Forwarded article: ON HIS OWN EXCEPTION: BIRD `SYMPATHETIC' TO BOTH SIDES

[witchcraft1998@hotmail.com]

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to http://chicagotribune.com.

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Article URL:  http://chicagotribune.com/splash/article/0,1051,SAV-9810040098,00.html


Comments:  
The Tribune's Sam Smith, a pretty good writer.


---Forwarded article----------------
ON HIS OWN EXCEPTION: BIRD `SYMPATHETIC' TO BOTH SIDES

Sam Smith. Sam Smith covers the National Basketball Association for the Tribune.

  Larry Bird was exceptional, which is one reason he was inducted
Friday into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

But it's the so-called Larry Bird exception that is commanding as much
attention these days as the legend himself.

    The Bird exception is at the heart of the dispute between the NBA
and its players, which is virtually certain to delay the start of an
NBA season for the first time.

The exception allows teams to pay their own free agents any amount
above the salary cap, which is how the Bulls could pay Michael Jordan
$33 million in a year when the salary cap was $24 million and
Minnesota could give Kevin Garnett a $126 million contract.

The league says the Bird exception must go or teams will spend
themselves out of business; the players say it must stay or free
agency will be doomed.

Both sides say they won't budge.

So where stands the man for whom it was named?

"I'm sympathetic for both sides," Bird said.

Bird, as coach of the Indiana Pacers, is now in management. He says
ownership must be able to control costs and says that even with a new
arena next season, the Pacers could not compete financially if they
have to pay the going rate for free-agent salaries. But at the same
time, Bird says elimination of the exception might lead to more player
movement if teams, especially in small markets, don't have an edge in
re-signing their own players.

"The one thing I'm concerned with is the players moving around like
baseball," Bird said. "For me to play for the Celtics for 13 years was
fortunate. I'd like to see more players be able to do that. All that
trading and looking to replace players all the time, I don't think
that's good for the league."

The exception, Bird said, came about when his first contract expired.
"The team said, `We can't do anything. If you can't find a way, we'll
pay it,' " Bird recalled. "My agent, Bob Woolf, and Larry Fleisher
(then head of the players association) found the loophole, and that's
how it started."

Similar effort is needed now, Bird said.

"They need to sit down now and stop bickering about where they're
going to meet and when and haggle this thing out," he said. "This
league never has missed a game, which means players care about the
franchises and the owners care about players being out there to play.
They have to sit down and do it. Let's get it done. I'm ready to go to
work. My golf game stinks."





Legend to legend: Bird doesn't talk with Michael Jordan, but he's
confident he can predict Jordan's future.

"I'm sure he'll play," Bird said. "He needs the competition. You can't
be MVP and win a championship and then just quit. Come on. If Michael
Jordan wins 20 games next season, he'll still go out on top."

Although Bird's Pacers were beaten by the Bulls in the seventh game of
the Eastern Conference finals, Bird says he doesn't want to see Jordan
retire. "We'll be sharper if Jordan plays," he said. "You can't let
down. If (Jordan retires), you can let down and then some other team
sneaks up on you and beats you because you're not as sharp."





Two-timer: Atlanta Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens, already enshrined as a
player, joined Bird as a 1998 inductee. Wilkens and John Wooden, who
played at Purdue and coached at UCLA, are the only Hall members
honored as players and coaches. Other members of the Class of '98:
Ex-Harlem Globetrotter Marques Haynes; Arnie Risen, a 13-year player
for the old Rochester Royals and Celtics; Alex Hannum, who coached
championship teams in the ABA and NBA, including the famed 76ers of
1967; University of Texas women's coach Jody Conradt; and Yugoslavian
basketball coach and administrator Aleksandar Nikolic.

With the ceremony being televised for the first time, there's no
question who the star was. "Certainly it's an honor to be here to
attend Larry's party," Wilkens said.

Bulls assistant Tex Winter was pressing his nose up against the
window, figuratively.

Winter, expected to return to the Bulls next season, received the John
Bunn Award for "significant contributions to basketball." The honor is
considered the highest outside of Hall of Fame enshrinement. Previous
winners include Red Auerbach, Larry O'Brien, Danny Biasone, who
introduced the 24-second shot clock, Wooden, Walter Kennedy and Bob
Cousy. The award is named for the first chairman of the Hall of Fame
committee.





Bird and Big Red: Although the Hall of Fame weekend is a celebration
of past achievements, it's the stories fans don't usually get to hear
that are the most fun.

Each nominee picks an escort for the ceremonies. Hannum had Wilt
Chamberlain, who played on his 1967 Philadelphia team. Conradt had
former Celtic Sam Jones. Wilkens selected Auerbach, whose coaching
records Wilkens broke. Risen had former teammate Bobby Wanzer. Haynes
had John McClendon, Nikolic had Boris Stankovic and Bird picked Bill
Walton, a teammate on the 1986 champion Celtics.

"We used to go to Bill's house in San Diego and play basketball," Bird
recalled. "The loser would have to serve the winner all weekend. So
we'd go sit in his pool an I'd have a drink, take one or two sips and
hold up my glass and say, `Bill, refill.' I had him running all
weekend."

Walton said he was thrilled by Bird's invitation: "I've been 6-11
since I was 17 years old. When Larry Bird called and asked me to do
this, I almost made 7-foot, which has been my lifelong goal."

The bond between Bird and Walton is unusually strong, built on
respect--Bird called Walton his idol when Bird was developing as a
player in Indiana--and good humor.

Bird said that when Walton came to the Celtics, he was an easy target
for Bird and Kevin McHale. It was the part of the arrogance of that
team, not unlike today's Bulls--they were good, and they knew it.

Another time, Bird said, Danny Ainge was open and yelling for McHale
to pass him the ball because Ainge's man was double-teaming McHale. "I
shoot 60 percent and you shoot 40 percent," McHale told Ainge. "Why
should I throw the ball to you?"

"I remember the first game I ever played with Bird," Walton said. "It
was late in the game and Philadelphia was fouling to send us to the
line so we might miss. I throw the ball to Dennis Johnson, and Larry
comes up and grabs me and says, `If you want to play on this team, you
better learn that at the end of the game the ball comes to me.' "