DATE: Sunday, June 1, 1997                  TAG: 9706010067

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL

                                            LENGTH:   53 lines

MICHAEL JORDAN: A ONE-MAN MONOPOLY ON NBA TITLES

Sometimes it seems that Michael Jordan can do in basketball anything he makes up his mind to do.

Back in 1992, when the Chicago Bulls with Jordan had won a second consecutive NBA championship, rival Coach Pat Riley was asked that night what players would dominate the NBA during the 1990s.

Smarting from the defeat, Riley noted a couple of players and said other young ones would emerge, but he didn't mention Jordan.

Well, we're only three years short of 2000 and young ones are coming along, but the Jordan-led Bulls keep on winning as they did Wednesday night, defeating Riley's Miami Heat 4 games to 1 in the Eastern finals.

Recently named coach of the year, Riley had hoped Miami would reach the championship series that will begin today with the Bulls and the Utah Jazz. ``You run into the Bulls and reality sets in,'' he said.

Further, Riley said, the Chicago team, as now constituted with Jordan at its head, could count on another two years of dominance.

This fan hopes so. When Jordan retires, I'll not look again at the essentially senseless game. Unless, of course, a grandchild takes it up.

For today's championship, Riley picked the Bulls to win. ``I don't think anybody's going to win again until Michael retires,'' he said.

``Sometimes you can build a great team and you'll never win a championship because you had the misfortune of being born the same time Jordan went through his run.''

Of Riley's rueful recognition, Jordan said, ``As long as I'm still in a uniform and we can continue to have coaches come up and say that, our job is accomplished.''

Jordan had a game-high 28 points Wednesday. Things went sour for the Bulls Monday when Miami, three games down in the best of seven series, won the fourth one.

In the first half Monday, Jordan had an 0-for-14 shooting start and was only 2-for-22 before almost rallying the Bulls to victory in the fourth quarter. That he could summon so much energy near the end was in a way more astonishing than his runaway play in the Bulls' win on Wednesday.

Broadcasters said Monday that Jordan played nine holes of golf on Sunday. In reality, it was 46 holes. Jordan said that hadn't hurt his showing and he didn't want others offering alibis for him.

They were not alibis so much as criticism that Jordan had put his good time before the team's good.

After 6 1/2 minutes Wednesday, Scottie Pippen sprained his left foot and left the game. He may not be able to play today against Utah.

Utah's Karl Malone, aided by votes of six Chicago sports writers, won the this season's award of the NBA's most valuable player. Jordan's reaction to Pippen's injury and Malone's honor will make for an interesting game today. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

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