The Charlotte Bobcats finally have a simple Web address.
For its first three years, the team used the domain name http://www.bobcatsbasketball.com because the rights to http://www.bobcats.com belonged to a bobcat breeder in Montana.
Barbara Roe owns Bitterroot Bobcat and Lynx in Stevensville, Mont., and had the rights to the Web site name for 10 years. She says team officials began asking her in 2004 about buying the rights, but the early offer of a couple thousand dollars wasn't enough. Roe says the team earlier this year met her price of about $50,000.
"It's called business," Roe said. "It's what you do. If you have a business somebody wants, you capitalize on it."
The newly named Web site and an upcoming redesign are part of a marketing campaign that will feature star forward Gerald Wallace and newly acquired Jason Richardson.
Bobcats president Fred Whitfield would not say how much is being spent on the campaign, which also includes the slogan "Elevate," new uniforms and a new secondary logo.
Whitfield said the team has sold all but three of Bobcats Arena's 60 luxury suites and that floor seating at $1,000 a game is sold out.
KNICKS: Months after berating her in an expletive-filled tirade, New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas moved from cursing to courting a fellow executive now suing the basketball Hall of Famer for sexual harassment, a former team employee testified.
Jeffrey Nix, a 15-year employee of the team, took the stand in U.S. District Court in New York to recount a series of conversations he had with his friend and co-worker, plaintiff Anucha Browne Sanders, throughout 2004.
Sanders, in tones of disgust, detailed how Thomas initially treated her with contempt shortly after his December 2003 arrival in New York, Nix testified.
By the end of 2004, Nix testified he saw Thomas embracing Browne Sanders in Madison Square Garden after a Knicks' victory, and watched as his friend pushed the coach away.
Browne Sanders is suing Thomas and Madison Square Garden for $10 million in a sexual harassment suit.
CLIPPERS: Clippers forward Elton Brand had the cast removed from his left leg and was fitted for a removable walking boot, six weeks after he had surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles' tendon. While no timetable has been set for his return to the court, he is expected to miss at least the first several months of the season.
BUCKS: Guard Royal Ivey signed a one-year contract with the Bucks, a day after Milwaukee backup point guard Charlie Bell signed an offer sheet with the Miami Heat.
The Bucks have a week to match Bell's five-year, $18.5 million offer and have not ruled out re-signing Bell, even though he said Monday he did not want to return to Milwaukee.
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