| Friday, November 26
By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com |
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LOS ANGELES -- Unless the NBA is looking for someone to play the role of clown for its all-star weekend, it would be best if Latrell Sprewell's name is stricken from the official fan ballot.
|  | | Sprewell acted like a buffoon in his return to the Bay, writes Lawrence. |
The other night in his return to the Bay area, Sprewell came off as a total embarrassment to the NBA and the Knicks franchise, and even himself. After its PR nightmare lockout, and without Michael Jordan to guarantee a banner all-star weekend, Sprewell is the last player the NBA will want to see when it entertains corporate sponsors in February back in Oakland.
Sprewell doesn't even deserve consideration for the game at this point. It's not just the competition among forwards, where he's listed on ballot, with Vince Carter, Grant Hill and Antoine Walker. Spree should still have to shoot at least 40 percent to make the team, and right now he's still wallowing in the high 30s. So far he has proved that he can shoot only his mouth off. Saturday night in Oakland it got vulgar way too many times.
Spree went at it with hecklers, taunting the Golden State bench, spewing X-rated comments left and right, and of course, never approaching P.J. Carlesimo to shake hands. "There can be no closure," Spree said. "No closure." It's his choice.
Imagine if he's allowed to bring that act back to Oakland for All-Star weekend.
What a debacle.
Rice-a-roni sweepstakes
The Lakers, still down on their power-forward situation, made a recent hard push to get Bison Dele out of Detroit.
But the deal for Dele, in self-imposed exile and one of Phil Jackson's favorite players, fell through when the Pistons balked at taking on Glen Rice.
The Pistons need a big player like Dele, or a point guard. Rice, of course, is neither. He's also a free agent at season's end, which means somebody is probably going to have to give him the $14 million maximum. Detroit isn't in favor of doing that.
Why is he so available? Phil Jackson has made it known privately that he is not in favor of re-signing Rice because he can do only one thing. So look for the Lakers to move Rice before the February trading deadline.
Rim Shots I
Ron Mercer isn't a lock to stay with the Nuggets when his contract expires on July 1.
"I'll have questions about personnel," Mercer said last week. "I don't know what they are right now. But in the summer, I'll know." The biggest personnel question for the Nuggets can be boiled down to a simple one: Who's the owner?
The proposed $461 million deal between Ascent Entertainment Group Inc. and Denver billionaire Donald Sturm, involving the new arena, the Nuggets and NHL Avalanche, has stalled. Sturm wants to have the price of the three entities lowered to around $400 million, while the city wants Sturm to guarantee that Nuggets and Avalanche will be around for the next 25 years. If the Sturm deal dies, the ownership question could end up making Mercer's stay in the Mile High City a short one.
"The ownership situation is something Ron and I have to think about, since both of our contracts are up," said Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups, who was taken by the Celtics with the No. 3 selection overall in the '97 draft, three picks ahead of Mercer. "I'm from here and I love it. But business is business. You've got to know who the owner is, what their plans are and what their commitment to winning is before you decide what you're going to do."
Keep in mind, Orlando has had interest in Mercer in the past.
Rim Shots II
Sounds like big trouble: Larry Johnson left the Knicks' West Coast trip Monday to fly back to New York and see a team doctor about his ailing back. Johnson has felt pain shoot down his leg, just as he experienced a few years back with a herniated disc, and has trouble sitting. He fears that he'll require surgery. That could KO him for at least six weeks, if not a lot longer.
Those who know Suns boss Jerry Colangelo say if and when the time comes to fire Danny Ainge, he'll just do it. He won't come out beforehand and announce that Ainge is in trouble. Before the season, Colangelo reportedly told the coaching staff that in the event Ainge gets the ax, everybody goes. Wonder if that's the reason ex-Suns coach John MacLeod is attending lots of home games these days and was even seen at a recent practice.
How soon before Rod Strickland, openly rebelling against Gar Heard's demand for discipline, gets dealt? How long before the dying Rockets' start dealing off old-timers Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon?
You can't get Glenn Robinson these days. Bucks were shopping him hard earlier in the season, but recent strong play has changed George Karl's mind about dealing him.
Nets, looking for frontcourt scoring, talked to Phoenix about Cliff Robinson. Nets shouldn't be having such a problem getting points up front. That's what Keith Van Horn is supposed to be doing, isn't it?
Jazz's Jerry Sloan went home to his Illinois farm for two days to get away from 3-3 team. Karl Malone ended up running practices.
Patrick Ewing's return? Still no timetable. Ewing scrimmaged for about 15 minutes last week while team was in Denver, but was limping around the floor, according to Latrell Sprewell.
Rim Shots III
Pistons fear if Grant Hill leaves via free agency, he'll go to San Antonio for short-term deal, joining friend Tim Duncan, who shares the same agent, Lon Babby. Hill, of course, keeps telling Pistons he'd re-sign right now if possible. But that's just because he doesn't want to get Detroit people mad at him. Although the Lakers might want to get involved in a sign-and-trade move for Hill, they better talk to Shaquille O'Neal first. He's never been a huge fan of the G-man.
Penny Hardaway is already bracing for a bad reception when he returns to Orlando for the first time, on Jan. 31. But it can't be as bad as the one that Latrell Sprewell got in Golden State the other night. "I know I'll hear some boos. It happens to everybody who goes back to play their old team," Hardaway said. "But (Sprewell's) going back with bad blood. I don't hate the Magic or have any bitterness toward them, like he has with the Warriors. What happened with me and the Magic is a small deal compared to his huge deal."
One person not surprised by Adrian Griffin's play with Boston is his ex-college coach, P.J. Carlesimo. "That's who Adrian is," said Carlesimo, who coached Griffin at Seton Hall. "We'd love to have him here, but we were loaded with guys at his position. He's a perfect fit in Boston's system." So far, he's been the surprise of the season.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com. |  |
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