Allen Iverson, LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire of the U.S. Olympic team were suspended from Saturday's exhibition game against Puerto Rico this afternoon for missing an 11 o'clock team meeting.

Larry Brown made the decision on the suspensions and the decision was announced to the crowd in Jacksonville before the game to a rain of boos.

Steve Nash says he signed a free-agent contract with the Phoenix Suns because they wanted him more than Dallas.

?For the whole time I just thought I was coming back to Dallas,? said Nash.

?To come back and within 24 hours to be going to Phoenix was a bit of a shock. It was bittersweet.?

?I thought they'd come a lot closer than they did?

?To me it was like they never really had any aspirations of keeping me.?

New Orleans Hornets free agent forward Robert Traylor has been negotiating with representatives from the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers, agent Andre Colona told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The Cavaliers are coached by former Hornets head coach Paul Silas, a onetime NBA big man who has tutored Traylor with his game in the past.

Kerry Kittles is in and Quentin Richardson is out at shooting guard for the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Clippers acquired Kerry Kittles from the Nets On Thursday for a future second-round pick.

?We are very pleased to announce the addition of Kerry Kittles, who is a talented player with a great work ethic,? said Clippers Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor. ?Kerry plays hard on both ends of the floor and has a great feel for the game. He is also a veteran player who brings a tremendous amount of playoff experience to our roster.?

Kittles averaged 13.1 points and 4.0 rebounds while playing in all 82 games for the Nets last season.

The trade will give the Nets a Traded Player Exception worth a little over $9.2 million.

In other news, ESPNEWS is reporting that the Clippers will not match the Phoenix Suns' six-year $42.6 million offer sheet for Richardson.

Restricted free agent swingman Quentin Richardson and the Phoenix Suns have waited 14 days for the Los Angeles Clippers to decide whether or not to match their six-year, $42.6-million offer sheet.

Today, they will finally get an answer as the Clippers must decide today where Quentin Richardson will play next season.

The Suns and Richardson don't appear to have an idea as to what the Clippers will decide.

"At this point, we have no idea what the Clippers' ultimate decision will be," Bryan Colangelo, the Suns' general manager, said near the end of business Wednesday, later adding that he didn't suspect he'd know before today.

Asked Wednesday evening whether he had any idea where he might end up, Richardson said, "To be honest with you, I have no clue."

He has played in for the Dallas and Utah summer-league team?s, made an appearance at the Denver training camp (almost making the Nugget?s roster), and recently, Yuta Tabuse has received an invite to attend the Suns training camp at Northern Arizona University.

"It's going to be crazy if I make the team," said Tabuse, who speaks English fluently. "It will be like Hideo Nomo making the major leagues.

Tabuse is a major celebrity in Japan, and is considered their best basketball player.  In Japan, Tabuse is similar to a rock star. In NBA-oriented publications there, cover photos of such players as Allen Iverson are edited out and replaced with those of Tabuse.

Tabuse is a past first point guard, and while he may make some fantastic assists, he also makes some fantastic turnovers.  Add to that he is listed at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds.

Will he make the league?  Millions of ?television watching? Japanese fans are waiting patiently.  Tabuse in the league could give the NBA a big overseas boost.  One only has to look at what Ichiro and Nomo did for the MLB.

With his options limited, Erick Dampier has another potenital suitor in the Phoenix Suns, especially if the L.A. Clippers match the contract offered to Richardson.  With many eyebrow raising contracts being signed this offseason, Dampier was expecting to find a very lucrative one, but thus far he has suffered a few missteps.

Also in an interesting scenario of deja vu, there has been talk that the sign and trade deal involving Dampier being shipped to Memphis is being discussed.

Lowell "Cotton" Fitzsimmons, who won 832 games in 21 seasons as an NBA coach, died Saturday due to complications from lung cancer. He was 72.

Fitzsimmons was executive vice president of the Phoenix Suns, a team he coached on three occasions.

A malignant tumor was found on Fitzsimmons' lung, near his heart, in April and he had been in a Phoenix-area care center since suffering a stroke earlier this month.

The colorful coach, born in Hannibal, Mo., was a television and radio commentator for Suns games in recent years.

"Cotton Fitzsimmons embodied all things that are great about life and the game of basketball," said Suns chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo. "His energy, passion and upbeat approach to everything impacted those that he touched in a positive and meaningful way. The Suns, the city of Phoenix and the entire NBA family will miss the game's ultimate coach, teacher and communicator."

Colangelo jokingly said that Fitzsimmons was the only man he'd given a lifetime contract, and both said they'd never had any agreement beyond a handshake in Fitzsimmons' years with the franchise.

Fan of the WNBA or not, you've got to admit one point: It's hard to imagine female pro basketball players becoming so full of themselves that they thumb their noses at the notion of playing in the Olympics.

?There are people in the women's game who would die to go to the Olympics,? said the Mercury's Diana Taurasi, who will be part of the women's team representing the United States in Athens. Actually, the local pro scene will be thoroughly represented in basketball competition in Athens, as two Suns players are part of the men's team.

Yes, Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion take the pre-historic view ? at least among NBA players ? that representing the United States is worth the sacrifice.
Heck, it might even be fun. That's a point the two players make enthusiastically.

Stoudemire, who has never visited Europe, said, ?It gives you a chance to see the world.. . . It's going to be a great experience for me.?

Said Marion, ?It's a chance to play on a great stage.

?I worked hard for it.. . . I think I earned it.?

Marion and Stoudemire were added this past spring, a time when men's players were departing and joining the team at such a frenzied pace that any plans to print men's basketball programs would have been postponed. When Stoudemire was being considered for a spot early this year, he all but called reluctant players a bunch of fat-heads.

?You'd have to be a weirdo to turn that down,? he said at the time.

Today, he's moderating his statements.

?I don't think they're necessarily idiots,? he said. ?I think they just don't want to take the chance of going over there and having terror attack.?

And yet, ?It's a once-in-a-lifetime deal, the way I look at it. It's too hard for me to turn it down.?

Even so, everyone is aware of security issues.

Marion admitted that the situation is ?scary, a little bit.. . . The world is a little crazy. But we should be fine.?

Taurasi has been involved with USA Basketball and its travels since she was a freshman in high school, ?And I've never had a problem. I don't think this should be any different.

?Day-do-day dangers are everywhere. It's not going to be any different at the Olympics.?

The day after Shaquille O'Neal left for sunny Florida via trade, Kobe Bryant came true on his past comments of being a "Laker for life" ... for now.

Bryant has informed the Lakers that he will be signing a contract with the team, staying with the team which he helped win three championships rather than join the cross town Clippers, a team which appears to have been in rebuilding mode for an eternity.

"Kobe has informed us he's going to stay with the Lakers and sign a new contract," Lakers spokesman John Black said Thursday afternoon. Bryant planned to speak at a news conference at 9 p.m. ET.

The Clippers earlier this week traded Melvin Ely and Eddie House to the Charlotte Bobcats to create additional space to accomodate the salary a player like Bryant commands.  Now left dry the team may now match the offer sheet that Quentin Richardson has signed with the Phoenix Suns, something that Richardson is hoping they do not do.

Bryant will be the key figure in a vastly different Laker team that lost to the Pistons in five games last season, joining newcomers Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler as well as a new coach in Rudy Tomjanovich.

"With Kobe, we're one of the premier teams," Lakers owner Jerry Buss said earlier this week.

This may be true, but will they ever be as strong as they were with Shaq by his side?