Florida Sentinel Bulletin

CHARLOTTE, NC — Michael Jordan endorsed Derrick Rose as the NBA’s best player after seeing the new Bulls star shred MJ’s Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.

“He’s the MVP for the season,” said Jordan, a five-time MVP. “He deserves it. He’s playing that well. And if he doesn’t get it, you’ll see how I felt a lot of years.”

While appreciative, Rose said there’s a lot of work to be done.

“I wish, man,” said Rose, who had 20 points and six assists. “It’s a great that he said that. It’s an honor. We’re just trying to keep winning. The award will come if we keep winning. We’re trying to play hard and play together. We just have to keep playing aggressive, and play with an edge.”

The serial rapist who was convicted of raping a woman in Center City while her boyfriend was bound and gagged, was sentenced to 84 to 230 years in prison Thursday.

Former university basketball player Domenique Wilson, 25, of Philadelphia was convicted of raping a 25-year-old woman.

Wilson was also convicted of attacking a group of University of Pennsylvania students and raping one of them.

Wilson’s sentence will be served consecutively with a prior sentence in Clinton County of 70 to 196 years in prison. In that case, the West Philly High School basketball star and former Lock Haven University basketball player was accused of raping two Lock Haven University students in their apartment in February 2009.

Altogether Wilson has been sentenced to serve 154 to 426 years in prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Wilson was declared a violent sexual predator in court.

As confusing as this may sound, Lebron James and Michael Jordan are being sued by Lebron Jordan.

CEO of shoe company Lebron Jordan Inc., Aaron Fraser insists that “Lebron” and “Jordan” happen to be the names of his godsons and he has a right to the moniker that is amidst legal controversy.

When backlash and cease-and-desist letters came at the upstart company, it seemed highly likely that they would fold quietly.

Instead, LJI is suing the Miami Heat star and arguably the greatest basketball player ever for $150 million each citing that the two icons have damaged his brand.

Reps for Nike and Live Nation threatened to sue the shoe company and LJI believes that the negative publicity has injured their business deals. The company Lebron Jordan is financed by revenue from Fraser’s Gotham Dating Partners Inc. and has suffered a loss of customers since the issues with their name arose.

The lawsuit claims that Lebron Jordan Inc. has every right to the name since it has not been trademarked.

MIAMI — When the Miami Heat ended practice Sunday, Dwyane Wade went home to his sons.

That will be a regular event going forward.

Ending a long and often-vengeful fight, a Chicago court has awarded Wade sole “care, custody and control” of his two sons. The boys arrived in Miami on Friday, shortly after the ruling was filed, and Wade said that “a huge weight is off my back.”

“My life changed in a huge way,” Wade said. “Mentally, I’ve been preparing for it for over a year now. To me, it’s bigger than that. For me, it shows a lot of people that you need to fight to be in your kids’ lives sometimes. You fight until you can’t fight any more. That’s all I was trying to be, a father in his kids’ lives.”

AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn coach Gene Chizik has dismissed four players from the national champions after they were arrested on robbery and other charges early Friday morning.

Auburn police said (l-r) Shaun Kitchens, Antonio Goodwin, Dakota Mosley, and Mike McNeil were each charged with five counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of third-degree theft of property.

Police said in a statement that three black males entered a residence with five occupants at 12:25 a.m. Friday and one was armed with a handgun. Mosley is white.

Police said there were no injuries reported. The four were in a vehicle stopped by police based on a description given by the victims, and officers recovered a pistol and property reported stolen from the residence.

Two teams that appear very interested in Cam Newton are the Bills and Vikings. Bills general manager Buddy Nix and coach Chan Gailey both are southerners who love players from the SEC. And Gailey, who made his NFL name by turning Kordell Stewart into a star, surely could figure out how to use Newton.

As for the Vikings, they found Newton charismatic in their talks with him at the combine.

ORLANDO — Police in Orlando want to talk to New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather about a shooting that injured two men outside a bar near his hometown, authorities said Thursday.

The 27-year-old player was at the shooting in the early morning hours of Feb. 28 in Apopka, Fla., Orange County Sheriff’s department spokesman Capt. Angelo.

Nieves said at a news conference.

Nieves said 24-year-old Quentin Taylor and 23-year-old Nico Stanley were both injured. Taylor was shot in the face and Stanley was grazed by a bullet.

The spokesman said there was some sort of altercation before the shooting and that an attorney who says he re-presents Meriweather would like to set up an interview. So far it hasn’t been scheduled.

Sunday Tiger Woods fired a final-round 6-under-par 66 on Sunday to jump up the leaderboard in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral. Beginning the last round tied for 30th, he climbed to a tie for 10th with a 72-hole score of 8-under 280. The 66 was Woods’ lowest PGA Tour score since a final-round 63 in the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2009. It was also tied for Woods’ lowest round of the year with a second-round 66 at the Omega Dubai Desert Challenge in February.

“I hit a lot of good shots out there today,” Woods said of his seven-birdie, one-bogey performance. “When I did miss it, I knew exactly what the fix was and was able to rectify it.”

After struggling on the grainy greens the first two rounds, Woods switched from his trusty Scotty Cameron putter to a Nike Method mallet putter Saturday and Sunday. It made for a quick improvement, as he used 28 putts Saturday and only 25 on Sunday.

“I’m peaking at the right time,” laughed Woods.

In his hotel room the morning after, Muhammad Ali nursed a swollen jaw as the room service waiter arrived with breakfast and good wishes for the man he called champ.

“I’m not the champ,” Ali corrected him. “Joe Frazier is the champ.”

Indeed he was, and if anyone needed a reminder the morning papers provided it with a picture as shocking to Ali’s adoring fans as his defeat the night before. There was Ali glassy-eyed and struggling to get up from the canvas in the 15th round as Frazier walked to a neutral corner more certain than ever of victory.

It was 40 years ago Tuesday that Ali and Frazier met at Madison Square Garden in a fight so big it was simply referred to as The Fight. It was Frazier’s heavyweight title that was on the line, but a lot of boxing fans still considered Ali the champion because he was stripped of the title and sent into boxing exile for refusing to be drafted.

Frazier was undefeated and in his prime, a relentless aggressor with a vicious left hook. Ali, in just his third fight since the 3-1/2-year layoff, was a polarizing figure who was hated by some just as much as he was loved by others.

They would go on to meet two more times, including the memorable Thrilla in Manilla. But nothing could match the stakes that March night at the Garden, where Frank Sinatra shot pictures at ringside, celebrities jockeyed for prime seats, and almost as many men as women wore full-length fur coats.