Washington Wizards

David Cope, who as vice president of sales and marketing for the Ravens helped negotiate the team's blockbuster sponsorship with PSINet, is moving to the Washington Redskins.Cope, 35, a resident of Bethesda, will become an executive vice president in charge of marketing, public relations and stadium operation, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.He will likely spearhead the Redskins' effort to find a sponsor for the stadium, named after former owner Jack Kent Cooke.

WASHINGTON -- Two minutes into last night's game, a sparse crowd booed the Washington Wizards and cheered the 76ers. This, mind you, was about 230 miles away from Philadelphia. And over the course of the next 46 minutes, the venom grew.It occurred because the Sixers were unaware that they had a night off until the Wizards gave it to them. The Wizards served as mere spectators, while Allen Iverson poured in a game high of 39 points and Billy Owens added 18 to lift the Sixers to a 95-73 drubbing of the surprisingly woeful Wizards in front of 14,524.

WASHINGTON -- The contract talks at times demonstrated a bitterness between the Washington Wizards and Rod Strickland. But just two days before the start of the regular season, the Wizards were finally able to put together their dream backcourt.Strickland, a point guard whose 10.5 assists a game last season led the NBA, signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Wizards last night and will play alongside Mitch Richmond in tomorrow night's season opener at Indiana. The Wizards will have a $5 million buyout option in the fourth year of the contract.

WASHINGTON -- With the official start of business yesterday, NBA teams began their mad scramble in preparation for the coming season. Yet the Washington Wizards and free-agent point guard Rod Strickland were still miles apart when the team's camp opened last night.The Wizards opened camp with 17 players, but their pursuit of Strickland is still stalled. Washington is offering Strickland a three-year contract in the range of $30 million, but agent David Falk is seeking a deal in the five-year, $65 million range for his client.

WASHINGTON -- With many of the starters injured or unavailable during the preseason, the reserves of the Washington Wizards got plenty of playing time in the team's five exhibition games. It resulted in a boost of confidence in themselves, as well as from first-year coach Gar Heard.That experience from the past month came in handy in last night's season opener against the Atlanta Hawks at the MCI Center. With shooting guard Mitch Richmond in foul trouble and center Isaac Austin still out of sync, the reserves helped lift the Wizards to a 94-87 victory before an announced crowd of 16,038.

WASHINGTON -- Juwan Howard would have preferred to forget the 49 points that Antoine Walker dropped in during a Boston Celtics loss to the Washington Wizards at the MCI Center a year ago. And maybe Howard might have forgotten, had he and Walker not shared the same hometown of Chicago."

ONE THING the National Basketball Association did not need was further evidence that its players had come to define the "me, me, me" generation of professional athletes.It already had one star player best known for choking his coach. It has another who, in a Nike TV commercial, rejected any notion that he should be a role model. It had a Sports Illustrated cover story detailing the escapades of NBA stars who fathered children out of wedlock and then ignored them. It had any number of players acting foolish on the court (chest thumping and glaring)

A spokesman for the Washington Wizards yesterday deferred questions to the league office about Baltimore's quest to rejoin the NBA."We haven't had a team move in some time in this league," said spokesman Matt Williams.As for having a competitor up Interstate 95 from the Wizards, Williams said, "We would decline to comment."League spokeswoman Teri Washington said simply that a relocation would need approval by three-quarters of franchise owners.City officials have hired a consultant and contacted teams to see if one would be willing to move to a new arena in the city, if one is built.

WASHINGTON -- It was the arena that Gheorghe Muresan longed to play in. But when the moment finally came last night, it was in a uniform that he never quite envisioned wearing.When Muresan suited up for his first game at the MCI Center it was against his former teammates, the Washington Wizards. That's because earlier yesterday the New Jersey Nets signed the free-agent center to a contract for the remaining two games of the season."I'm with a team and I'm glad to be back," said Muresan, who, because of injuries, had not suited up for a game since helping the then Washington Bullets to the playoffs two years ago. "It gives me more confidence for the future."

WASHINGTON -- Under normal circumstances it appeared to be a tough matchup, going against a Cleveland Cavaliers team that ranked second in the NBA in scoring defense. The difficulty for the Washington Wizards was compounded by the absence of Chris Webber, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, who missed last night's game with a strained right shoulder.So what did the short-handed Wizards do? They became the first team in nearly a month to score more than 100 points against the Cavaliers and cruised to a 104-88 win before 19,451 at MCI Center.

