THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, April 22, 1996 TAG: 9604220135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
As the playoffs arrive, the pro basketball season has seemed like one, long Bulls session, a good thing most likely.
Contrary to popular belief, All Bulls All the Time is not the official slogan of the NBA, though you could probably get an argument about this inside the league's marketing department.
Chicago's successful quest for a record 70 victories, the presence of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, the Zen Master coach Phil Jackson, all this makes the Bulls, not the Dallas Cowboys, the closest thing now to America's Team.
When it comes to assessing the Bulls' 72-victory season, even Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf would have to stand and salute.
The flag flap created by Abdul-Rauf was a big, if slightly silly, story that took attention away from the Bulls for a few days.
Both sides came out of this looking bad: Abdul-Rauf for his confused spin on politics and religion; the NBA for denying a man his living for refusing to feign interest in a song the way everyone else does.
A more memorable moment for basketball, and America, was Magic Johnson's return to the Lakers. By coming back, Magic knocked war and peace off the covers of national news weeklies.
That Johnson later was one of three players suspended for roughing up refs created a public relations headache for the league.
Amazingly, though, the forearm-wielding Nick Van Exel, not the head-butting Rodman, has been designated the worst of the perpetrators.
In part, this is because America has tired of being outraged by Rodman. For the time being, Dennis the Menace isn't shocking anymore. Somewhere along the line, America stopped reacting to his hair rinses and tattoos.
Perhaps Rodman's weirdness has been eclipsed by the Bulls' inspired play. Why spend all day watching the circus geek when the high-wire act is so thrilling?
Now it's on to the second season, a place where the Bulls will establish themselves as a legendary team or an improbable disappointment.
``We have to win it, we have to win,'' Rodman says. ``If we don't win it, we might as well be done playing and go to Beirut or somewhere.''
The Bulls start out with a series that will take them to Miami, which is bad enough.
Recently, Pat Riley's collection of other team's stars has begun to resemble a group that could give the Bulls more of an early challenge than they'd like.
The best talent in Florida still belongs to the Orlando Magic, though. A renewal of last year's series between Shaq and Penny and Michael and Scottie - with Rodman thrown in for extra measure - is the best this star-driven league can hope for.
Detroit's Grant Hill is a newcomer to the second season. His participation will enhance the landscape. Meanwhile, warhorse Patrick Ewing will try to fan the cooling embers of the Knicks' postseason legacy. Cleveland's around to see what sort of mischief it can create with its 1964 offense, Indiana's hopes have been hurt by the injury to Reggie Miller, and Atlanta is still on the scene, one presumes, so that the playoffs can feature somebody named Mookie.
Rumor has it that the Western Conference also will take part in the playoffs. The Rockets, after all, are the defending champions, something that's easy to forget outside of Houston, and hard to stomach in Seattle, where the Sonics have built a reputation for underachievement.
Still, as the playoffs loom, Houston's title defense, Seattle's postseason stress, Shaq's free-throw shooting and anything else that doesn't relate to the Bulls couldn't seem less important to the image of the sport.
It's clear that between now and Father's Day, what's at stake is the championship of the National Basketbull Association. by CNB