ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
Dennis Rodman booted a cameraman, and on Friday the NBA kicked back.
Rodman, the flamboyant Chicago Bulls forward, was given the second-longest suspension in league history. The NBA ordered him to sit out at least 11 games, undergo counseling and pay a $25,000 fine.
His latest outburst, kicking courtside videographer Eugene Amos in the groin during a game Wednesday night in Minneapolis, is the most expensive of Rodman's strange and eventful career.
``He's certainly lost his incentive money. I would think the 11 games of his non-deferred money is going to be well over a million dollars,'' said Jerry Krause, the Bulls' general manager.
Rodman has a one-year, $9 million contract, calling for $6.4 million this season and the remaining $2.6 million to be paid in installments every three years between 2024 and 2039. To earn all of his incentives this season, reports say he would have to play 79 games.
It is the third suspension for Rodman since he joined the Bulls in October 1995. Last season, he helped Chicago to a league-record 72 wins and the NBA title.
The latest suspension, which began Friday night when the Bulls played Milwaukee, could be longer than 11 games, a stretch that runs through the Feb.9 All-Star Game. After undergoing counseling, Rodman must meet after the break with NBA commissioner David Stern and tell him why he should be reinstated.
``Until Dennis can provide meaningful assurances that he will conform his conduct on the playing court to acceptable standards - including not placing others at physical risk - his suspension will continue,'' Stern said in New York.
``I think the league did what it felt it had to do and we certainly don't condone what Dennis did,'' said Krause. ``Dennis did this, that's a fact of life, and he's going to have to get this straightened out with the league.''
Krause said he informed the team of the suspension Friday morning at a meeting attended by Rodman. Rodman, the NBA's leading rebounder, was not available for comment.
The National Basketball Players Association said it would take legal action to challenge the penalties against Rodman and would challenge the league's policy allowing photographers to sit near the playing surface.
``While we do not condone Dennis' actions, the discipline the league seeks to impose is excessive and unprecedented,'' said Bill Hunter, executive director of the NBPA. ``We have filed a grievance today, and we intend to forcefully challenge the league's action.''
The only longer suspension of an NBA player came in 1977 when Kermit Washington of the Los Angeles Lakers was suspended 26 games for punching Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich.
``This is excessive and unjust,'' said Rodman's agent, Dwight Manley. ``There's no precedent for it whatsoever, and to say he needs professional help from a counselor is unfair. He's perfectly sane and cognizant, and besides, it's a team's job to attend to a player's mental affairs. And the Bulls are happy with his state of mind.''
Rodman was suspended by the team for two games earlier this season for making profane comments during a live postgame TV interview. Last season he was suspended by the league for six games after head-butting a referee.
Rodman missed 18 games last season because of injury and suspension; the Bulls went 15-3 during the span.
``I would imagine that everybody's disappointed when you lose a guy who's going out there and getting 16 or 17 rebounds a game,'' said Jason Caffey, who will start in Rodman's place.
Krause said he expects the Bulls, who have the league's best record, to rally around Rodman, who has won five straight NBA rebounding titles, during and after the suspension.
Amos, meanwhile, talked to police Friday morning in Minneapolis.
``I'm embarrassed,'' he said. ``I feel really humiliated. I grew up in Chicago and the Bulls have been my idols for as long as I can remember. I'm very hurt by this, very hurt indeed.''
Minneapolis police Sgt. Pete Jackson said his department hasn't yet decided whether to file charges against Rodman. If an assault charge is filed, it most likely will be fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Dennis Rodman (right) watches while cameraman Eugeneby CNBAmos awaits medical attention after being kicked by Rodman. color. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL