YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski cited sources as saying that free agent Fs J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler are "still pursuing ways to get out of their Chinese Basketball Association contracts but have yet to find a prompt avenue back to the NBA." Sources said that their teams "could be willing to agree to steep buyouts to let the players return to the NBA." Smith and Chandler would "have to return all the salary they've made, plus agent fees and an additional $1 million to satisfy owners -- but that still won't assure them they could play in the NBA." As a member of FIBA, the government-run Chinese Basketball Association would "still control the players' letters of clearance, and sources in China insist the league has no interest in allowing the NBA players to leave before season’s end in March" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 12/5).
COURT DATE: In N.Y., Ken Belson reports former NFL players "have accused the league and its teams of repeatedly administering the painkiller Toradol before and during games, worsening high-risk injuries like concussions." The dozen retired players, "including Joe Horn, Matt Joyce and Jerome Pathon, played in the late 1990s and early 2000s." They are "seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages, and the reimbursement of their legal costs." The NFL "disputed the suit's claims." The suit was filed in U.S. District Court of New Jersey (N.Y. TIMES, 12/6).
WELCOME BACK: In L.A., Jill Painter wrote golf fans were "in need of" Tiger Woods' win Sunday at the Chevron World Challenge. Painter: "Not that Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, long-hitting Gary Woodland and Phil Mickelson and Co. haven't picked up the slack during Woods' winless streak. It's just that nobody sells like Woods" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 12/5).
