A professional gambler pleaded guilty yesterday to making bets based on inside tips from former NBA referee Tim Donaghy.

James Battista told a judge in federal court in Brooklyn he hatched a scheme in late 2006 with another old friend of Donaghy, Thomas Martino, to pay the referee thousands of dollars for the information while Battista was "engaged in the business of sports betting."

Battista's lawyer had notified the court last week that his client wanted to go to trial rather than plead guilty to charges of defrauding the NBA, as Martino did earlier this month. But he changed his mind after prosecutors offered a last-minute deal allowing him to instead plead guilty to a lesser charge of conspiring to make illegal bets.

The deal spares Donaghy from having to testify as the government's star witness at a high-profile federal trial. It also means Battista, 42, will face only 10 to 16 months in prison at sentencing on July 11. By contrast, Martino faces 12 to 18 months.

Donaghy, of Bradenton, Fla., pleaded guilty last year to charges he conspired to engage in wire fraud and transmitted betting information through interstate commerce.

Donaghy, 41, is scheduled to be sentenced May 22. By law, he faces up to 25 years in prison, though the term could be much lower under sentencing guidelines.

Larry Brown wants one more stop on his nomadic coaching career.

Brown resigned as Philadelphia's executive vice president with the intent to pursue a coaching job at the NBA or college level. Brown has been a winner at every stop, yet hasn't coached since a bitter split with the New York Knicks and then-team president Isiah Thomas after his only season in New York in 2005-06.

Brown, who won an NBA title with Detroit and a college title with Kansas, would not rule out returning to either level.

Forward Ron Artest had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. Artest, who had the surgery in his native New York, will wear a splint for six weeks. He could return to playing basketball in eight to 10 weeks, giving him plenty of time to recover before training camp with the Kings or another team if he decides to opt out of his contract.

A drunken driver convicted in the 2000 death of Minnesota swingman Malik Sealy was sentenced to another eight years in prison on a separate drunken driving charge. Souksangouane Phengsene of Minneapolis was charged with first-degree driving while impaired. He admitted he had been drinking beer before police pulled him over March 30. Prosecutors say his blood alcohol level was 0.20 percent. That's 2.5 times the legal limit.

Darell Garretson, a longtime NBA referee who also directed the league's officiating staff, died in Mesa, Ariz., after his health had been in decline following surgery and various illnesses. He was 76.