Lakers F RON ARTEST Thursday in L.A. County Superior Court filed paperwork to "legally change his name to Metta World Peace." An NBA official said that players "need to file papers with the league to change their jersey number, but no such action is necessary for name changes." It is "up to the Lakers, and Artest, to determine if his new name will appear on the back of his jersey" (L.A. TIMES, 6/24).
COURT REPORT: Former Univ. of Oklahoma QB JASON WHITE, part Owner of Oklahoma City's now-defunct indoor football team, on Wednesday "filed a breach-of-agreement lawsuit against the team's company, Bricktown Brawlers Inc." White alleges that he "was never paid any of the money owed to him under his ownership agreement with the now-defunct team." White contends that he had 10% ownership of the team, and that his agreement "gave him 10 percent of all gross revenues from advertising and sponsorships." He said that he also "was guaranteed 10 percent of the team's net profit." Team Founder DALE MORRIS declined comment (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 6/24).
NAMES: The Chiefs announced Thursday that they will sell specially designed hats and T-shirts to aid disaster relief efforts in Missouri and Kansas. All net proceeds will be donated to help victims of the tornados. In addition, Chiefs players, coaches and execs traveled to Joplin, Mo., Thursday to assist with the cleanup efforts (Chiefs)....Vikings RB ADRIAN PETERSON was not "at the camp that bears his name" this week in Norman, Okla. Camp operator ProCamps Worldwide "issued an apology to all the campers and offered full refunds to those" who no longer wanted to participate (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 6/23).
