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Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 21, 2001
Magic refuses to pay $15,000 fine
ORLANDO -- The Magic is defying the NBA and refusing to pay a $15,000 fine for giving money to Grant Hill's favorite charity.
The Magic gave $50,000 to Seniors First in Orlando this spring after Hill was named winner of the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award, given annually to a Magic player recognized for outstanding community involvement.
The Magic was notified June 4 that the donation was viewed as circumvention of the league's salary-cap rules. The fine, payment of which was due Friday, has gone unpaid at the insistence of team president Bob Vander Weide.
This is the sixth consecutive year the team has presented the award and $50,000 donation, but it's the first time it was made aware of any problem.
"From a league that encourages us to run good community programs, this came from out of the blue. It was a real slap in the face," Vander Weide said.
On another front, if the Magic can clear enough salary-cap space by next month, it won't have any trouble convincing Antonio Davis to fill it.
Davis, 32, one of the NBA's top free agents, made it clear again Tuesday he wants to play for Orlando. "I can't hide the fact that I love it here," he said.
Davis made a surprise appearance at the Doc Rivers Celebrity Golf Classic at the Golden Bear Club at Keene's Pointe. Although he didn't play, he rode around in a golf cart, chatting with Magic players and celebrities.
Davis, his wife and three children live in a home on a front-nine fairway.
Davis is at the top of the Magic's free-agent wish list, but his price tag could complicate matters. He opted out of the final two seasons on his Raptors contract, which would have paid $7-million annually. The Magic is able to offer only a $4.5-million exception as a first-year salary.
ROOKIE SURRENDERS: Jazz rookie guard DeShawn Stevenson admitted to having sex with a 14-year-old girl in a telephone conversation with her mother, according to court records in Fresno, Calif.
Stevenson, 20, surrendered to police Tuesday night and was charged with statutory rape. He was released on $5,000 bail. Former high school teammate DeShawn Anderson, 19, also was charged. A hearing is scheduled for July 6.
According to the report, the 14-year-old and a 15-year-old friend said they were taken to a motel and got drunk on alcohol served by Stevenson. The 14-year-old said she had consensual sex with Stevenson and later passed out, and the 15-year-old said she had consensual sex with Anderson. Everyone left the motel together, and the girls were dropped off at the 15-year-old's house, the report said. The 14-year-old's mother later confronted Stevenson in a telephone call that was recorded. The 14-year-old and her family have known Stevenson and Anderson for four years.
Stevenson faces up to three years in prison if convicted. He could not be reached for comment.
At a news conference Wednesday, Jazz officials said they didn't know enough about the case to take action and had not spoken with Stevenson.