Lauren Jackson is close to signing a deal to play with the Canberra Capitals for the rest of the WNBL season.  Just last week, Capitals coach Carrie Graf and Jackson’s agent indicated that the WNBA star might stay in her native Australia if enough funds were raised by investors to pay her a salary of $220,000 AUD.

Until early November, Jackson had plans to spend the winter playing for Spartak Moscow under a lucrative contract. But when the club’s owner was assassinated on November 2, doubts about her return to Russia began to surface.  She went to Australia to recover from back injuries after the end of the WNBA season.

“She wants to be here—that’s her priority," said Graf Tuesday to ABC Sport. "She wants to stay home and wants to be in Canberra.”

“If we’ve got all the paperwork done tomorrow and can come up with the money, she’ll be a Canberra Capital.”

Graf is also the head coach the Australian national team, the Opals.

Jackson is still recovering from stress fractures in her lower back and will not play until after the weekend.

Her first stint with the Capitals lasted six years.  She joined the team in 1999  led them to four titles and earned MVP honors three times. Currently the team has a 6-4 record and is in fifth place.

Related:

• Will Lauren Jackson skip Russia and play for the Canberra Capitals?

Around the web:

• Jackson set to sign today (Canberra Times)
• Lauren back for $24,000 a game (Daily Telegraph)
• Jackson close to Capitals deal (ABC Sport)
• Canberra Capitals may move remaining home games if Lauren Jackson returns (Canberra Times)
• Will Lauren Jackson be Canberra’s highest paid athlete? (Basketball Australia)
• Lauren Jackson’s WNBL return imminent (ABC Sport)
• Lauren Jackson’s $666-a-minute deal (Canberra Times)
• Capital support could see Lauren Jackson back in Canberra (WNBL)
• Carrie Graf interview with ABC Grandstand Sport radio
• Carrie Graf interview with ABC Canberra
• Canberra Capitals

Shabtai Kalmanovitch, owner of the highly successful Spartak Moscow women’s basketball team, was shot and killed in Moscow according to reports coming out of Russia and Israel.

Kalmanovitch, known as a high-roller who spent tons on money on his basketball club, giving players high salaries and luxurious perks, was an Israeli immigrant from the former Soviet Union and a former KGB spy. He was caught and sentenced to seven years in prison. He only served five and relocatd to Sierra Leone, making a lucrative living in the diamonds trade according to the Associated Press.

Kalmanovitch was attacked by assailants armed with semi-automatic guns while driving in his Mercedes in the Russian capital according to the Interfax news agency. He was shot at least 20 times.

It is possible that his murder was connected to basketball reported Ynetnews.com. Anatoly Bagmet, the head of the Investigative Committee’s Moscow branch, told Russian news agency RIA:

“We are looking into different leads, among them the possibility that the murder was connected with Kalmanovich’s activities as the owner of the basketball team Spartak Moscow,”

The current Spartak squad includes several WNBA players: Janel McCarville (New York Liberty), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Aneta Jekabsone-Zogota, (Connecticut Sun) Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), Edwige Lawson-Wade (San Antonio Silver Stars) and Kelly Miller (Minnesota Lynx). Seattle Storm players Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are also on the squad but have not yet joined the team. The coach of Spartak is  Pokey Chatman, the former head coach of Louisiana State University.

Around the Web:

• Spartak Roster on Eurobasket.com
• Russian tycoon fatally shot in Moscow (Los Angeles Times)
• Moscow police investigates link between businessman’s murder and Spartak Moscow (ynetnews.com)
• Former KGB spy shot dead in Moscow (AP)
• Russian-Israeli businessman shot dead in Moscow (AFP)
• Russian who spied on Israel shot dead in Moscow (Haaretz)
• Radio Free Europe: Prominent Businessman Shot Dead In Moscow (Radio Free Europe) – warning: graphic photo

Russian tycoon fatally shot in Moscow

WNBA players with plans to play overseas this winter may face the unfortunate prospect of squads in economic turmoil. Women’s basketball team CSKA Moscow announced today that although it is premature to say the team will cease operations, they are currently seeking more sponsors and avenues of financing to keep the team afloat. WNBA players on CSKA Moscow include Janel McCarville, Becky Hammon, Edwige Lawson-Wade, Ann Wauters and Katie Douglas.

A rough translation of the team’s announcement:

JBK CSKA officially confirms that the club is in a difficult situation.

At this time the there are not enough sources of funding due to the global financial crisis, but it is premature to say that the team has ceased to exist. Management of the club is considering various options for partnership with the sole purpose of retaining control of  CSKA.

In 2008 Hammon (pictured right), who has a Russian passport, signed a three-year extension with CSKA. The deal would pay her $2 million over four years.

Other Russian teams including Dynamo, Khimki, Triumph Lyubertsy and CSK VVS have had financial troubles. Players felt the brunt when several teams delayed or did not pay salaries last season.

Last season’s CSKA squad:

Janel McCarville (New York Liberty)
Catherine Lisin – signed with Mizo (Hungary)
Olga Arteshina
Rebecca Hammon (San Antonio Silver Stars)
Edwige Lawson –Wade (San Antonio Silver Stars)
Alexander Gorbunov
Ilona Korstin – signed with Spartak
Ann Wauters (San Antonio Silver Stars) – signed with UMMC
Elena Danilochkina
Ludmila Sapov
Katie Douglas (Indiana Fever)
Anna Petrakova

Update: The team folded this morning. Russian players were informed of the decision during practice. “This was a big blow for us,” said Anna Petrakova to sports.ru. “The girls could not hold back her tears.”

France overcame a fourth-quarter run by basketball powerhouse Russia to win the European Women’s Basketball Championship, 57-53, in Riga, Latvia.

Center Sandrine Gruda had 12 points and seven rebounds for France. Emmeline Ndongue added 11 points.

French basketball legend Cathy Melain was scheduled to retire from competition this year, but put off leaving the game to compete in this year’s EuroBasket. She finished with two points and six rebounds.

France returned to the final in only their second appearance in the tournament since they won the gold medal in 2001 when they beat Russia, 73-68.

They qualified for the final after beating Belarus, 64-56, in Friday’s semifinals.

In the fourth quarter, Russia did not make it easy for France to maintain the lead they held for the previous three periods. France led at the half, 30-19.

In the fourth quarter, with less than two minutes to go, Russia came within four points but could not overcome the deficit.

Maria Stepanova led Russia with 13 points, six rebounds. Olga Arteshina had 12 points and Becky Hammon added nine.

Hammon, who was missing two games with her WNBA team, the San Antonio Silver Stars, to play for Russia, led all scorers in her squad’s semifinal match. She scored a game-high 28 points as they beat Spain, 77-61.

In the Bronze Medal Game, Belarus fell to Spain.

Anna Montañana led the Spaniards with 16 points and Amaya Valdemora had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Spain went into halftime leading, 36-20, but Belarus came back in the third quarter with a 9-0 run. Nataliya Trafimava cut Spain’s lead to five with a three-pointer at 3:45, but that was as close as Belarus could get.

“Both teams knew each other very well,” said Spanish coach Evaristo Pérez. “We knew after the first half that they would try to come back.”

Spain beat Belarus twice in EuroBasket 2007.

Fighting for a spot in the World Championship, Greece triumphed over Italy for fifth place. They battled back from an 11-point deficit for the win.

Pokey Chatman’s Slovakian team finished the tournament in eighth place with a 67-59 loss to Latvia.

EuroBasket is held bi-annually between European countries. It also includes Israel. It is a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Championship and the Olympics.