Anthony won't appeal suspension

Carmelo Anthony won't appeal his 15-game suspension for his role in the Nuggets-Knicks brawl Saturday in New York, according to USA Today and ESPN.com reports. "It is Melo's desire to focus on the issue at hand, not be a distraction to his team, and focus on coming back as the best teammate he can be," Bill Duffy, CEO of BDA Sports, the agency that represents Anthony, told USA Today in yesterday's editions. "He's accepting full responsibility. That's a mature response." . . . SuperSonics forward Rashard Lewis had an MRI on his right hand after he injured a tendon against Dallas Wednesday night trying to block Erick Dampier's shot from behind, but his hand got caught in the net. Results will be known today . . . Allen Iverson is having one last fight with the 76ers. Now that Iverson is going to Denver, the former MVP is saying he never wanted to leave Philadelphia -- not exactly. Iverson denied Wednesday night that he asked the 76ers for a trade, although team president Billy King and chairman Ed Snider both repeatedly said the request was made.

NL championship series MVP Jeff Suppan has been offered a four-year contract by the Milwaukee Brewers. Suppan was brilliant in helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets before the team defeated Detroit in the World Series. Suppan, a 31-year-old righthander, was 12-7 with a 4.12 ERA for St. Louis last season . . . Andy Pettitte formally rejoined the Yankees, finalizing a $16 million, one-year deal after three seasons with the Astros . . . Rod Barajas finalized a $2.5 million, one-year contract with the Phillies after backing out of a deal with Toronto. Philadelphia traded Jeff Conine to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league infielder Brad Key and outfielder Javon Moran. Conine, 40, played outfield and first base with Baltimore and Philadelphia last season, hitting .268 with 10 homers and 66 RBIs . . . Sammy Sosa began training in the Dominican Republic in hopes of returning to the major leagues. Sosa, 38, has not played since 2005 with the Orioles . . . The Orioles are thinking about moving their spring training operations into the historic Dodgertown facility, Mayor Tom White of Vero Beach, Fla., said, though the team denied any upcoming move . . . The Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America awarded ESPN reporter and former Globe sportswriter Peter Gammons the 2007 Judge Emil Fuchs Memorial award for long and meritorious service to baseball . . . Cecil Travis, a sweet-swinging infielder with the Senators in the 1930s and '40s, died Dec. 16 of congestive heart failure in Riverdale, Ga. He was 93.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off the market, and owner Mario Lemieux says the team will look at relocating while it attempts to reach a deal for a new arena to replace 45-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest home rink in the NHL. The Penguins are free to move when the 2006-07 season ends. Among the cities known to be interested in the Penguins are Kansas City, Houston, Portland, Ore., and Winnipeg.

California basketball center DeVon Hardin will miss 8-12 weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot, for which he will have surgery today. Hardin was averaging 10.7 points and 8.4 rebounds and leads the Golden Bears with 21 blocked shots . . . Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who pinched a nerve in his neck Nov. 24, was cleared to play in the Alamo Bowl Dec. 30 . . . The Eastern Massachusetts chapter of the National Football Foundation voted at the annual directors' meeting to rename the chapter in honor of longtime executive director and Northeastern associate athletic director Jack Grinold.

A day after losing his World Cup standings lead to Bode Miller, 23-year-old Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal recovered it by winning the giant slalom in Hinterstoder, Austria, despite poor visibility and snow. Svindal raced the Wertung course in a combined time of 2 minutes 25.63 seconds. Miller, third after the opening leg, lost time the entire way down and dropped to fourth in 2:26.16 . . . Austrian Marlies Schild won her third straight slalom in Val D'Isere, France, in 1:46.15 to take over the lead in the overall World Cup standings.

A lawyer who worked for BALCO founder Victor Conte is being investigated by the FBI as the source of leaked federal grand jury testimony in the steroids case in San Francisco, according to a Yahoo.com report. Private investigator Larry McCormack, who worked for Conte in the early stages of the BALCO case, told the FBI that defense lawyer Troy Ellerman gave the confidential information to a San Francisco Chronicle reporter in 2004, Yahoo.com reported. . . . German pharmaceutical company Jenapharm agreed to pay 184 athletes from the former East Germany compensation of $11,200 apiece for health problems caused by the state's doping program . . . The New England Revolution's Taylor Twellman turned down an invitation to the US team's January camp because he is still rehabilitating a groin injury, allowing striker Eddie Johnson to step in . . . Peter Nowak resigned as DC United coach to become an assistant coach with the US national team. United named Tom Soehn, Nowak's assistant for three years, its new coach . . . Robert Yates is bringing Ricky Rudd out of retirement to drive the full Nextel Cup schedule in 2007 . . . Venus Williams and the German team pulled out of The Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia, which begins Dec. 30. Williams and German Nicolas Kiefer both have wrist injuries. France will replace the Germans.