76ers' Brown may not be back, Shaq no-show

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

By Globe Staff and Wires, 5/18/2003

ne day after the Philadelphia 76ers' season ended with a disappointing
overtime loss to Detroit in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Larry Brown
said he isn't sure if he'll return to coach the team next year. This
uncertainty is nothing new, though. The Hall of Fame coach has contemplated
retiring after each of the last two seasons. ''I have to find out if I can
make the team better by staying here,'' Brown said. ''I don't want to hold
this team back. This franchise has been good to me. I don't want to hold it
back.'' The 62-year-old Brown insisted he's more serious about retiring this
time ... Shaquille O'Neal was a no-show at the Lakers' exit interviews,
drawing a negative reaction from coach Phil Jackson. ''I am upset. It's
disrespectful to us as a staff,'' Jackson said at the team's practice facility
in El Segundo, Calif. ''It's closure. It's adult responsibility to do that.''
Team spokesman John Black said O'Neal and Rick Fox were the only players who
didn't make appointments... Chris Webber, who postponed knee surgery in hopes
of playing in the NBA Finals, now expects to have the operation within a week
since the Kings were eliminated ... The San Francisco 49ers waived quarterback
Cade McNown, the latest disappointment for the former first-round draft pick
out of UCLA ... Michigan State senior center Brian Ottney has decided to end
his football career because of chronic knee problems. Ottney started 33
straight games.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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