NEW YORK -- Welcome to the NBA where Jazz fans are wondering why John Stockton took so long to retire and turn over the point guard responsibilities to Carlos Arroyo.
Kobe Bryant
Why would TNT's crew give so much credibility and airtime this week to a San Antonio story about the Spurs possibly enticing Kobe to join them come next summer as a free agent?
Announcer Doug Collins and Co. clearly don't comprehend what burns inside Bryant. His compulsive/repulsive ambition is to win a championship with him hailed as his team's ONLY significant player, to accomplish what Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley and other lords of the rim could not pull off as principal predators.
According to many forward observers, any star worthy of an "S" on his chest can win a title or three feeding off Shaq's scraps; hence the traffic jam of late arriving franchise players, Karl Malone and Gary Payton; I have so much more respect for Stockton who simply left the league when he realized he couldn't produce a crown on his own merits.
Well, in case you, too, haven't been paying attention, guess what?
Kobe's fed up hearing he's indebted to Shaq for every ring he wears. With that in mind, why would anybody who has never been caught in the act of thinking assume Bryant would provide critics with the same cutting ammo by joining forces with Tim Duncan?
Win or lose, it's going to be Kobe's galaxy and he's going to rule it.
Proof possible that Isiah Thomas' firing two months after Larry Bird's hiring wasn't premeditated relates to his contract, Pacer people would like us to believe.
After all, had Indiana parted company with its coach before July 1, the $4 million he's owed this season (another $1 million per year is automatically deferred) in a dozen equal installments would have been spread out over four years.
Still, the money the Simon brothers would have saved over that time span is of no consequence with their wealth or compared to the prospects of losing Jermaine O'Neal on the free agent market.
The East's paramount big man told ESPN the other night, had Thomas been vaporized in early July instead of late August he would not have re-signed with the Pacers.
Not that I thought for a split second O'Neal was actually considering reposing in San Antonio; if he couldn't privately accept Duncan receiving the predominance of hero-worshiping for the success of the Olympic team -- which, I'm told was, indeed, the case -- how could his puffy ego handle playing in his Spurs' shadow?
Other than San Antonio, only Utah, Denver and my Paper Clips had the cap capability to secure O'Neal without employing a sign-and-trade mechanism; something I doubt the Pacers would have consented to unless Kevin Garnett or someone approaching his majesty could have been culled.
At the same time, O'Neal's lifestyle and fervent friendship with Al Harrington and Jonathan Bender strongly indicates he wouldn't side with an outfit that figured to lose for awhile or drop a decimal point in salary he had coming to him.
A sideline alteration in Orlando appeared to be the team's only hope of turning around.
McGrady blew off Doc Rivers, who was fired on Monday, at the end of last Friday's first half against Denver.
McGrady had just nailed a long jumper, then allowed the Nuggets to bolt down court with only a couple ticks left on the clock for an easy score.
Rivers immediately let McGrady know what he thought about his defensive lapse and it was obvious McGrady didn't want to hear it. The coach slapped his star on the butt to show him it was nothing personal, but it didn't seem to break the frigidity.
Afterward McGrady called for a change. I suspect he meant the fingerprints of the person whispering in his ear.
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