Team sources have informed the Washington Times that Antawn Jamison will be sidelined two to eight weeks with a sprained left knee.

"We have dug down, and we are playing with big confidence right now," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan told the paper. "But you always feel like you're playing on the edge of disaster. We know how precious and fragile it can be. Things like [Jamison's injury] happen in this league."

Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison sprained his left knee in the first quarter of Tuesday night's game against the Detroit Pistons.

Jamison appeared to hurt his knee when he collided with teammate DeShawn Stevenson under the basket at the end of a Wizards fast break. The Wizards announced Jamison would not return to the game.

The February 22nd trade deadline is fast approaching and there are a host of teams that will be making trades but it appears unlikely that the Wizards will be one of them.

"Our chemistry is great and we're winning games," Caron Butler said. "Pretty soon we'll be getting Darius back and he's going to help us down the stretch."

Gilbert Arenas would like to go back to school and teach Coach K a lesson.

The Wizards' All-Star figures he could score "84 or 85" points if he got a chance to play Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, who cut Arenas from the U.S. national team last summer.

Arenas has promised this season to take out his frustrations about the national team on Krzyzewski's Team USA assistants, Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland coach Nate McMillan.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James led all players in votes received in the NBA All-Star Balloting program presented by T-Mobile that determines starters for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. James, who earned Most Valuable Player honors in last year?s midseason classic in Houston, received 2,516,049 votes, the second-highest total in history behind Yao Ming?s 2005 total of 2,558,278. This year, Yao finished second receiving 2,451,718 votes, the fourth-highest total ever.

The closest voting race in this year?s balloting was among Eastern Conference guards. Miami?s Dwyane Wade secured one starting spot with 2,029,591 votes and Washington?s Gilbert Arenas (1,454,166) edged New Jersey?s Vince Carter (1,451,156) by 3,010 votes in the closest race in 17 years since A.C. Green/Karl Malone (1,226 votes) and John Stockton/Derek Harper (2,562 votes), both in 1990.

Miami center Shaquille O?Neal (1,622,446) was selected to his 14th straight All-Star team, tying Lakers legend Jerry West (14; 1961-1974) and Utah great Karl Malone (14; 1988-2002) for the most consecutive selections. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for most All-Star Game selections with 19.

Joining Yao as part of the Western Conference starting lineup is his Rockets? teammate Tracy McGrady (1,942,796), who will be appearing in his seventh All-Star Game. San Antonio?s Tim Duncan (1,436,584), who has been selected to every All-Star team since he entered the league in 1997, and Minnesota?s Kevin Garnett (1,616,575), who captured All-Star MVP honors in 2003, will be the starting forwards. L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (2,138,777), who was the youngest All-Star in NBA history in 1998, makes his ninth All-Star trip.

The NBA announced today that Wizards Forward Caron Butler was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, January 15 through Sunday, January 21, 2007.  

?This means a great deal to me because it?s my first player of the week honor,? said Butler.  ?We had a great week and we won four tough games against quality opponents.?  

In a 4-0 week for the Washington Wizards, Butler and the Wizards surged to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.  Washington is now 24-16 on the season, tied with Cleveland for the best record in the Eastern Conference, while Butler stands as the only player in the Eastern Conference currently averaging at least 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game.

?We are very happy for Caron,? said Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld.  ?He has been an unbelievably consistent player for us all year and this past week capped off an outstanding first half of the season for him.?

Darius Songaila, according to a source with the Wizards, could be cleared to practice within the next two weeks.

Songaila has been out since undergoing lower back surgery on Nov. 2.

Basketball Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes may soon be patrolling Texas streets.

The former Houston Rockets and Washington Bullets star known as "The Big E" has begun a nine-month course to earn his Texas peace officer's license. If he passes, the 60-year-old plans to become a sheriff's deputy in Liberty County, northeast of Houston.

Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin was hospitalized last week after breaking his pelvis in a fall while exercising.

The 83-year-old Pollin is expected to return to his office in three to four weeks. The team said he did not have surgery.

Isiah Thomas last night briefly exchanged words with a fan who became abusive to the Knicks' head coach as Thomas was walking toward the court to begin the second half.

Thomas quickly called arena security and pointed toward the unidentified male who was seated along the tunnel that leads to the visiting locker room. The fan was not ejected from the game.

After last night's 99-98 loss to the Wizards, Thomas was the first Knicks coach or player to leave the locker room. With his head down, Thomas walked slowly toward the team bus. He did not comment on the incident.