By Mitch
Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com
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.
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.