Nike Deal for Serena Williams?

Serena Williams is close to signing an endorsement contract with Nike, two tennis sources told Associated Press on Monday, a deal that could be the richest for a female athlete in history.

The multiyear agreement would include royalties and performance bonuses for winning Grand Slam tournaments or reaching No. 1 in the rankings, one source said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

Those clauses could make the contract worth more than the deal with Reebok that Williams’ older sister, Venus, signed in December 2000 after winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. The contract was worth up to $40 million over five years.

Serena Williams, 21, has won five of the last seven Grand Slam tournaments, beating her sister in the final each time.

She held the No. 1 ranking for a year until being sidelined because of left knee surgery Aug. 1. Williams pulled out of every tournament the rest of the year and finished 2003 at No. 3.

She expects to return by the Australian Open in January.

Her contract with Puma expired early this year.

ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported that Williams and Nike agreed to a five-year deal plus a three-year extension that could be worth as much as $55 million.

SportsBusiness Journal reported it is a lifetime deal for $60 million.

“We have no deal with Serena at this time,� Nike spokesman Dave Mingey said.

Miscellany

Suggesting racism may be behind Kobe Bryant’s prosecution on a sexual assault charge, defense attorneys asked a Colorado judge Monday to help them find out whether sheriff’s deputies and prosecution employees ordered T-shirts depicting the Laker star being hanged.

Officials with the Eagle County sheriff’s office have said a company called hangmantees.com gave the office two black T-shirts with a Bryant theme on Oct. 9, the first day of Bryant’s preliminary hearing.

As a precaution, American track and field athletes at the Athens Olympics might be discouraged from wearing red, white and blue or anything with “USA� on it when they are not competing, men’s Coach George Williams said.

A USA Track & Field spokeswoman said “off-track uniform issues are governed by the U.S. Olympic Committee.�

A USOC spokesman did not return a call seeking comment.

Mickey Mantle’s 1957 American League most-valuable-player award sold for $275,000 in a New York auction of 300 items belonging to the family of the late New York Yankee slugger.

Mantle’s 1962 AL MVP award sold for $250,000 and his 1956 Silver Bat batting title award brought in $270,000.