NEW YORK - Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Clippers and Isaiah Rider of the Los Angeles Lakers were suspended for five games each by the NBA on Wednesday for violating the league's anti-drug program.
No further details were given. The NBA is not allowed to disclose information about the testing or treatment of any player in the program.
Odom, a 6-foot-10 forward, is averaging a team-high 17.1 points and 7.7 rebounds a game in his second season with the Clippers. He finished third in Rookie of the Year balloting last season.
For Rider, it is the latest trouble in a turbulent career. He has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and suspensions during his eight-year career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks and Lakers.
Rider was suspended for a total of 12 games during his three years in Portland, including three by the NBA in 1997 for spitting at a fan in Detroit.
In May 1997, he was convicted of marijuana possession and later pleaded no contest to possessing unregistered cellular phones.
Lakers spokesman John Black , citing the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, refused to comment on Rider's latest suspension.
A talented scorer, Rider has averaged a little more than 18 points a game during his career. But he is getting just 8.1 points in 18.7 minutes this season with Los Angeles.
BASEBALL
Commissioner Bud Selig ruled the six-player trade that sent pitcher David Wells to the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Mike Sirotka will stand. Sirotka, 29, had passed one Toronto physical, but a second test showed a possible torn labrum. Dr. James Andrews said Sirotka has a partial tear of the rotator cuff and a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
BOXING
Ukranian heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko , set to defend his WBO crown in less than three weeks against American Derrick Jefferson , said he believes a fight against Lennox Lewis or Mike Tyson is possible by year's end.
FOOTBALL
The irregularities discovered in former Ohio State coach John Cooper 's expense reports were discovered during routine checks and were not an example of ''piling on,'' a university official said. A day or two after Cooper's Jan. 2 firing as Ohio State's head football coach, university officials discovered what were termed ''irregularities'' in expense reports the coach filed with the university.
GOLF
The TD Waterhouse Championship tournament on the Senior PGA Tour will remain in Kansas City, Mo., at least through 2002. Sponsors announced that the event will be played at the par-72 Tiffany Greens golf course in Kansas City through 2002. The tour event moved to Tiffany Springs in 1999. This year's event is May 14-20.
HORSE RACING
Jockey Filiberto Leon was slightly injured when his mount, Silver Issue , fell during the fourth race yesterday at Aqueduct. Leon was conscious when he was taken to North Shore Hospital, where he was treated and released. He complained of pain in his right shoulder and arm, and a had a cut on his nose, said track physician Charles Ulrich .
JURISPRUDENCE
Dallas Mavericks guard Juwan Howard has been sued by a woman who contends he knowingly infected her with genital herpes. Howard's lawyer, Frederick Sperling , said his client denies the charges and will ''vigorously defend this case.'' The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages.
SLEDDING
Linwood Fiedler breezed through mining-era ghost town Ophir, Alaska, yesterday after a swift run from Takotna in the Iditarod sled dog race. Defending champion Doug Swingley was not far behind, and gaining.
TENNIS
Tim Henman of England beat German Puentes 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
OFF THE FIELD
University of Illinois trustees expressed overwhelming support for keeping school mascot Chief Illiniwek but also promised to explore ways to compromise with critics who say the symbol is offensive to American Indians.
