Speedy Claxton

Today, Philadelphia fans will finally get an idea of what Craig "Speedy" Claxton has to offer the 76ers. The sturdy 5-foot-11 guard, the Sixers' first-round draft choice out of Hofstra in 2000, will lead the Sixers' team of rookies and free agents against the Baker League All-Stars at McGonigle Hall. Last summer when the game was played, Claxton was in street clothes with a pulled thigh muscle. And last October, of course, he suffered a serious knee injury during a preseason game against the Utah Jazz, and spent his entire rookie season on the sideline after surgery.

Senior Enong? Stovall, a 5-foot-10 forward on the Archbishop Carroll girls' basketball team, signed a letter of intent with the University of Virginia yesterday. By choosing Virginia, Stovall, who was named the Catholic South MVP, is following in familiar footsteps. Her older brother, Maurice, was recruited out of Carroll to play wideout for the Cavs' football team in 2002, before committing to play at Notre Dame, where he is currently a junior. Her father, also named Maurice, played football for Cheyney State.

The 76ers' entry in the Shaw Pro Summer League in Boston notched another victory yesterday, defeating the Atlanta Hawks in overtime, 96-89. Jumaine Jones hit a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Jones finished with 20 points and nine rebounds and had been 0 for 6 from beyond the arc before tying the game at 85. Raja Bell led the Sixers squad, which is made up of rookies, free agents and reserves, with 25 points, shooting 10 for 12 from the field.

The New Jersey Nets outscored the 76ers by 12 points in the fourth quarter last night as they posted a 93-89 victory in the Shaw's Pro Summer League in Boston. The loss dropped the 76ers to 3-3. New Jersey raised its record to 5-5. The 76ers, who led, 72-64, after three periods, were outscored, 29-17, in the fourth quarter. Jumaine Jones sparked the 76ers with a game-high 30 points. He connected on 12 of 20 attempts from the field. Jones also pulled down nine rebounds.

After being plagued by injuries throughout the season, the 76ers continue to have problems in the off-season. Today, reserve guard Speedy Claxton will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder to repair an injury suffered at the end of the regular season, the Sixers announced yesterday. Also, reserve Raja Bell sprained a ligament in his left thumb during a recent workout and will wear a cast for the next three weeks. During the regular season, the team had its key players together for only four games.

A lengthy examination and an MRI confirmed that rookie Speedy Claxton would miss the entire 2000-2001 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the 76ers announced yesterday. Team physician Jack McPhilemy had made the original diagnosis shortly after the point guard was hurt with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half of Sunday's preseason game against the Utah Jazz at the First Union Center. The injury was not a result of contact. It was described by both McPhilemy and Sixers coach Larry Brown as something that just happens in basketball.

The 76ers have an opening: a playoff roster opening. That's because, of the 12 men on their current roster, only 11 are eligible for the postseason. Pepe Sanchez, the rookie guard from Temple who was traded to Atlanta, waived by the Hawks and re-signed by the Sixers, returned too late to be eligible. Roshown McLeod, the young forward acquired from the Hawks, has been on the injured list since he arrived, struggling with a peroneal nerve injury in his left leg. Which begs a question: Would the Sixers consider placing rookie guard Speedy Claxton on the postseason roster?

The Golden State Warriors have agreed to a contract with point guard Speedy Claxton, a member of the San Antonio Spurs' championship team. Claxton's signing will be announced today, team spokesman Raymond Ridder said. Claxton will be asked to help replace Gilbert Arenas, who yesterday signed a 6-year, $65 million offer sheet with the Washington Wizards. Golden State had 15 days to match the Wizards' offer sheet - but because of salary-cap limitations, the Warriors couldn't offer more than about $6 million for next season to Arenas, the NBA's most improved player.

Speedy Claxton and former Temple star Mark Karcher, who were taken by the 76ers in last month's NBA draft, will make their first appearances as members of the team Friday. That's when 76ers young veterans and free agents, along with the duo, will begin two-a-day workouts at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in preparation for the Monday opening of the weeklong Shaw Summer League in Boston. Veterans who will participate are Nazr Mohammed, Antonio Lang, Kevin Ollie, Ira Bowman and Jumaine Jones.

He will not say for sure, but Eric Snow could return to the 76ers' lineup when they play at Atlanta on Tuesday night. And the Sixers need him, desperately. Last night against the Memphis Grizzlies, even before Speedy Claxton went down with a sprained ankle, they were without Allen Iverson (sprained left thumb), Derrick Coleman (injured left knee), and Aaron McKie (sore lower back), in addition to Snow, who is recovering from a broken left thumb. "We've got to go to church," Snow said of all the injuries.

