Wizards' Dixon to testify

Washington Wizards guard Juan Dixon will testify before Congress tomorrow, the only athlete slated to appear when two House committees hold separate hearings on steroid use and testing in major pro sports.

Dixon, NBA commissioner David Stern, players' union director Billy Hunter, and Houston Rockets trainer Keith Jones will be at the House Government Reform Committee's third hearing on steroids. The panel met with representatives of Major League Baseball in March and the NFL last month.

The House Commerce trade and consumer protection subcommittee is conducting its own steroids inquiry and will hold hearings today and tomorrow. Stern and fellow commissioners Bud Selig (MLB), Paul Tagliabue (NFL), and Don Garber (MLS) are among the witnesses scheduled to appear.

O'Neal to practice

Miami center Shaquille O'Neal, plagued for a month by a right thigh bruise that forced him to miss the final two games of the Heat's second-round sweep of Washington, plans to resume full-fledged practices today, but it's unknown whether he'll be ready for the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit or Indiana next week . . . O'Neal was voted Sporting News Player of the Year by league executives yesterday, outpolling MVP Steve Nash, 13-12. Phoenix Suns president Bryan Colangelo, who engineered the third-biggest turnaround in league history, was named executive of the year, while the Suns' Mike D'Antoni and Charlotte Bobcats forward Emeka Okafor were voted Coach and Rookie of the Year, respectively.