitment to the case. With the victim we truly felt we had a great case and that justice would prevail. Our commitment to this case remains strong," he said. "She is an extremely credible and brave young woman, and our belief in her has not wavered over the past year."

He added, however, that "the victim has informed us after much of her own labored deliberation that she does not want to proceed with this trial. For this reason, and this reason only, I am dismissing this case."

Several times, the woman's identity was revealed in court and in accidental releases of closed-door courtroom documents. The woman was hounded by the news media and received telephone death threats. Her entire life and reputation was also grist for Internet Web sites, which published her name, photos, e-mail address and home address.

"The overwhelming media attention on this case put extra pressure on her as the alleged victim," said Michelle Anderson, a law professor at Villanova University. "Most rape victims can expect a few grueling days in court, not months of Internet exposure."

Hurlbert, who was appointed district attorney to fill an unexpired term, faces his first general election for the post in November. He said people shouldn't take the dismissal as a sign that his office won't "fight for them every step of the way," whether they are victims of minor or major crimes.

The sudden end of the Bryant case leaves a number of unanswered questions: 

Will the public ever know what happened that night at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colo.? Bryant said he and the woman had sex but it was consensual. The woman said she was raped. 

Will this high-profile case make rape victims reluctant to press charges? 

Could this case affect Colorado's rape-shield statute and other rape-shield laws, which generally bar testimony about a rape victim's sexual history? In a key decision, Ruckriegle said a limited inquiry into Bryant's accuser's sexual past would be allowed during the trial, focused on a crucial 72-hour period around the time of her encounter with the basketball star.

Asked whether there would be a chilling effect on victims of rape, Cynthia Stone of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault said: "We are always concerned about that, but we don't have the data yet. We don't want this young woman to feel as if she has to carry this burden for all victims or even organizations such as my own.

"The message we want to put out is we support victims in whatever choice they make."

The case began the night of June 30, 2003, after Bryant checked into his room at a mountaintop retreat near the resort town of Vail. The NBA All-Star guard had come to Colorado for knee surgery at a Vail orthopedic clinic known for its work with athletes.

Bryant's accuser had shown him to his room, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing last fall.

What happened next became the core of the case.

A detective testified that the woman, now 20, was excited that the star athlete was staying at the resort. She greeted him when he arrived and agreed to give him a tour of the premises.

After mutual flirting and then five minutes of kissing in Bryant's room, she said, the encounter turned rough. She told detectives Bryant took her in a choke hold, turned her around and bent her over a chair. Then he forced her to submit to vaginal sex from behind while repeatedly asking that she tell no one of the incident.

One of the detectives testified that the woman told him that she said "no" several times and was left crying and disheveled by the episode.

But the defense challenged the testimony, and Mackey, Bryant's attorney, asked an explosive question during cross-examination of the detective. Could vaginal injuries found during a "rape kit" medical exam after the encounter be "consistent with someone who had sex with three different men in three days?" she asked.

It became a linchpin in the defense case that challenged the accuser's truthfulness. Key to the defense was DNA evidence that Bryant's lawyers said would show that his accuser had sex with other men around the time of the encounter, including afterward. Several legal analysts had predicted such testimony could be devastating at trial.

"For six months, we've watched the defense drop fact bombs on the head of the prosecutors," said Larry Pozner, a Denver defense lawyer. "But we all knew it would be the rulings on the rape-shield motions that would end the willingness of the prosecution and their witness to talk to a jury."

The DNA testimony led Ruckriegle to grant the defense's request that details of the woman's sexual history be allowed at the trial. Colorado's rape-shield law bans such details from being used in a rape case unless the woman's sexual past can point to possible guilt or innocence. "

-from USA TODAY


Mourning to make comeback

ALONZO MOURINING will try to revive his career with the New Jersey Nets after a kidney transplant.

But guard Jason Kidd may be sidelined until December with a knee injury, it was announced today.

Mourning, a seven-time All-Star centre, will take part in the Nets 2004-05 training camp in a comeback bid, said Nets chief executive Rod Thorn.

"We look forward to Alonzo joining the Nets in training camp," he said. "Hopefully he will be able to resume his career and play at the high level he has in the past."

Mourning, 34, sustained renal failure last November and was forced to leave the game to undergo a kidney transplant. He had played in 12 games with the Nets, averaging 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds.

He believes he has recovered enough to contribute to the Nets this season.

"I am feeling great and am excited about attending training camp and possibly resuming my career," he said.

According to a report in the New York Post, Kidd, 31, may not play until December following left knee surgery he underwent two months ago.

Kidd, who completed his third season with the Nets, missed 15 games with a bone bruise and sore left knee.

He averaged 15.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 9.2 assists in 67 games last season. He led the league in assists for the fifth time and in triple-doubles with nine. 

Kidd to return in December 

With all the talk about Alonzo Mourning returning, another issue is looming for the New Jersey Nets. Jason Kidd is likely to miss the first month of the season.

According to multiple team and league sources, Kidd won't return until December because of his left knee injury, The New York Post reported.

There is no tentative return date for Kidd, Nets' GM Ed Stefanski told The Post Tuesday.

"Jason has been working out and rehabbing, doing all the doctors have prescribed. But there is no timetable for his return," he told the Post.

Kidd, while not demanding anything, told team officials he would like a trade (acceptable teams include Dallas, the Lakers and Minnesota, one source said).

Kidd's feelings could change if Mourning does indeed come back since he urged the Nets to sign him last summer. -MS/NBC 


Jordan contemplates a return to NBA 

Rumors have been floating around of Michael Jordan working out and shooting around with NBA elder statesmen Michael Finley and Antoine Walker. Speculation abroad that MJ is planning a comeback to the NBA. Guess what team? The MIAMI HEAT.

Garnett reportedly in another fight

NBA most valuable player Kevin Garnett punched a former University of Minnesota player during a pickup game last week at Target Center, cutting the man's face and chipping his tooth.

Garnett punched Rick Rickert, a second-round draft pick of the Timberwolves last season, according to several sources with knowledge of the event. Seven stitches were required to close the cut on Rickert's chin, said Susan Rickert, the player's mother, during a phone interview yesterday.

Garnett's agent and a Timberwolves spokesman declined to comment.

According to a report in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Garnett's attack was unprovoked.

Rickert, 21, scored several times with the 6-foot-11 Garnett guarding him. Several other players began to "tease" Garnett about being outplayed, according to a source. When Rickert scored again, Garnett struck him without warning.

"Rick was surprised that Garnett reacted the way he did," said Rickert's agent, Mark Termini.

In November 2000, Garnett punched teammate Wally Szczerbiak in the head following an argument.