Sports briefs 5/4/04

Basketball

Kevin Garnett got 120 of 123 first-place votes to beat two-time winner Tim Duncan for the honor Monday, three days after his Minnesota Timberwolves won a playoff series for the first time. Garnett has played at an MVP level for years, but this was a breakthrough season for the Wolves. They earned the top seeding in the Western Conference playoffs with a franchise-best 58-24 record, then ended a string of seven straight first-round exits from the postseason by beating the Denver Nuggets. Playing everywhere from center to point guard, the 7-footer averaged 24.2 points, a league-leading 13.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

The Charlotte Bobcats officially joined the NBA after majority owner Bob Johnson made the final payment on the team's $300 million expansion fee. The Bobcats become the league's 30th team and will begin play next season. Johnson, chief executive officer of Black Entertainment Television, was awarded the expansion franchise in January 2003. The Bobcats will select at least 14 players from the other 29 NBA teams in an expansion draft June 22.

Three high school players said they will enter the NBA draft, although none will hire an agent. J.R. Smith of St. Benedict's in Newark, N.J., Al Jefferson of Prentiss (Miss.) High School and Shaun Livingston of Peoria (Ill.) Central High School brought to five the number of high school players who have said they would apply for the June 24 draft. All three players had signed letters of intent: the 6-foot-6 Smith with North Carolina, the 6-9 Jefferson with Arkansas and the 6-6 Livingston with Duke. The players have until June 17 to remove their names from the draft. If they did not hire an agent, they will retain their NCAA eligibility.

Hockey

Brian Burke is out as president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Calgary Flames. Burke's contract expires June 30 - his 49th birthday - and the Canucks said Monday the deal will not be extended. The Canucks finished with a 43-24-20-5 record but were ousted in the first round of the playoffs.

-- From wire reports