New York Knicks center Randolph Morris pleaded guilty Friday to reckless driving and agreed to pay a fine.

Morris, who was scheduled to appear in Fayette District Court for a preliminary hearing, didn't attend. His attorney, Jim Lowry, entered the guilty plea on his behalf and said the $100 fine and court costs would be paid Friday.

The former University of Kentucky star was arrested Aug. 7 in Lexington after an officer spotted him driving 62 mph ? 17 mph over the speed limit ? and failing to use a turn signal as he sped down an exit ramp.

After being criticized for his remarks Monday for calling dogfighting a sport and comparing it to hunting, Stephon Marbury told the New York Post for Thursday's editions that he despises dogfighting and that Michael Vick "is 100 percent wrong."

"I don't like it at all," Marbury said of dogfighting. "I don't think [Vick's] right. But this dude is trying to ask for forgiveness. ... The way the way it's going about in the newspapers and TV, it's ridiculous."

Marbury also said he never called dogfighting a sport.

"I said, 'From what I hear, dogfighting was a sport.' They're editing me on TV," he said.

Allan Houston says he believed in his heart that his career wasn't over when he retired two years ago because of knee problems.

Now he says his heart and body are on the same page and the former New York Knicks captain is ready for a comeback.

"I'm going to give it a shot," said Houston, whose foundation on Sunday will sponsor a Father Knows Best Retreat, a faith-based event in Harlem designed to strengthen father-son and mentor-mentee relationships. "I'm working out every day. I just have to figure out where it's going to be. In my heart I always felt it wasn't over. As I started working out, I felt my body was catching up with my heart."

Houston said playing for the Knicks isn't out of the question and that two teams have contacted him. The 6-6 guard said that while several teams, including Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Miami are going to be good, going to a good team doesn't guarantee a title.

In the coming week or two, Demetris Nichols will sign a one-year deal with the Knicks at a very affordable second-round scale. He'll go into training camp to compete for a spot.

If he doesn't make the club because of the glut of players, Nichols could sign with Boston, according to Ken Berger of Newsday.

Eddy Curry reportedly has showed off a new dimension to his game: an outside jumper.

Nate Robinson told Ken Berger of Newsday that Curry was hitting the shot so comfortably within a scrimmage.

Rookie shooting guard Demetris Nichols refused the Knicks' request to play this season in Italy to solve their roster crunch - a denial that could shorten his Knicks career.

However, the Knicks will improve Nichols' chances of making the club by releasing point guard Dan Dickau in the next three weeks to reduce their roster to 16, according to sources.

"He's not going to go overseas," Nichols's agent, Bill Neff, told The Post. "He wants to play here right away."

The Post reported last month the Knicks were considering sending Nichols to Europe for a year. Neff claims Nichols' former agent, Bill Duffy, had a draft-night agreement with the Knicks that Nichols would play in Italy, prompting Isiah Thomas to trade for his rights.

Nichols fired Duffy last week. The Knicks will extend a tender offer to Nichols by Friday's deadline to retain his rights. Neff said Knicks VP Glen Grunwald told him Nichols may not make the team if he doesn't go to Europe.

Dickau's agent, Mark Bartlestein said, "We've talked, and Isiah is going to do the right thing and help him if it's not going to work out with the Knicks."

Stephon Marbury commented on the Michael Vick situation to a television station in Albany, New York.

?We don?t say anything about people shooting deers and shooting other animals," said Marbury.  "You know what I mean? From what I hear, dog-fighting is a sport. It?s just behind closed doors and I think it?s tough that we build Michael Vick up and then we break him down. I think he?s one of the superb athletes and he?s a good human being. I think he fell into a bad situation.?

Demetris Nichols hasn't played in his first NBA game yet, but he's already fired one agent and hired another.

Nichols, the 53rd player selected in June's NBA Draft, recently hired Bill Neff after ending his brief relationship with Bill Duffy of BDA Associates.

According to Neff, Nichols was unhappy with the New York Knicks' roster situation. The Knicks traded for the 6-foot-8 Nichols in a draft-night deal with Portland. However, the Knicks have 16 players with fully guaranteed contracts, putting them one over the NBA's roster limit before Nichols gets factored in.

Neff said Duffy had talked with the Knicks on a plan to send Nichols, who led Syracuse in scoring last year with 18.9 points per game, to Italy for a year - an arrangement that would allow the Knicks to retain his rights.

"There was an understanding with the previous agent and the Knicks that he would go overseas," Neff said.

"Unfortunately, I don't think Demetris was privy to that. He doesn't want to go overseas.

"He hopes to make the Knicks and I think he will," Neff said, "but if he doesn't, after his showing in Las Vegas, I think other teams will be interested in him. But the plan is for him to be a Knick."

Bond was set at $5 million each for two men accused of tying up and robbing New York Knicks forward Eddy Curry at his suburban Chicago mansion.

Demorris Hill, 25, and Antoine Larkins, 28, both of Chicago, are also charged in the armed robbery of Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker at the player's Chicago town house.

The men, each held Monday at the Cook County Jail, face five counts of armed robbery, six counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of home invasion in the July 28 robbery.

Curry, his wife and an employee were tied up with duct tape and robbed as multiple masked gunmen raided his home of money and jewelry, police said.

Hill and Larkins, along with Phillip Allison, 28, and Gregory Reedfields, 23, are also charged with home invasion, armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping in a similar robbery of Walker's home on July 9.

David Lee, who missed the final 23 games with a mysterious stress reaction in his right leg, said he's feeling sore, but his injury has healed.

"I have muscle soreness from both legs because I had so much time off, but the injury itself is feeling normally," he said. "I have a good bounce in my step."