MIAMI — Shaquille O’Neal is prepared for the Miami Heat to trade him, a confidant of the 14-time All-Star center told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

O’Neal’s associate, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal anything publicly, indicated a move could be imminent.

“Shaq thinks something will happen,” the source said.

The Miami Herald reported earlier Tuesday that the Heat are in “serious and ongoing” trade negotiations with the Phoenix Suns. A Heat spokesman said the team had no comment, and several Suns officials didn’t immediately return The AP’s phone calls.

The Herald report said the Suns would send Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks to Miami in exchange for O’Neal, who is averaging a career-low 14.2 points and has been sidelined for the past two weeks by a lingering hip injury.

Multiple media outlets reported late Tuesday night, citing unidentified sources, that O’Neal would be in Phoenix to undergo a physical today. The team pushed back its shootaround, originally scheduled for 9:45 a.m. MST to 4:45 p.m., shortly before the Suns play New Orleans. The Arizona Republic also reported a deal could be imminent and that O’Neal had contacted some Suns players Tuesday night.

When asked last week about another report that a Shaq trade was possible, Heat coach Pat Riley said, “Not true.”

It isn’t known if O’Neal — who has two full seasons remaining after this one on his $100 million, five-year contract — would welcome a trade.

The Heat have lost 19 of their last 20 games and have the NBA’s worst record at 9-37 — meaning the 2006 NBA champions are almost a lock to miss the postseason. Phoenix, meanwhile, entered Tuesday with a 11⁄2-game lead over New Orleans and Dallas in the race for the best record in the Western Conference.

O’Neal is going through a divorce and his scoring average is nearly 111⁄2 points below his 25.6 career mark. He suffered a bruised hip on Dec. 22 and has missed four of the past five weeks while trying to recover.

The team said he was undergoing another MRI exam on Tuesday, presumably to further determine the extent of the injury, and O’Neal didn’t speak before leaving Miami’s practice. The Heat play at Detroit on Wednesday.

Suns owner Robert Sarver said two weeks ago that none of the core players would be traded this season.

NFL

• Packers sign McCarthy through 2012 season

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers signed coach Mike McCarthy to a five-year contract that runs through the 2012 season.

McCarthy, who had a year left on his original three-year deal, reportedly agreed in principle last month to the new contract, which is worth about $4 million per season.

The 44-year-old McCarthy tied a Packers’ record with 13 regular-season victories on the way to an NFC North Division championship and bye in the first round of the playoffs despite having the NFL’s youngest team.

After beating Seattle in the NFC divisional playoff round, the Packers lost 23-20 in overtime in the NFC championship game to the eventual Super Bowl champs, the New York Giants.

“It’s only natural to say, ’My goodness, that should have been us,”’ McCarthy said. “They’re a perfect example of playing their best football when it counts.”

Both sides had hoped to get a contract done before the Super Bowl. Negotiations slowed because Thompson was on the road scouting, while McCarthy was preparing his team in the playoffs.

• Goodell could discuss spying with senator

WASHINGTON — Sen. Arlen Specter and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could meet next week to discuss the league’s investigation into spying allegations against the New England Patriots. The two staffs are working on setting up the meeting, Specter’s office confirmed Tuesday.

Last week, Specter, R-Pa., questioned the quality of the NFL investigation and Goodell’s decision to destroy video evidence uncovered by the league earlier this season.

Goodell fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and docked the team $250,000 and a first-round draft pick after the Patriots were accused of videotaping New York Jets defensive coaches as they signaled to players during the Sept. 9 season opener.

Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also had raised the possibility of congressional hearings if he wasn’t satisfied with Goodell’s answers.

• Giants celebrate with parade in New York

NEW YORK — On a day for jumping and whooping it up, Michael Strahan showed the throngs of jubilant fans just how it’s done, New York Giants style.

The star defensive end fires up his team — a wildly improbable NFL champion — with a leap that he calls “stomping you out.” And with that, Strahan jumped skyward on the podium at a Super Bowl rally Tuesday, lifting his knees to his shoulders.

“We would like to extend this to every other team in the NFL and particularly for the last team we defeated, the New England Patriots,” he said, his teammates standing behind him. “Because you know what we did to you? We stomped you out!”

Two days after the Giants won the title with a 17-14 victory that ended the New England Patriots’ perfect season, fans gathered at City Hall Park after a ticker-tape parade to watch their team get the keys to the city.

And those fans, umbrellas raised in a light rain, made a plea to Strahan, who is contemplating retirement. “One more year!” came the chant as soon as he got to the podium.

“One more year?” Strahan said. “We’ll see.”

Eli Manning, the MVP of the Super Bowl, said the team was proud to “bring the championship back to New York City.”

After the Manhattan lovefest, the team took buses back to New Jersey, where it was met by a crowd of more than 20,000 fans at Giants Stadium. The crowd saved its loudest cheers for coach Tom Coughlin, who emerged from a tunnel holding aloft the Super Bowl trophy.

Earlier, across the Hudson River, the Giants rode in float, one of which carried Mayor Michael Bloomberg as well as the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which was cradled like a baby in Strahan’s massive arms.

Bloomberg gave team officials and players keys to the city after the festivities.

• Nevada sports books have record losses on Super Bowl

LAS VEGAS — Nevada sports books lost a record $2.6 million on Super Bowl bets when the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The handle on the game was just more than $92 million, the third-highest amount ever, but down for the second consecutive year. The record was set in 2006 when $94.5 million was bet.

The last time the books lost money was in 1995, when the San Francisco 49ers blew out the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, and Nevada books lost $400,000.

Soccer

• Beckham says he’s OK with being left off team

LONDON — David Beckham said he understands why he was left off the England team. The midfielder agreed with England coach Fabio Capello, who said last week that he did not include the former captain because he had not played a competitive match since November.

