| | NEW YORK -- Maybe they didn't think he was serious. Maybe
they didn't think the NBA's career scoring leader would be willing
to sit on the sidelines as an assistant coach. Maybe he intimidated
them.
Whatever the reason, nobody seemed to believe Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar when he said he wanted to coach. There were cursory
conversations, almost courtesies for one of the cornerstone players
in NBA history, but nothing more than that.
"I can't attribute motives," Abdul-Jabbar said Monday, as he
prepared for his second game as an assistant with the Los Angeles
Clippers. "I don't know if I was black-balled. I was taken aback
when I couldn't get any interviews. That bothered me. It was
frustrating."
Finally, the Clippers, reconstructing their bench staff, decided
Abdul-Jabbar could help new head coach Jim Todd. "Friday at 10, I
was retired in my house," he said. "Friday at noon, I had a
job."
Abdul-Jabbar has wanted this chance for a long time. He said
there were conversations with GMs Al Attles at Golden State and
Wayne Embry at Cleveland and formal interviews with Wes Unseld at
Washington and Ernie Grunfeld when he was with the Knicks.
There were, however, no offers.
"The chancellor at UCLA talked to me when Jim Harrick got in a
bind there," Abdul-Jabbar said.
Nothing came of that conversation, either.
"When I retired, I was very burned out," he said. "It took
three or four years to get my equilibrium back. I wrote three
books. I did family stuff, made up time with my kids. It took three
or four years before I wanted to get back in."
The itch to coach became even more intense last year when
Abdul-Jabbar worked with the basketball team at White Mountain
Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, Ariz.
The Clippers, equipped with the youngest team and the worst
record in the NBA, decided to give him a chance.
"This is the best situation for me," he said. "They need
help. San Antonio with David Robinson and Tim Duncan? They don't
need a whole lot of help.
"A whole lot of about the game is not being translated. Stuff I
learned in grade school. People mastering the fundamentals of the
game, learning how to play as a team, how to help teammates on
defense.
"You've got kids with size and agility but they don't know how
to get it done with four others."
With the Clippers, the most productive big man in basketball
history will work on the inside game. He calls himself a
troubleshooter. "My job is to tell the coach what's happening up
front," he said. "I want to do a good job. I want to do this
well. I think I can bring something to it.
"I've got carte blanche with the big guys. They believe I know
something. They don't doubt that I might know some things."
Carrying a clipboard, glasses hanging around his neck,
Abdul-Jabbar looked professorial as he watched the Clippers lose
their 11th straight game Monday against the Knicks.
He said all the right things, shouting out defensive
assignments, encouraging his No. 1 project, Michael Olowokandi, the
Clippers' 7-foot center. "Stay home! Stay home, Michael," he
shouted on one play. Then, "Come to the ball, Michael!" on
another.
On one sequence under the basket, Olowokandi collided with the
Knicks' Patrick Ewing and came out second best. Abdul-Jabbar jumped
to his feet and screamed at referee Tony Brothers.
"Foul! That's a foul! There was contact, dummy!"
Brothers glared for a moment and headed up the floor. Just another coach, yelling about a call. | |
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