Taj McWilliams-Franklin put in the work with the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks. She won't, however, reap any of the Hollywood benefits of playing alongside Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker.

McWilliams-Franklin, 37, a six-time All-Star, led the depleted Sparks in scoring and rebounding last season, averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. She was looking forward to playing with Leslie and Parker, who open the WNBA season today against the reigning champion Phoenix Mercury.

But the Sparks, picked by league general managers to capture the title this year after their league-worst 10 wins last season, traded McWilliams-Franklin to the Washington Mystics for DeLisha Milton-Jones and a 2009 first-round pick.

The 6-foot-2 McWilliams-Franklin was traded after the Sparks took Parker with the No. 1 overall pick, a selection they earned after defections and absences led to the worst record in the league. Chamique Holdsclaw quit after five games, point guard Tameka Johnson missed 23 games because of injuries and Leslie sat out the entire year after giving birth to her daughter.

North Carolina forward Alex Stepheson is transferring because he wants to be closer to his family in California. Stepheson said in a statement that his family is facing unspecified health concerns. Stepheson is a Los Angeles native who was the backup to Deon Thompson at power forward.

• Dennis Rodman was charged with domestic violence for allegedly hitting his girlfriend at a Los Angeles hotel last month. A city attorney spokesperson said Rodman was charged Wednesday with spousal battery, brandishing a deadly weapon, and one count of dissuading a witness. The charges were misdemeanors.

Penn State defensive tackle Chris Baker was sentenced to two years of probation in Bellefonte, Pa., after entering guilty pleas in two cases involving two separate fights. Baker pleaded guilty to simple assault and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, in connection with a fight at an off-campus apartment in April 2007 in which authorities said two people were hurt. Baker, 21, of Windsor, Conn., also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor simple assault for a fight at the campus student union last October.

Olympic gold medalist Tim Montgomery was sentenced to 46 months in prison for his part in a multimillion-dollar fake-check scheme. Montgomery pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy in a bank fraud and money laundering plot. Prosecutors said he had a hand in depositing bogus checks worth $1.7 million.

Serena Williams withdrew from her quarterfinal match at the Italian Open in Rome due to a back problem. Williams' back froze suddenly while she was warming up on a practice court for her match with French qualifier Alize Cornet. The tournament is an important clay-court tune-up for the French Open, which begins May 25.

Rick Nash scored the go-ahead goal to put Canada in the title game of the world hockey championships with a 5-4 win against Sweden in Quebec City. Canada will face Russia, which advanced with a 4-0 shutout of Finland, tomorrow. It's the first time the two hockey powers have met for the world title. Nash's goal broke a 3-3 tie in the second period. Sergei Fedorov scored the opening goal for Russia. Aleksey Morozov also had a goal against Finland.

Rankin's Monty Meza-Clay moved up one spot to the No. 1 challenger in the World Boxing Organization rankings, a position that sets up a potential challenge to current featherweight champion Steven Luevano of Los Angeles. For any such match to occur, though, Meza-Clay must first win his May 30 bout at the Pittsburgh ExpoMart against Omar Lizarraga on Spanish-language Univision and the Dish Network.