Beckham said it would have been unfair for him to be called up for England. His last match was for the Los Angeles Galaxy in December, an exhibition in New Zealand against Wellington Phoenix.

The 32-year-old Beckham had been training with Arsenal in the hope of being called up for his 100th international appearance, but has instead returned to the U.S. for Major League Soccer’s preseason.

Tennis

• Bondarenko upsets defending champ in Paris

PARIS — Defending champion Nadia Petrova was upset by Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-4 in the first round of the Open Gaz de France.

Bondarenko will play qualifier Yuliana Fedak, who defeated Karin Knapp 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-2. Dominika Cibulkova defeated Camille Pin 7-5, 6-3.

Amelie Mauresmo, a two-time winner, cruised past American qualifier Julie Ditty 6-1, 6-2. The 18th-ranked Mauresmo will play Eleni Daniilidou, who pushed the Frenchwoman to three sets in Zurich last year.

Agnes Szavay routed Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-1 to set up a match with Tathiana Garbin, who beat Meilen Tu of the United States 6-3, 6-4.

Qualifier Petra Kvitova upset Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-2, 6-3, and will meet fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Baseball

• Clemens makes denials under oath to lawyers

WASHINGTON — Roger Clemens’ most meaningful denial of drug use so far was also the most well-guarded.

The star pitcher gave a sworn deposition for about five hours to congressional lawyers behind closed doors Tuesday, addressing his former personal trainer’s allegations. And this time, Clemens was under oath.

“I just want to thank the committee, the staff that I just met with. They were very courteous,” the seven-time Cy Young Award winner said, wearing a pinstriped gray suit instead of a pinstriped New York Yankees uniform. “It was great to be able to tell them what I’ve been saying all along — that I’ve never used steroids or growth hormone.”

Tuesday’s deposition was the first time Clemens faced legal risk if he were to make false statements. Home run king Barry Bonds, another player linked to steroid use, was indicted in November on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for telling a grand jury in 2003 that he didn’t knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs.

In the 11⁄2 months since former Senate majority leader George Mitchell released his report on drug use in baseball, Clemens strongly and repeatedly denied what his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee, said — in statements by his lawyers, in a written statement, in a video statement, during a taped TV interview and in a live news conference.

Clemens’ private testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform came one day after his Yankees teammate and workout partner, Andy Pettitte, gave a deposition to committee staff for 21⁄2 hours. Both players’ interviews were preparation for a Feb. 13 public hearing expected to focus on McNamee’s allegations in the Mitchell Report that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with human growth hormone and steroids in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

A former Yankees teammate of Pettitte and Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch, spoke to committee staff Friday. The day before, an employee of the sports agency that represents Clemens and Pettitte was interviewed.

Former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski, is to speak to committee lawyers Feb. 12. Radomski pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges of distributing steroids and laundering money, and is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

• Mattingly’s wife charged with disorderly conduct

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The estranged wife of Los Angeles Dodgers coach Don Mattingly was arrested and charged with public intoxication and disorderly conduct after police say she refused to leave his property in Indiana.

Police arrested 45-year-old Kim Mattingly after they were called to the home of the former Yankee first baseman to investigate reports of a person refusing to leave on Saturday, a probable cause affidavit said. The affidavit, signed by a Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad Howard, said she smelled of alcohol and screamed at officers.

The couple filed for divorce in November on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. The divorce has not been finalized, and no further action has been taken.

College Basketball

• Red Raiders say playing for Pat Knight will be easy

LUBBOCK, Texas — The Texas Tech Red Raiders offered the reaction everyone expected. They were shocked that Bob Knight resigned and ready to move on with his son as the new coach.

Then it was time for the main event — Pat Knight’s first news conference since replacing the winningest coach in men’s Division I history.

Except the new Coach Knight didn’t show for the dozen or so reporters who came to United Spirit Arena for an introduction. He was busy getting ready for his first game tonight against Baylor.

Knight played for his father at Indiana and has been with him since they arrived at Tech in 2001. He was chosen as his father’s successor in 2005.

His personality is more subdued than his father’s and he has been a head coach twice, a partial season with the USBL’s Columbus Cagerz and a season leading the Wisconsin Blast, which went 19-15.

College Football

• Predicting recruits made tougher by commitments

Their fax machines still warm from the letters of intent that poured in during Signing Day, many of the nation’s elite college football programs will go a long way toward filling next year’s recruiting classes in the coming weeks.

The nation’s top five classes heading into today’s Signing Day, as ranked by Rivals.com, belonged to Florida, Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Georgia. Florida had many late commitments, but for the other four, 62 of the 90 players had committed by the end of August, according to the recruiting Web site.

Compare that to the class Missouri signed last February. Six players had committed by the end of August; 13 committed after the start of November.

Many players who commit early change their pledges before Signing Day, and teams try to leave open spots in their classes for any late bloomers who emerge during their senior seasons. So it’s not as though schools that get a lot of early commitments are completely locked into their classes many months before Signing Day.

But a team with many early commitments may have a tough time wooing a player who came out of nowhere to have a great senior season because it already has a lot of recruits at his position. And there are certainly cases of athletes who seem to peak when they’re 16. They commit when they’re juniors in high school, then are unimpressive during their senior seasons.

Programs don’t want to pull the scholarship offer and develop a bad reputation among high schools, said former Miami coach Larry Coker.

“That gets around pretty quickly,” he said.

Coker and former Mississippi coach Ed Orgeron said there are many tricks for trying to predict how a high school player will develop, even 18 months before he’d enroll in college. Coaches take into account everything from shoe size to relatives’ heights to the kids’ diets. They talk to school counselors, ministers, teachers.