Van Stone returns as VP of sales<br> <br> <br>By
PHIL JASNER <br>jasnerp@... <br><br>The
76ers have hired Jim VanStone as their new vice
president of sales.<br><br>VanStone succeeds Fran Cassidy,
who left the organization to pursue other business
interests. VanStone worked for the Sixers several years ago,
and has since held positions with the NHL's Tampa Bay
Lightning and the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers.<br><br>"Jim
was highly sought after, and thrilled to be coming
back to Philadelphia," said Dave Coskey, the Sixers
executive vice president of business
operations.<br><br>Coskey said the Cavaliers had denied permission to two
other teams that had wanted to speak with VanStone, but
that VanStone had a contractual clause allowing him to
return to Philadelphia. VanStone most recently was the
Cavs' vice president of ticket
sales.<br><br><br>Groundbreaking<br>Sixers center Dikembe Mutombo attended
groundbreaking
ceremonies Saturday for a $14million hospital he is building
in his hometown of Kinshasa, Congo. Mutombo has been
working on the project through the Dikembe Mutombo
Foundation, and already has contributed $3.5
million.<br><br>The hospital, the first new medical facility to be
built in the Congo in nearly 40 years, will be named
for Mutombo's late mother, Biamba
Marie.<br><br><br>Six shots<br>Sixers general manager Billy King, who
underwent an appendectomy on Thursday, was resting at home.
. .The NBA canceled its rookie transition program,
which was to have begun yesterday in Lansdowne, Va.,
and league meetings, which were to have been held
later this week in Orlando. The rookie transition
program is for all drafted rookies, and would have
included Sixers' first-round pick Samuel Dalembert and
second-rounders Damone Brown and Alvin Jones.<br><br>"We're going
to take things in chronological order, the most
immediate things first," said Brian McIntyre, the league's
senior vice president, sports communications. "We're
just getting to the point where we're putting names
and faces with the tragedy."<br><br>McIntyre said, as
far as he knew, "our people are accounted for, but
we've had reports of people in our organization with
relatives missing." *