Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6 top overall pick by Houston in the 2002 draft and one of the pivotal figures in the globalization of the NBA, has decided to retire.

The 30-year-old center had his career derailed over the last two years due to an injury in his left foot and ankle. He missed the entire 2009-10 season recovering from surgery to repair a broken bone in the foot and played just five games last season after suffering a stress fracture in his ankle.

Over nearly a decade, Yao’s presence helped facilitate the NBA’s popularity in Asia. He was voted in as an All-Star starter eight times, largely due to an enormous Internet vote from China.

His 2007 matchup with countryman Yi Jianlian was broadcast over 19 networks and seen in more than 200 million homes in China.

Yao retires with career averages of 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Armen Gilliam, who was part of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels basketball team that made a run to the Final Four in 1987 and played for several NBA teams, has died. He was 47.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday that Gilliam died Tuesday night at the LA Fitness gym in Bridgeville while he was playing basketball.

The office said the cause of death has not yet been determined pending an autopsy which is likely to be completed later Wednesday.

After college, the Phoenix Suns drafted Gilliam as the No. 2 overall pick in the first round of the draft. Besides the Suns, Gilliam also played with the then-Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz. He retired in 2000.

Nicknamed ‘’The Hammer,’‘ Gilliam was the leading scorer on the 1987 UNLV team coached by Jerry Tarkanian.

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams mailed his then-girlfriend, former beauty pageant-winner Brooke Daniels, an engagement ring. Nice, kind of, but Daniels rejected the proposal—and, according to a lawsuit filed by Williams recently, kept the ring, worth around $76,000, along with a signed baseball for Daniels’ brother and $5,000 for school and dental bills.

Now, Williams is suing Daniels in order to get the ring back.

Williams said in a signed affidavit that, once his proposal was denied and he asked for the ring back, Daniels claimed she had lost it, prompting Williams to file a insurance claim. The subsequent insurance investigation found that the ring was in the possession of Daniels’ father, Michael Daniels.

The elder Daniels also said that he never claimed the ring to be lost, and that he will return it to avoid a lawsuit. “I want to wash my hands of it,” Michael Daniels said. “It’s just a hassle. I’ll take care of my daughter. I don’t need him.”

A temporary injunction hearing is scheduled for Friday in Odessa.

NEW YORK — Nike re-signed Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick to an endorsement deal Friday, nearly four years after dropping him amid his legal troubles.

Nike, which signed Vick as a rookie in 2001, terminated his contract in August 2007 after he filed a plea agreement admitting his involvement in a dogfighting ring.

Terms of the deal were not released.

Technically, Dwyane Wade can be counted among the millions of Floridians unemployed. With the NBA lock out in its first day, the Miami Heat superstar wasted little time getting his resume on the Internet in hopes of finding a gig to pass the time.

At 12:01 a.m., just as the lock out started, Wade began marketing himself to potential employers on Twitter. “Any1 hiring?” Wade tweeted. “I’m available for all bar and bat mitzvah and weddings..but my specialty is balloon animals.”

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Los Angeles Lakers guard Shannon Brown has opted out of his contract, becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Brown could still end up playing for the Lakers in the 2011-12 season.

He has averaged 7.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists since being acquired by the Lakers from Charlotte in February 2009. He was part of two NBA title teams with them.

Brown averaged a career-high 8.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists last season.

MIAMI — Miami Heat reserve guard Eddie House has decided to exercise the option clause in his contract, and he’ll be back with the team next season.
House’s decision was confirmed Thursday by the team. House, who could have become a free agent, is now under contract for $1.4 million for next year.

The 11-year pro played in 56 games for the Eastern Conference champions last season, averaged 6.5 points per game and made 68 3-pointers.

NEW YORK — NBA players are locked out, possibly jeopardizing next season.

Union chief Billy Hunter said on Thursday the owners locked out the players after failing to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

With this latest action, two of four major professional sports in the United States are locked out. The NFL locked out its players in March, and the two sides have been in discussions this week, trying to work toward a new deal.

Despite a three-hour meeting on Thursday, the NBA and its players could not close the enormous gap that remained in their positions. The CBA was due to expire at midnight.
All league business is officially on hold, starting with the free agency period that would have opened on Friday, and games eventually could be lost, too. The last lockout reduced the 1998-99 season to just a 50-game schedule, the only time the NBA missed games for a work stoppage.

The sides remained far apart on just about every major issue, from salaries to the salary cap, revenues to revenue sharing.

Players, who previously offered to reduce their salaries by $500 million over five years, considered the owners’ proposal for a “flex” cap, where each team would be targeted to spend $62 million, a hard cap. Although the league said total player compensation would never dip below $2 billion over the life of its proposed 10-year deal, that would amount to a pay cut for the players, who were paid more than $2.1 billion this season in salaries and benefits.

Owners also wanted a reduction in the players’ guarantee of 57 percent of basketball revenues.

A model and alleged prostitute has filed two police reports for harassment on former Duke University point guard and #1 NBA draft pick Kyrie Irving.

Miss Hawaii, real name Jessica Jackson, claims to have a video of the Duke superstar Kyrie Irving masturbating on Skype.

Earlier in March Miss Hawaii tweeted:
“i mean this is just the beginning too dude, i have video of him masturbating on camera i mean if you want to keep f&^%$n with me, let’s go number one draft pick masturbating on camera?? hmm no”

BBM and text message evidence uncovered by BlackSportsOnline show that Miss Hawaii submitted a police report on March 22nd. She threatened to report Irving to the police after she began receiving phone calls that she believed were from Irving’s friends and family.

BlackSportsOnline is also reporting that Miss Hawaii may actually be a prostitute and that she created a fake Twitter account, DukeLvr1989, to harass Irving and refer to his dead mother.

“Kyrie can go to the league and make millions thats so great for him … too bad it wont bring his mother back SHES DEAD DEAD DEAD DukeLvr1989.” Around that time, Kyrie Irving erased his twitter account.

Then DukeLvr1989 posted his cell phone number, followed by posting a picture of him shirtless. She then threatened to post sexual text message conversations she’d had with him as well as a picture of his private parts.