Bryant will play on U.S. teams

PHOENIX - Kobe Bryant plans to play for the U.S. team at this year's world basketball championships and the 2008 Olympics.

Bryant gave an emphatic nod to joining the U.S. team in a meeting Friday with the head of USA Basketball, Jerry Colangelo.

"I had a previous conversation with him and we said we would meet again when he came to Phoenix," Colangelo said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He's really excited about it. He's really kind of juiced about representing the United States. He had some great things to say about the opportunity."

Bryant was in town for the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

Bryant joins LeBron James as the two players who have been publicly named to the 20-man U.S. roster that will report to a training camp in Las Vegas this summer, then travel to a series of exhibition games in China and South Korea before taking part in the world championships in Japan.

There will be a training camp again next year, followed by another round of training and exhibition games in 2008 leading up to the Beijing Olympics.

FAN ASKS FOR APOLOGY: The fan accused of harassing the wife of New York Knicks forward Antonio Davis will drop threats of a lawsuit if the couple says it's sorry, the man's attorney said.

No way, Davis said.

"I'm not apologizing to anybody for anything," Davis said in a conference call.

Davis was suspended five games by the NBA on Thursday, a day after he went into the stands during a game at the United Center in Chicago to confront 22-year-old Michael Axelrod.

Attorney Jay Paul Deratany planned to send a letter to the couple on Friday, also asking Davis to make a donation to a charity that tries to prevent violence against women and children. Deratany e-mailed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press.

"Why would I donate some money in his behalf?" said Davis, already active with various community charities.

Davis' statement after the game said the man he thought was threatening his wife, Kendra, was drunk. Axelrod said all he had was a glass of wine at dinner, and that he did nothing wrong.