Ex-Kings star loses part of leg to cancer

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Former NBA player Wayman Tisdale, 44, had part of his right leg amputated Monday because of bone cancer.

His wife, Regina, told The Associated Press on Tuesday night, "Everything went well."

Tisdale, a 6-foot-9 Tulsa native who played for Oklahoma before spending 12 seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns, first learned he had cancerous cyst below his right knee after he broke his leg in a fall at his home in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2007.

Tisdale, now an award-winning jazz musician, underwent treatment and later had knee replacement surgery and resumed touring. Tisdale was still undergoing chemotherapy when he told the AP in June that "I feel better than ever. I'm excited. I've got a whole new look on life. I look at life on a whole 'nother radar."

Tisdale told the AP that his latest album, "Rebound," was inspired by his ongoing fight against the cancer.

Former Portland Trail Blazers center Kevin Duckworth, a "gentle giant" with a feathery touch from the paint, has died. He was 44. Duckworth, part of a Trail Blazers goodwill tour, was to hold a basketball clinic on the Oregon coast when he died Monday night. The cause of death was to be determined by a medical examiner but the Lincoln County sheriff's office said there was no indication of foul play. The 7-foot Duckworth averaged 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over 11 seasons, helping Portland reach the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992. The two-time All-Star also played for San Antonio, Washington, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Clippers.

TRACK & FIELD

Federal prosecutors briefly moved disgraced sprinter Marion Jones from a Texas prison to the San Francisco Bay Area three months ago in case they needed her to testify against her former track coach on trial for lying to investigators, according to a published report.

The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, reported that prosecutors would have called Jones to the witness stand if track coach Trevor Graham had testified in his own defense.

A jury convicted Graham of lying to a federal investigator in the government's probe of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative about phone calls he made to a confessed steroid dealer.

Jones is scheduled to be released from prison after serving most of a six-month sentence after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators about her performance-enhancing drug use.

BOXING

A longtime manager of boxer Muhammad Ali and son of the late Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad has died following heart surgery in Chicago. Jabir Herbert Muhammad was 79. He managed Ali's boxing career from 1966 until 1981 and his post-fighting career for another 10 years.

MOTOR SPORTS

Reed Sorenson isn't waiting for Chip Ganassi Racing to figure out the Car of Tomorrow. Sorenson, 22, signed a multiyear contract to join Gillett Evernham Motorsports next season, where he'll join Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler. Sorenson made a splash in the Nationwide Series, finishing fourth in 2005. He moved full-time to the Sprint Cup the next season, but has never finished better than 22nd in the season points race and enters this weekend's stop in Fontana 31st in the standings.

GOLF

Camilo Villegas won a chipoff Tuesday against Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink and Notah Begay III to walk away with top money — $220,000 — at the inaugural Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Turning Stone Resort's Atunyote Golf Club in Verona, N.Y. The event, a collaboration between the Oneida Indian Nation of New York and San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians of California, is an effort to aide Native American youth and their communities.

HORSE RACING

Eight Belles was buried at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. A wooden box containing the filly's remains was buried at the Kentucky Derby Museum during a quiet ceremony Monday. Eight Belles was the only filly to run in the 134th Kentucky Derby in May, finishing second to Big Brown. She was euthanized on the track after breaking two ankles.