NBA NOTEBOOK: Stern's pique about media is misguided

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Oct. 27, 2003, 8:41AM


NBA NOTEBOOK
Stern's pique about media is misguided
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle

Nice of David Stern to drop by to let us know that despite what we might have heard, the NBA is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people doing wonderful things.

We especially liked it when the commissioner popped into the Rockets and Nuggets' locker rooms to point out how the media have so unfairly maligned them.

"We've had a sort of difficult summer in the media, but don't be fooled," Stern said he told players. "We spent 10,000 hours visiting the troops in Kuwait City and Baghdad, bringing 100 kids in from 21 countries around Africa to talk about AIDS and basketball together. We went to Treviso (Italy) to work with kids throughout Europe in Basketball Without Borders.

"The exhibition games players have participated in have raised hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars. And that 10,000 hours was one thing. For 10 minutes of other behavior, we dominated the airwaves this summer. But that doesn't tell the real story of the NBA. I wanted to thank the players for making that story come true."

Maybe he didn't mean it this way, but he sounded as if those 10 minutes of drug, assault and rape charges are acceptable when considering the 10,000 hours of good works.

They are not acceptable. Instead of smugly blaming the reports of misdeeds, there needs to be outrage at the deeds themselves. To go in the locker rooms and dismiss all that has happened is just short of condoning it.

No one is diminishing the good works. The Africa trip was by all accounts gut-wrenchingly moving. Dikembe Mutombo never has been more of a hero on a court than he is when he gives back in every way, financially and emotionally, and then just keeps giving. Anyone willing to improve the lives of servicemen and women in the desert also serves nobly.

But how many arrests are acceptable? How many are too many?

Professional sports officials always tell us that with the numbers they employ, they are bound to have many of the same problems as the rest of society. But the rest of society doesn't ask to represent us. The rest of society doesn't ask that our children adore strangers.

So Stern watched reports of Kobe Bryant's rape case and the usual mix of assault charges and Trail Blazers mar1juana busts, and he decided the NBA had "a sort of difficult summer in the media."

Days later, Rockets forward Eddie Griffin was accused of assaulting and firing a weapon at a woman in his home. Griffin, who is free on bond after a charge of mar1juana possession, was not there to hear Stern's comments because he was serving a suspension for failing to show up for a Rockets flight, game and practice. Police are investigating Saturday's incident, and no charges have been filed.

The day after Stern left town, players around the league read to elementary school children in the NBA's Read to Achieve program. The event was not mentioned in the latest police report.

Around the league


Department of weights and measures
-- If the surge of Yao Ming dunks and power moves since last season makes him seem even bigger, that might be because he is.
Yao is no taller, but in one sense he has grown an inch to 7-6.

The Rockets did list Yao at 7-6 last season. But prior to the NBA draft, the NBA measured Yao at 7-5 1/2 and listed him at 7-5. The Rockets reasoned that with shoes on, Yao measured 7-6 and that because he plays in shoes, they would consider him 7-6. Besides, it sounded cooler to have 7 1/2 feet of center in the middle.

Since the height of most people generally refers to the person, rather than the person and his footwear, the Chronicle stuck with the NBA's official listing and went with 7-5. As a general rule, from Hakeem Olajuwon's 7-0 to Moochie Norris' 6-2, the Chronicle uses official heights and weights. But this season, the NBA decided Yao is really 7-6, so unless he keeps "growing" (8-1 is where we drawn the line) 7-6 is fine.


Pre-game thoughts
-- Don't expect long ceremonies full of pomp and celebrities when the Rockets unveil the championship banners and retired numbers before Thursday's regular-season Toyota Center opener.
Rockets officials want the ceremony to start and finish shortly before the game, when the most fans have taken their seats. But NBA rules allow only a limited windup -- 10 minutes for introductions, the anthems and other events -- before the tip.

Because the game is on TNT, there is no room to fudge. Also, Hakeem Olajuwon is out of the country. Rudy Tomjanovich, who might be honored later in the season, did not want to distract from this season's team.

But there will be changes. The Rockets' preseason game presentation has been bare-boned. The franchise will begin playing with its new toys this week. The Rockets have been tinkering with the scoreboard, video screens and speakers.

Also, the team will wear red. Rockets vice president Tim McDougall said most fans prefer teams' road uniforms and that the Rockets petitioned the league to be permitted to wear red at home. They will be allowed four special occasions: the home opener, one Lakers game, the New Year's Eve game and the Saturday game against the Nets the day before the Super Bowl.