According to Atlanta Hawks guard Speedy Claxton, Villanova coach Jay Wright is pretty much the same guy he was when he coached Claxton and Hofstra to the America East Conference Tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2000. With one notable exception. "Jay was always a sharp dresser," Claxton, the 76ers' first-round draft choice in 2000, said of Wright, who has the Wildcats back in the Final Four for the first time since the 1984-85 team won it all. "He dressed nice when he was at Hofstra.

Senior Enong? Stovall, a 5-foot-10 forward on the Archbishop Carroll girls' basketball team, signed a letter of intent with the University of Virginia yesterday. By choosing Virginia, Stovall, who was named the Catholic South MVP, is following in familiar footsteps. Her older brother, Maurice, was recruited out of Carroll to play wideout for the Cavs' football team in 2002, before committing to play at Notre Dame, where he is currently a junior. Her father, also named Maurice, played football for Cheyney State.

The Golden State Warriors have agreed to a contract with point guard Speedy Claxton, a member of the San Antonio Spurs' championship team. Claxton's signing will be announced today, team spokesman Raymond Ridder said. Claxton will be asked to help replace Gilbert Arenas, who yesterday signed a 6-year, $65 million offer sheet with the Washington Wizards. Golden State had 15 days to match the Wizards' offer sheet - but because of salary-cap limitations, the Warriors couldn't offer more than about $6 million for next season to Arenas, the NBA's most improved player.

Speedy Claxton still hasn't gotten over being traded to San Antonio, and it's been almost four months. When the San Antonio Spurs arrived at the Bryce Jordan Center yesterday morning for their walk-through, a smiling Claxton mingled with the departing 76ers players, who serenaded him with a round of "Speedo!" "I don't think I'm completely over it yet," said the former Sixers' backup point guard, who is nursing an ankle injury. "It'll probably stop when the season gets going on. " The preseason games began last night for both teams, with the Spurs taking on the Sixers.

The off-season moves continue. In a bid to become younger and more athletic, the 76ers yesterday traded Dikembe Mutombo to New Jersey for Keith Van Horn and Todd MacCulloch. In doing so, the Sixers gave up an aging center who helped guide them to the 2001 NBA Finals in exchange for two younger players who started for the 2002 Eastern Conference champs. Moving the 36-year-old Mutombo was just the latest in a series of off-season transactions the Sixers have made to shore up a team that went 43-39 (sixth in the East)

Just because the Philadelphia 76ers traded Speedy Claxton to San Antonio on Wednesday night doesn't mean that his little sister is going anywhere. Lisa Claxton, a rising sophomore point guard on the basketball team at Cardinal O'Hara, moved last year from her parents' home in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island to live with her older brother in Havertown, Delaware County. After the NBA draft - and a flurry of trades by the 76ers - there were questions about Lisa Claxton's future at O'Hara.

Coach Larry Brown and general manager Billy King said they wanted to add experience to the 76ers' bench. They did not want a project, and did not want to tie up too much money in a first-round draft choice. Time will tell whether they achieved their goal. In a bizarre night of many moves, the Sixers traded Speedy Claxton to San Antonio for two Spurs draft picks - 6-foot-7 guard/forward John Salmons of Plymouth Whitemarsh and Miami, and 6-9 forward Randy Holcomb of San Diego State - plus 14-year veteran forward Mark Bryant.

To hear him tell it, Aaron McKie had two options, and neither was good. He could rest his ailing right shoulder, then play next season, risking permanent damage and a premature end to his career. Or he could get cut. McKie chose to get cut. Yesterday, his right arm in a sling, McKie stopped by the 76ers' practice facility, where the team was holding workouts for four potential draftees. On Tuesday, McKie underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder to repair a torn muscle.

So much for Speedy Claxton's summer workouts. The 76ers backup guard is expected to miss four months after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder yesterday to repair a torn labrum suffered near the end of the regular season. "Everything went fine," team doctor Jack McPhilemy said after observing the 40-minute procedure, performed by surgeon Craig Morgan at Wilmington Hospital in Delaware. Claxton, 24, "is expected to be ready for the opening of training camp," McPhilemy said.

After being plagued by injuries throughout the season, the 76ers continue to have problems in the off-season. Today, reserve guard Speedy Claxton will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder to repair an injury suffered at the end of the regular season, the Sixers announced yesterday. Also, reserve Raja Bell sprained a ligament in his left thumb during a recent workout and will wear a cast for the next three weeks. During the regular season, the team had its key players together for only four games.