Stars Move to Decertify NBA Players’ Union

As negotiations between NBA owners and the players’ union continued Wednesday, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and 15 other players filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to block an agreement.

Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer who filed the petition on behalf of the players, and agent Marc Fleisher are seeking to have the union decertified as the players’ bargaining body. They must have support of 98 of the 324 members by Friday for the NLRB to hold a hearing.

Votes on the new collective bargaining agreement by owners and player representatives were set for Friday, but agents claim the deal would be disastrous for players because it contains a rookie salary cap and imposes a luxury tax that would inhibit the earning potential of the league’s stars.

They also say the union has withheld information on the negotiations from the players, a claim hotly disputed by Simon Gourdine, the union’s executive director, and Portland’s Buck Williams, the union president, who claim the agents have a “hidden agenda.”

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Bobby Cremins of Georgia Tech, Clem Haskins of Minnesota and Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz have been named as assistants to Coach Lenny Wilkens for the 1996 U.S. men’s Olympic team.

Utah center Ben Melmeth will miss the first three basketball games next season because of an NCAA academic violation.

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Yugoslavia, returning to international competition after a 2 1/2-year absence because of U.N. sanctions, got 22 points from Dejan Bodiroga and 18 points and 16 rebounds from Laker center Vlade Divac in beating Greece, 84-80, in overtime at the European Basketball Championship in Athens.

Jurisprudence

Mike Tyson has settled the civil suit filed against him by Desiree Washington, the beauty contestant he was convicted of raping four years ago.

Tyson’s attorney, Nathan Dershowitz, would not say how much money--if any--the settlement involves.

Tennis

French Open winner Thomas Muster beat Alex Lopez-Moron of Spain, 6-2, 6-2, at St. Poelten, Austria, for his 37th victory in a row on clay.

Chanda Rubin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne championships in England by beating Gigi Fernandez, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Fourth-seeded Helena Sukova was upset by 10th-seeded Lori McNeil, 7-5, 6-3, and No. 6 Lisa Raymond was beaten, 6-3, 6-4, by No. 11 Nathalie Tauziat. In another upset, unseeded Christina Singer ousted No. 3 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Top-seeded Thomas Enqvist squandered three match points before losing to unseeded Byron Black, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) in the second round of the Nottingham Open in England.

Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov and defending champion Michael Stich won second-round matches to advance to the quarterfinals in Halle, Germany.

Football

Benedict College of Columbia, S.C., reviving its program this fall and so far without players, uniforms or a practice schedule, has named former NFL wide receiver Harold Jackson as its coach and defensive lineman Julius Adams as its defensive coordinator. The two were teammates with the New England Patriots from 1978-81 and face the prospect of putting together a team to play its first game against North Greenville College on Sept. 23.

Former Seattle Seahawk defensive lineman Mike Frier, paralyzed in an automobile accident in December, was released from the University of Washington Hospital after nearly six months of intensive physical therapy.

Miscellany

Former New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle remains listed in stable condition in a Dallas hospital as he continues his recovery from June 8 liver transplant surgery.

Medalist Mark Johnson of Helendale, Calif., and defending champion Steve Woods of Pomona were among first-round winners in the match-play portion of the 84th annual California Golf Assn. Amateur Tournament at Pebble Beach.

Though the International Automobile Federation said that safety-inspired changes on some of the corners at Monza must be made before the Formula One Italian Grand Prix is approved to be run on Sept. 10, a group of environmentalists is protesting cutting down about 150 trees to make the changes.