MEN'S BASKETBALL

Day-to-day status for injured James

LAS VEGAS -- Nursing a mild right ankle sprain, U.S. forward LeBron James shot baskets on the sidelines but was held out of a scrimmage yesterday.

"He's responding very well to treatment," team spokesman Craig Miller said during the closed training session at Valley High School, where the Americans are preparing for the Beijing Olympics. "We're saying he's day to day."

James injured his ankle when he landed on Kevin Durant's foot during a Tuesday scrimmage between Team USA and a select squad of young NBA players.

Wade said playing in pain is nothing new for himself or his teammates. "I don't think for a lot of players," he said after practice. "Look at Kobe over there, he's got two bags of ice and his feet in an ice bucket. Everybody's used to bumps and bruises. That's our game. You only get to play it for 15, 16 years if you're lucky, so you can suck it up."

James likely will miss tomorrow's exhibition against Canada.

"If the gold medal game was tomorrow, he'd play," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "But we're not playing the gold medal game, or a medal round game right now. So we would rather be cautious right now."

SWIMMING

Cancer not spreading; Shanteau is cleared

Eric Shanteau, who decided to put off surgery for testicular cancer until after the Olympics, has been cleared to head to Beijing with the U.S. swimming team.

The national men's coach, Eddie Reese, said Shanteau just got the results of his final blood tests at the team's training camp in Palo Alto, Calif. They showed no spread of the cancer, which was discovered last month before the Olympic trials.

"The bloodwork says he is ready to go straight through Beijing," Reese said.

"It's just a big weight off my shoulders, more than anything else," Shanteau said. "I'm walking a little lighter right now, which is great."

Shanteau will compete in the 200-meter breaststroke.

BASEBALL

Colorado's Nix added to U.S. team

DURHAM, N.C. -- Colorado second baseman Jayson Nix was picked to round out the U.S. baseball team headed to the Beijing Olympics.

USA Baseball also announced three minor leaguers to replace players who initially were picked for the team. Pitchers Jeremy Cummings of Tampa Bay and Brian Duensing of Minnesota will join San Francisco outfielder Nate Schierholtz.

They're replacing pitchers Clayton Richard of the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco's Geno Espineli, who were called up by their big league clubs, and injured St. Louis outfielder Colby Rasmus, who has suffered a sprained left knee. -- The Associated Press