Bill Russell doing OK after collapse.

• Position: Sports

BASKETBALL

Bill Russell doing OK after collapse

Boston Celtics officials say NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell is doing OK after collapsing during a speaking engagement near Lake Tahoe. Team spokesman Brian Olive says the 80-year-old Russell felt faint after the Thursday morning fall at the Hyatt Regency resort in Incline Village, Nevada, but was planning on returning home to Seattle this evening. Witness Michael Rooney tells The Associated Press that Russell was telling a story about Wilt Chamberlain to a roomful of Konica Minolta employees when he started to sway at the podium and then fell backward. Rooney says Russell seemed to be conscious as hotel personnel and first responders came to his aid. The meeting was cut short and attendees left. Russell, a five-time NBA MVP, is considered one of the best players in basketball history. He won 11 championships in 13 years as a center with the Celtics. As a player-coach for the last two, he was the first black head coach in a major U.S. pro sport. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010 and was honored last year with a statue outside Boston's City Hall.

The Washington Wizards have officially signed veteran forward Paul Pierce. Pierce, who turns 37 in October, spent 15 seasons with the Boston Celtics before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets last season. ''We are very happy to welcome Paul to our organization and add his championship experience and history of clutch play to our team,'' Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said in a statement. Pierce averaged a career-low 13.5 points last season in his first year with the Nets. But he is a 10-time All-Star who has gained a reputation as one of the best big-moment players in the league. Led by guards John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington reached the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season, their first postseason appearance since 2008. "He will be a good fit alongside our young, dynamic backcourt while his presence and leadership will make a difference for us both on and off the court,'' Grunfeld said of Pierce.

CYCLING

Armstrong met cycling doping panel

An attorney for Lance Armstrong says the banned-for-life cyclist met in May with the panel investigating cycling's doping past. Armstrong attorney Elliot Peters declined to reveal specifics of what was discussed in the seven-hour meeting on May 22 at a hotel outside Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., but says Armstrong set...