Don't let the door hit you on the way out
-- Many were stunned that the Celtics would get relatively little for three-time All-Star Antoine Walker. Celtics players were not, and they seemed happy with the deal.
Walker is a good all-around player, but he needs the ball and needs shots -- lots of shots. Off the court, he is liked and will be a nice addition for the Mavericks, determined to work and play well with others if only to stick it to Celtics general manager Danny Ainge. But for the Celtics, he was too needy for what he brings.

As one scout said, "He does everything, but what does he do really well?"

This from friend Walter McCarty (and feel free to read between the lines):

"You had to try to maximize both him and Paul (Pierce's) talent," McCarty said. "You had to give them both the ball. You had to try to get them both equal minutes. You had to try to get them both equal shots. That was kind of tough. Now we have one guy, and everybody knows he's our go-to guy. We're all role players, and we know that. But I think even with that we're going to move the ball around more now. We know how Paul is, and we're excited about things. I mean, we hate to see him (Walker) go -- him and Tony (Delk) -- but I think it will be good.

"If we were playing the type of system that we played last year, this move would have really hurt the team. But the way we're playing this year, it doesn't hurt us at all."


Not quite Magic-Bird
-- The challenge came all the way from David Stern. The NBA commissioner would no doubt love another friendly rivalry, and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony would serve as potential candidates to give him years in the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird mold.
"A high school senior has gotten a tremendous amount of publicity, which I think is great for LeBron and the NBA," Stern said. "And I think it has provided Carmelo with a fair amount of incentive as the winner of the NCAA Tournament to demonstrate his stuff."

James and Anthony are rookies with a long way to go. Neither is close to transforming his team as Johnson and Bird did as rookies. That could come later. Instead, Anthony will focus on avenging his perceived draft-night slight when the Pistons chose Darko Milicic with the second pick of the draft instead of him.

"I felt it was disrespect, because they were telling my agent (Calvin Andrews) that they were going to take me and they liked what I can bring to the team," Anthony said. "Then one morning I get a call out of the blue from Calvin saying, 'Look, man, you're going to Denver. They're going to pick Darko.' "

Anthony hit the Pistons for 23 points in an impressive show in Syracuse. Milicic played four minutes, in part because he cut the ring finger of his left hand trying to slice cheese the night before.

"Carmelo is a better player than Darko right now," said John Hammond, Pistons vice president of basketball. "We know that. He was a better player on draft night. We knew that then, and we know it today. We're not worried about that.

"Our question was, where are we, as an organization, going to be two or three years from now? Look, unless all heck breaks loose here, we're not going to be a lottery team for the next three, four, five years -- knock on wood. Our chances of getting a player with that size and upside isn't going to come along, more than likely, where we will be drafting."


Odds and ends
-- Before Pat Riley's resignation forced the Heat to be noticed in Miami, the team moved Tuesday's exhibition finale to noon so as not to conflict with Game 3 of the World Series at Pro Player. Tickets to the game were free but were still considered too expensive. About 2,500 showed up. ... Dikembe Mutombo left New Jersey with between $27 million and $30 million, making it difficult to be bitter. "There are no hard feelings," said Mutombo, who moved across the Hudson to play for the Knicks. "How can I have any hard feelings for a team that paid me a lot of money for only working 1 1/2 days this season?" Mutombo worked about 10 hours in that time, meaning he pulled down between $2.7 million and $3 million per hour. ...
If the Rockets had hopes of picking up Charlie Ward on the cheap, they can forget it. The Knicks can buy out Ward's contract for $2 million, saving them $4 million. But Ward has been New York's best player this preseason. ...

Othella Harrington, still out with a knee injury suffered in summer workouts in Houston, has asked the Knicks to deal him away from their power forward glut. The Knicks would like to oblige, but they want a veteran shooter in return. ...

Scottie Pippen played for the Bulls for the first time since the 1998 championship. He had skipped the preseason's first five games.

"Veterans are important to your team," Bulls coach Bill Cartwright said. "It's even better when they play." ...

With Antoine Walker in the mix, the Mavericks have five players -- Walker, Antawn Jamison, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash -- who combined to average 101 points per game last season.

Jonathan Feigen covers the NBA for the Chronicle. His notebook appears Sundays.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/sports/feigen/2179901