Webber will be in Houston according to Sporting News....

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Time to take a breath as playoff lull hits

May 23, 2001

Stan McNeal
The Sporting News


After 33 days, one of the season's longest streaks will end Wednesday. No, the Lakers won't lose. They don't play. And remember, they lost their last game of this season back on April 1.

Allen Iverson won't wake up bruise-free for the first time since last summer. After a hit late in Tuesday night's game, Iverson went home with a dizzying headache to go with his bad back, aching legs and overused shooting arm.

Charles Barkley won't dip below 300 pounds on the fat tracker for the first since he debuted on TNT. He checked in a few pounds more than 300 when he weighed last week for the final time.

The streak that comes to a quiet close Wednesday hits much closer to home to millions of NBA fans across the land -- and yes, Mr. Stanley Cup Breath, there are millions out there. On Wednesday, for the first time since April 21, there will be not be an NBA game. Give your TV a rest. After just more than a month with 58 games -- all televised -- the NBA is taking a day off.

No listening to Barkley's wisecracks, no admiring Kenny Smith's slick suits, no chuckling at the dry humor of Marv Albert and Mike Fratello. Of course, the way the Lakers are playing, there's not much left of this season anyway. Assuming they finish off the Spurs on Friday and Sunday, they'll have 10 days to rest before the Finals --unless the East is decided in four or five games, then the finals will start on June 3.

About the only suspense remaining is counting how many times Shaq tells us that Kobe is the best player in the universe. The first time, we actually believed him. But the way he has hammered it home since the Lakers-Spurs series began makes me think he's really just playing games with us.

Watching the Sixers and Bucks slug it out should be fun but in the end it's not going to matter.

Plan on a parade through LA on June 15. Maybe Shaq will get serious and guarantee a three-peat. If not, I will. The Lakers will keep winning until Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill find a center, Tim Duncan finds a teammate who can hit a jump shot or Kevin Garnett convinces another superstar to move to Minnesota.

Since we're planning out the next month for you, here are other key dates to remember:


June 20 -- college coaches from Arizona's Lute Olson to Kentucky's Tubby Smith will welcome back all the wayward young men who wised up and realized that college life beats the ABA2000. Hello, Jason Gardner. Welcome back, Tayshaun Prince.

June 27 -- the debate once again will rage over NBA draft eligibility rules after four of the first six picks of the draft are high school seniors. David Stern will blame Billy Hunter, the colleges will point the finger at the NBA and the new millionaires will laugh all the way to the bank. And of course, nothing will be done about it.
Other dates are a little fuzzier:


Sometime after the draft, Michael Jordan -- big surprise -- will announce he's coming back. Jordan said the other day that his workout schedule has been hampered by back spasms. Of course, he said this between drives on the golf course. Only Michael knows his big date for sure, but I'm guessing it will come on a slow summer day when there's not much competition for the big sports headlines.

Sometime in August, after weeks of watching summer league games, the league will realize what a mistake it was to legalize zone defenses. Wisely, they'll change the rules before they ever go into effect.

In late July or early August, Chris Webber will finish agonizing over whose mega-millions to take and decide he's moving to Houston. That will give Texas three of the league's best teams.

This time next year: The Lakers will be marching through Texas en route to another title.


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