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Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 30, 2001
Pros cited in probe of nude club
ATLANTA -- Patrick Ewing and Dennis Rodman are among prominent athletes subpoenaed to testify about sexual favors allegedly given to sports stars at a nude dance club involved in a federal racketeering case, according to published reports.
Falcons running back Jamal Anderson, former Atlanta Hawk Dikembe Mutombo and Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos also have been called to testify by prosecutors investigating the Gold Club, CNN/Sports Illustrated reported.
Davis' agent, Neil Schwartz, confirmed that his client had been subpoenaed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.
The other athletes or their representatives could not be reached to comment, the newspaper said.
Gold Club owner Steve Kaplan is charged with 16 others in an alleged racketeering conspiracy including prostitution, money laundering, loan sharking and ties to organized crime.
Kaplan's attorney, Steve Sadow, has acknowledged that professional athletes were entertained free of charge at the club. Kaplan has denied claims of federal prosecutors, however, that he arranged for Gold Club dancers to have sex with celebrities to raise the club's profile and lure more customers.
The case, presided over by U.S. District Judge Willis Hunt, is scheduled for trial next month.
HORNETS: Derrick Coleman, out since Feb. 16 with a strained left calf, had a full practice Thursday but there was no word when he might come off the injured list.
MAVERICKS: Government officials in China signed a transfer agreement allowing 7-foot-1 center Wang Zhizhi to play for Dallas, which would make him the first Asian player in the NBA, Mavericks spokeswoman Sarah Melton announced. Wang, 23, is scheduled to fly from Beijing to Dallas today, Melton said. The Bayi Rockets, Wang's army-run team, refused to release its star player when the Mavericks selected him in the 1999 NBA draft.
NETS: Guard Stephon Marbury had surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his left pinkie. Dr. Charles Melone Jr., a New York City hand specialist, said the finger will be immobilized for six weeks. The team also signed guard Eddie Gill to a 10-day contract to replace the injured Kenyon Martin.