Sports briefs 4/29/05

Basketball

* Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers was a runaway winner of the NBA Most Improved Player award Thursday, easily topping Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and Detroit Pistons standout Tayshaun Prince despite playing on a losing team.

The 24-year-old Simmons averaged career highs of 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals and 37.3 minutes in 75 games, including 74 starts.

A year earlier, in his first season with the Clippers, he averaged 7.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 24.6 minutes in 56 games, including eight starts.

Football

* Jason White, who won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma but was snubbed in the NFL draft, was signed Thursday for a tryout at Kansas City's rookie camp.

White and a number of other rookie free agents will join the Chiefs draft class at Arrowhead Stadium this weekend.

Miscellaneous

* With just a couple weeks left in the legislative session, a bill to dedicate millions of dollars to professional sports facilities is on a rocky road.

The measure passed the Senate a few weeks ago but hasn't been debated by the House yet. House Budget Committee Chairman Brad Lager on Thursday sent the House's top official a letter, signed by 84 other representatives, opposing the bill.

It takes 82 votes to pass legislation in the House.

* Dennis Conner is all but finished with the America's Cup, unable to raise the staggering amount of cash needed to fund his own team and too old to steer someone else's boat. Conner, the man most identified with the sport, has said for more than a year that he likely would be priced out of the next America's Cup. Conner made it official on Thursday that he would not have a team in the cup for the first time in 30 years.