Zidek Signs With Czech Team

Czech center George Zidek, who played part of last season with the NBA's Seattle Supersonics, has signed a one-year contract with perennial Lithuanian powerhouse Zalgiris Kaunas.

The Czech news agency CTK reported the 213 cm (seven foot) Zidek entertained offers from clubs across Europe before deciding on Kaunas, who won the European Club Cup this year.

"George naturally wants to return to the NBA, but right now the situation there must solve itself," his manager Stanislav Krivacek told CTK.

NBA players and management are currently in a heated labor dispute.

Players were locked out July 1 when owners exercised an option to void the remaining three years of a six-year collective bargaining agreement after they claimed salaries climbed above 51.8 percent of basketball-related income.

Zidek helped anchor UCLA to the NCAA title before being picked by the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 1995 draft.

He will be joined at Kaunus by guard Tyus Edney, who played for the Boston Celtics last season, and Anthony Bowie, who saw action with the New York Knicks in 1997-'98.

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