NBA

LeBron James has extended an olive branch to his Ohio hometown in the form of a full-page newspaper ad, days before making his first public appearance in Akron since leaving for the Miami Heat. "Akron is my home, and the central focus of my life," James wrote in Tuesday's Akron Beacon Journal. "It's where I started, and it's where I will always come back to." Conspicuously absent from the ad is any mention of Cleveland, home of the Cavaliers, the team that James famously dumped in a much-maligned ESPN television special last month. The ad features photographs of James at his annual charity bike-a-thon, where he hands out hundreds of bicycles and joins a mile-long ride through downtown Akron. Despite speculation that James might skip the event, he has said he plans to show up on Saturday. The traditional eight-mile trek that follows the ride has been canceled this year.

The NBA will open its season with a battle of Big Threes, then offer up the new-look Miami Heat against Kobe Bryant and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day. The Heat will debut their All-Star trio of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh at Boston on Oct. 26 against the defending Eastern Conference champion Celtics, who are led by their veteran group of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The Lakers will host Houston in the other opening-night game on TNT, the NBA announced Tuesday. The Rockets hope to have Yao Ming back in the lineup after he missed last season with a foot injury. The Christmas schedule will again feature five games, highlighted by the return of the Heat-Lakers matchup that was regularly played Dec. 25 after Los Angeles traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami in 2004. Boston will visit Orlando on Christmas for a rematch of the East finals. The remainder of that day's schedule includes Chicago at New York, Denver at Oklahoma City, and Portland at Golden State.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have waived guard Delonte West. West was acquired from Cleveland with Sebastian Telfair on July 26 in a trade that sent point guard Ramon Sessions and center Ryan Hollins to the Cavaliers. But West's $4.6 million contract was guaranteed for only $500,000 if he was waived by today. West pleaded guilty last month to weapons charges. He was sentenced to eight months of home detention, two years of unsupervised probation, 40 hours of community service and psychological counseling. Prosecutors said that the sentence would allow West to attend practices and travel to NBA games as his team's schedule requires, but NBA officials are reviewing the case for possible further discipline.

WNBA

Scholanda Robinson scored 12 of her 21 points in the third quarter to lead the Tulsa Shock to a surprising 84-75 victory over the Seattle Storm. The league-worst Shock (5-22) snapped a seven-game losing streak and a nine-game skid at home, while the Storm (22-4), with the WNBA's best record, dropped their second straight. Ivory Latta added 15 points and Tiffany Jackson had 11 for the Shock, whose last win in their own arena came two months ago against Minnesota. Sue Bird scored 19 points for Seattle. Lauren Jackson had 18, Tanisha Wright 15 and Swin Cash added 13.

Nicole Powell scored a season-high 20 points and the New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 82-72 for their fourth straight win. Powell went 6-for-7 from 3-point range, including 4-for-5 in the second half. Cappie Pondexter scored 19 points and Janel McCarville had 11 points and 10 rebounds for New York. Tamika Catchings scored 19 points and Briann January added 10 for the Fever, who have lost three straight. The Liberty outrebounded the Fever 38-28. New York, the most efficient 3-point shooting team in the league, made 12-of-18 from long range against the top defensive team in the league. New York won for the first time in three meetings with the Fever this season. Indiana shot just 39 percent and never led.

Football

Quarterback Josh McCown, a veteran of eight NFL seasons, has joined the United Football League's Hartford Colonials. McCown has played with the Arizona Cardinals (2002-05), Detroit Lions (2006), Oakland Raiders (2007) and Carolina Panthers (2008-09). He also was in training camp with the Miami Dolphins, who traded him to Carolina on Aug. 29, 2008. The 31-year-old McCown saw little action the last two years with the Panthers.

NHL

The Boston Bruins have signed forward Tyler Seguin, the second player taken in this year's NHL draft. Financial terms of the three-year, entry-level announced deal were not released, but it was reportedly in the neighborhood of contract No. 1 overall draft pick Taylor Hall signed with the Edmonton Oilers that will bring him $900,000 a year with bonuses that could bring it to a total of $3.75 million. Seguin, 18, and Hall tied for the Ontario Hockey League scoring title with 106 points. Seguin was honored as the outstanding player in the OHL last season after scoring 48 goals with 58 assists in 63 games. In two seasons with the Plymouth Whalers, he had 69 goals and 104 assists in 124 regular-season games and 10 goals and 16 assists in 20 postseason games.

Mike Modano is joining the Detroit Red Wings. Modano confirmed his decision in a text message to The Associated Press. It initially was reported by ScoreBoard Monthly. He told the Dallas sports magazine he wasn't ready to quit playing so he agreed to a one-year deal with the team he watched growing up in Michigan.