Rodman Suspended Again for One Game

Dennis Rodman, banished for 11 games less than a month ago, was suspended for the third time this season, a one-game ban for “deliberately striking” Milwaukee’s Joe Wolf in the groin.

It is Rodman’s fourth suspension--totaling 20 games--since joining the Chicago Bulls before last season. The NBA said Rodman will miss tonight’s home game against San Antonio and will be fined $7,500.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in Salt Lake City dismissed a $750,000 suit against Rodman, ruling that a pinch on the buttocks he allegedly gave an usher during a 1994 game against the Utah Jazz may have been insulting, but it wasn’t “outrageous” and did not constitute battery.

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Nike Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Champion Products Inc. in Portland, Ore., alleging Seattle SuperSonic guard Gary Payton violated his contract by endorsing the rival company’s athletic apparel. Nike is seeking more than $225,000 from Champion and Payton’s agent, Aaron Goodwin. The Beaverton athletic shoe and apparel company also is asking for a court order blocking Champion from airing two television ads featuring Payton. Payton is not named as a defendant.

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Roger Brown, who helped lead the Indiana Pacers to three American Basketball Association championships after being banned by the NBA for associating with a gambler, died of liver cancer in Indianapolis. He was 54. . . . The Charlotte Hornets say they will share more information with city officials, including profit-and-loss statements and cash-flow projections, but they again refused to open up their books entirely to the city in their bid for support to get a new arena. The Hornets want to build a $158.5 million arena. Under the current proposal, the team would pay $109 million of the arena’s cost, with the public picking up the rest.