Nets’ President Rowe Steps Down

Michael Rowe resigned as president and chief operating officer of the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday as the NBA team continued its revamping after missing the playoffs for the second year in a row.

The much-anticipated move came only six days after coach Don Casey was fired following an injury-plagued season in which the Nets were 31-51. It was the 12th time that the Nets had lost at least 50 games in a season since joining the NBA for the 1976-77 season.

Rowe won’t be leaving the Nets completely. He will remain with YankeeNets, the sports and entertainment operation that oversees the team, taking an unspecified position with Newark Sports and Entertainment. That division will oversee the new arena and entertainment facility in the state’s largest city.

The proposed arena will be the new home of the Nets and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, who are in the process of being purchased for $175 million by a subsidiary of YankeeNets.

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Point guard Tim Hardaway of the Miami Heat, recovering from a sprained left foot, ran at practice and might play in Game 1 of the playoff series against the New York Knicks.

“It’s a possibility,” Hardaway said. “It’s slowly coming back. I can feel the progress.”

The series begins Sunday. Hardaway sat out the Heat’s first-round series against the Detroit Pistons because of the injury.