Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 12, 1995 TAG: 9504120059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BAKER LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fascinated by the nation's capital, Muresan visited the White House, the Capitol and the national zoo, where a strange thing happened.
A huge grizzly bear took one look at the 7-foot-7, 330-pound Muresan and scrambled into its cave.
Thinking it a coincidence, Muresan returned later, but again the bear ran back into its den.
``Every time he saw me, he would go back into his den,'' Muresan said through an interpreter.
Fans have similar reactions.
``Look at No.77,'' a teen-ager said to his companion as they gawked at Muresan before a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Forum. ``He must be 8 feet tall.''
Muresan doesn't like being viewed as a freak. ``People always comment,'' he said. ``I'm used to it. You're used to doing your job every day, I'm used to being this tall.''
Nicknamed Ghita (GEET-za), which translates to ``tiny,'' by his teammates in the French league when he was playing there, Muresan is anything but.
Like the late wrestler, Andre the Giant, Muresan's size is the result of a pituitary gland disorder. Although Muresan was nearly 7 feet when he was 14, his father is only 5-9 and his mother, who died of cancer in 1993, was 5-7.
Doctors removed a benign tumor from his pituitary in the summer of 1993. If Muresan hadn't had the operation, he would have had a life expectancy of 45 and might have gone blind.
The Bullets, who selected Muresan as a project in the second round of the '93 draft, have spent more than $1 million on his medical care.
Awkward and clumsy, Muresan struggled last season, averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds. But he has steadily improved.
``I always lived with this idea in my head that other people thought I was playing basketball just because of my height,'' Muresan said. ``I wanted to prove that I wasn't playing basketball just because of my height, but that I was good at it. I was always obsessed with that idea.''
Perhaps the only NBA player who has a personal running coach, Muresan also improved his footwork and conditioning. He still drags his legs when he runs, but his coordination has improved.
Even so, his vertical leap is measured in inches, not feet.
Bullet general manager John Nash said, however, that he wouldn't trade Muresan for 7-6 center Shawn Bradley of the Philadelphia 76ers, the second pick in the 1993 NBA draft.
``I took a lot of guff when I said that ... but that's the way I feel,'' said Nash, who was general manager of the 76ers before joining the Bullets.
``No pun intended, but Gheorghe has become a huge factor for us.''
Jim Lynam, who drafted Bradley as the 76ers' general manager before becoming Bullet coach this season, had been skeptical about Muresan.
``I thought his inability to get up and down the court and his lack of lateral movement would be a huge problem that he couldn't overcome, but I couldn't have been more wrong,'' Lynam said.
``To be honest, I didn't know the fellow. He's a hard-working guy. I guess he went home for six weeks to Romania last summer, but when he came back, he put in three no-nonsense months, working six days a week with our conditioning coach. It's not a coincidence that he's improved the way he has.''
Muresan has made a dramatic transformation this season. Signed to a $5.2-million, four-year contract last summer, he replaced Kevin Duckworth at center after Duckworth ate himself out of a job.
Muresan, with a feather-like shooting touch, has led the Bullets in field-goal percentage for two seasons. This season, he has averaged 9.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and shot 57.3 percent. After averaging 12 minutes a game last season, he has averaged 22.7 this season.
``He dang sure is a candidate for most improved player,'' Lynam said after Muresan scored a career-high 30 points in 38 minutes during a 110-98 loss to the Boston Celtics Sunday. ``The biggest and most obvious difference is that he's able to stay in the game. He's playing [more] minutes.''
Celtic coach Chris Ford agreed.
``Gheorghe is probably the most improved player in the league this year,'' Ford said. ``[Sunday] was no fluke. He deserves a lot of praise. He's a big force.''
by CNB