Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991 TAG: 9102100131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Basketball competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics will include NBA players on the United States team, but maybe not the man who is arguably the sport's best player.
"I don't know if I'll want to do that," said Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls star who has returned to his home state for today's 41st All-Star Game. "It makes for an awfully long season."
Jordan said that going through workouts and the Barcelona Games after an eight-month NBA season "doesn't leave much room to relax. I'm caught up in a balance between the two.
"Then, I'd hate to see what happened to us in 1988 [a bronze medal in the Seoul Games] happen again."
Jordan helped the '84 U.S. squad to a gold medal.
Another NBA star who hasn't felt the Olympic experience is counting on going to Barcelona.
"I've done about everything else there is to do in basketball," said Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers. "The Olympics, that's the missing piece. I'm hoping I get a chance to play in the Olympics."
\ A USA Basketball subcommittee will meet here Monday and could select Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly as the '92 Olympic coach - although no one expects an announcement for a few weeks.
Daly is the favorite among the eight NBA-based members of the 13-man subcommittee. He has coached the Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles and would become the first NBA coach to guide the U.S. Olympic squad.
\ Somebody asked Charles Barkley on Saturday morning if he was unhappy about having to play in the All-Star Game.
The Philadelphia star forward started his answer with one of those glares usually reserved for officials and opponents.
"I never said I was unhappy to be here," said Barkley, an East starter who is just back from a stress fracture in one of his ankles. "Anybody would be a fool not to be happy to be in the All-Star Game.
"What I said was that it would be better for me to rest my ankle than play here. That only makes sense. I want to play the second half of the season, and a couple of days' rest probably would have helped me."
While Boston's Larry Bird (bad back) was allowed to skip his starting date in today's game, Barkley was told to play. Bird didn't go to the Celtics' last road game; Barkley played for the 76ers.
"If I hadn't played my last game, I wouldn't have to be here, is that right?" said Barkley, who is upset that no one in the Sixers' front office other than coach Jim Lynam thanked Barkley for returning to play before doctors said he would be ready.
"They said it was a slight stress fracture. What's a slight fracture? A fracture is a fracture."
Asked how many minutes he thought he would play today, Barkley quipped, "about 40."
\ At NBA All-Star Saturday:
Chicago Bulls backup guard Craig Hodges defended his 1990 title in the 3-Point Shootout, winning the $20,000 top prize after an incredible semifinal round.
Hodges, in his ninth NBA season, defeated Portland Trail Blazers point guard Terry Porter 17-12 in the final. In the four-man semifinal round, Hodges made his first 19 shots and 21 of his first 22 to set a Shootout record.
Boston's Larry Bird held the Shootout mark with 11 straight hoops from beyond the NBA's 22-foot, 9-inch arc, in the original contest in 1986.
Orlando's Dennis Scott, the former Georgia Tech star, finished third. Hodges is 20-of-49 from 3-point land in the NBA's regular season.
In the Slam-Dunk Championship, Boston Celtics rookie guard Dee Brown and second-year big man Shawn Kemp of the Seattle SuperSonics battled into the final.
Brown, who bent over before each of his tries to "Pump" up his Reeboks, won the $20,000 championship, a title taken last year by Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins. The Hawks' forward didn't defend his title.
Charlotte guard Rex Chapman finished third, and Houston guard Kenny Smith, the former North Carolina playmaker, was the other semifinalist.
The East started the evening with a 41-34 victory against the West in the annual Legends Classic.
David Thompson, the former N.C. State star and now the Charlotte Hornets' director of community relations, led the winners with 12 points. George Gervin, who led the game in shots taken, topped the West with 11.
The two 10-player teams ranged in age from 57-year-old East guard Sam Jones - yes, he hit one of his patented bank shots - to East teammate Phil Ford, 35. Ford, a north Carolina assistant coach, was permitted to miss the Tar Heels' romp against Virginia on Saturday to play in the game.
by CNB