Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams apparently is in trouble with the NFL again.

The Miami Herald reported on its web site Sunday night that Williams faces at least a one-year suspension from the NFL after testing positive for drug use a fourth time under the league’s substance abuse policy.

According to the report, two sources confirmed a report by WSVN-TV that Williams had failed the test, although neither would say the substance he used. Williams had tested positive in the past for marijuana use.

After stunning the football world by announcing his retirement during training camp in July 2004, Williams returned to the NFL this past season and rushed for 743 yards and six touchdowns.

Williams missed the first four games of the season and was fined for the second and third violations of the substance abuse program. Those positive tests reportedly occurred in December 2003 and in the 2004 offseason.

Known for his interesting and complex nature off the field, Williams has rushed for 7,097 yards in six seasons since being picked fifth overall by the New Orleans Saints in 1999. The Saints traded eight picks to the Washington Redskins for the right to select the former Heisman Trophy winner.

In 1999, Williams’ professional career also started in odd fashion when his eight-year contract was negotiated by rapper Master P’s agency. The deal contained large incentives but low base salaries, including just $350,000 as a rookie.

Ricky is in India right now…

Back in december, Kobe Bryant scored 62 points in three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks, then sat out the fourth because of how lopsided the game was. Many critics and fans alike cried foul, saying he should�ve stayed in the game to see how many he could score. It was his one chance to make hoops history and he blew it. He quit. Or did he?

Sunday night, Bryant lit up the Toronto Raptors for 81 points to lead the L.A. Lakers to a 122-104 win. Eighty-one points!?! That�s more than Rafael Araujo has scored all season (80). On a side note, how crazy is it that Araujo has scored 80 points this season? We would�ve guessed something more like, 17. Anyway, Sunday�s bucketfest makes the case for Kobe as the most dominant one-on-one player in history. And it almost makes up for Kobe giving himself the bizarro nickname, Black Mamba.

The only other single-game perfomance as dominant as the Mamba�s was Wilt Chamberlain�s 100-point game in 1962 in Hershey, Pa. But it wasn�t televised. Plus, Wilt the Stilt was a centre. Also, let�s be honest, the NBA in 1962 wasn�t exactly as competitive as it is today, what with all those white dudes in Chuck Taylors running around. Air Jordan himself has said that it�s tougher for perimeter players to score � MJ should know, his career game-high is 69 points and that included an overtime.

Black Mamba dropped 55 in the second half. (Wilt, by the way, had 59 second-half points in his most productive game). It�s ludicrous. He was shooting so much � going 28 for 46 � we were just waiting for the Raps to throw some quadruple coverage on him.

His point-piling exhibition has definitely put No. 8 into the pantheon of all-time greats, but the question remains on just how good a teammate the Black Mamba is. Between running Shaq out of La-La Land, the whole rape trial debacle and his reputation as a spoiled brat, can Mamba�s freakish individual skill make up for his � so far � shortfall in the leadership department? It�s the difference between winning championships and simply being a scoring circus act.

Though many will view this as a more impressive display than Wilt�s 100, Chamberlain fans can take solace in the fact that his bedroom record is still safe for now. But with a name like Black Mamba, anything can happen.