WASHINGTON - -Antawn Jamison's much anticipated return was put on hold, with an illness keeping him home sick while the Washington Wizards hosted the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. But the Wizards were able to welcome new arrival Earl Boykins and welcome back Mike Miller after he missed the past three games with a sprained left shoulder. But no matter what the Wizards added, they were unable to be reunited with a victory, as they lost their sixth consecutive game, 106-103, before the second sellout crowd of the season at Verizon Center.

Baseball Two autograph sessions with ex-Orioles next week Four players from the Orioles' 1989 "Why Not?" team - catcher Mickey Tettleton, outfielder Mike Devereaux and pitchers Dave Schmidt and Dave Johnson - will sign autographs next Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the MASN booth near Gate A on Eutaw Street at Camden Yards. Tettleton and Devereaux will throw out ceremonial first pitches. Former infielder-outfielder Dick Williams, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 2008, will be among the signers at the Orioles Alumni Autograph Series before the game against the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez worked out with his third NBA team, the Washington Wizards, on Thursday and said his decision whether to remain in the NBA draft - or return to school - might not be made until just before the June 15 deadline. The 6-foot-6 junior, who was Maryland's leading scorer and rebounder last season, donned black shorts and a black Wizards practice jersey during a workout at Verizon Center with three other prospects. Flip Saunders, Washington's new coach, led the workout, and team president Ernie Grunfeld watched from a balcony above the practice court.

Roger Mason had 25 points and five assists against his old team as the San Antonio Spurs concluded their 19-day road trip with a 98-67 win over the Washington Wizards (13-43) at Verizon Center last night. Mason returned to his hometown and went 9-for-15 from the field, including 5-for-9 from three-point range, and had 10 points and two steals in a 19-4 run that capped the third quarter and gave the Spurs (37-17) a 78-57 lead. He was done for the night after that, as San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich rested his starters.

Andrea Bargnani offered a simple secret for his success against the Washington Wizards, an explanation that applied to his Toronto teammates, too. "I never shot with a defender on me," Bargnani said. Down to nine players, the Raptors still easily beat worst-in-the-East Washington, 99-93, last night by making 54 percent of their field-goal attempts. Bargnani had 25 points on 8-for-9 shooting. The crowd was sparse and the atmosphere dull at Verizon Center in Washington for a game between two losing teams that fired their head coaches this season and are missing a half-dozen starters combined.

Was it a walk? LeBron James wants the NBA to take a closer look at what he calls his "crab dribble." The move, James insists, does not constitute traveling. A referee disagreed yesterday. James was whistled for taking an extra step while driving for a potential tying layup with 2.3 seconds left, and his visiting Cleveland Cavaliers (27-6) lost, 80-77, to the Eastern Conference-worst Washington Wizards (7-25) despite wiping out a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter. "Bad call," said James, who had 30 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

Arenas: If Wizards finish last, that's not so bad nba Gilbert Arenas is already thinking about the possibility of a last-place finish for his Washington Wizards - and finding the silver lining. With Arenas still working his way back from a third knee operation in 1 1/2 years, the Wizards are off to a 1-8 start heading into their game tonight against the Houston Rockets. "I don't want to see them struggle," Arenas said yesterday at Madame Tussauds, where his wax figure was unveiled, "but if this is one of those years where we don't make the playoffs or we finish in last place ... that's what happened to San Antonio and that's how they got Tim Duncan and look at them now ... and that's for the better."

Seeing the Williams sisters in the Wimbledon final on Fourth of July weekend - that's as good a tradition as grilling hot dogs and watching fireworks. On the other hand, there was the annual nationally televised competition to see who can cram the most dogs into his mouth without throwing up. As usual, don't expect this to score big ratings in Darfur. From the Brett Favre-Roger Clemens School of Public Manipulation: If you want to get away with being a selfish, two-faced, ego-crazed team-wrecker, the simple, down-home, aw-shucks, ah-jes-wanna-win country-boy persona works best.

D.J. Strawberry came close to being the NBA's answer to the NFL's "Mr. Irrelevant," the last player selected in the draft, and actually was on the fringe of not being chosen at all last night. However, just after midnight, Strawberry, Maryland's leading scorer last season, was picked as the next-to-last selection in the second round of the NBA draft, the 59th choice overall. Strawberry, a 6-foot-5 guard from Corona, Calif., was taken by the Phoenix Suns, who won the Pacific Division this past season but were knocked out in the Western Conference semifinals by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in six games.

WASHINGTON -- Lonny Baxter had planned to be in Italy right now, working out with his new pro basketball team in preparation for the European season. Instead, the former University of Maryland center will be spending two months in a District of Columbia jail. In a plea agreement yesterday in D.C. Superior Court, Baxter was sentenced to 60 days on gun-related charges. Baxter pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a weapon without a license and misdemeanor charges of possession of an unregistered firearm and ammunition.