Charity game won’t save NBA players, their league

Thursday, December 10, 1998

Charity game won’t save

NBA players, their league

COLUMN: Basketball fans turn to hypocritical event for action
during lockout

Since this is my last column of the quarter, I’d like to take
this opportunity to write about something that is sure to be as
timely when we return as it is today.

The NBA, which must be an acronym for Nothing But Agitation, is
in the midst of a bitter situation that we call the lockout.

It seems that it’s not just going to be a lockout, as it’s
turned into throw away the key, get rid of any honor and pride that
the National Basketball Association ever had and cancel the season
type of thing.

With the cancellation of this year’s All-Star game in
Philadelphia, it seems that the almighty himself, David Stern, has
finally thrown in the towel. Not to say that the All-Star game is
top-notch basketball, but it is always entertaining and it is a
collaboration of the greatest athletes in sports, all in one event.
Plus, I heard that since Philly is Allen Iverson’s hometown, he was
going to wear an afro and knee-high socks (I swear that I’m not
making this up), in the likely case that he would have been chosen
for this year’s game. That would have been a sight to behold, for I
am fully supportive of anything old school.

As a consolation of sorts, some players are getting together to
hold a charity event. These events were set up by two of the most
powerful agents in the world of sports, Arn Tellem and David Falk.
Tellem and Falk represent the majority of the superstars in the NBA
which means that their players will play in the game.

The superstars that have already committed to the game include
Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, Tim
Hardaway, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond and Vin Baker. Players invited
and likely to play but not committed include Shaq, Charles Barkley,
Grant Hill, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

Other players that would like to attend but weren’t invited
include Larry Johnson, Derrick Coleman and Nick Van Exel. It’s a
good thing that Van Exel is not invited, because he’d probably want
to go to Cancun halfway through the game. In case you forgot, it
was Van Exel that was chanting, "I’m going to Cancun, I’m going to
Cancun," during timeouts in the Lakers’ game-four loss to the Jazz
in the conference finals last year.

This could be the biggest basketball game in the history of the
world. Unfortunately, tickets for this Dec. 19 game in Atlantic
City will cost anywhere from $25 to $1000. The game will, however,
be televised by Showtime.

I would be in full-throttle support of this game except for one
huge reason – the "charity" that the revenue from the game is going
to is the FSNPC. That acronym stands for the Financially Strapped
NBA Players Charity. I will not support any grown man who does not
have sense enough to save some of his millions for a rainy day.
Even those making the league minimum ($270,000) should have more
than enough saved to worry about money.

If they’re going to donate to players that are going broke, I
think they should include Latrell Sprewell. That guy sure got a raw
deal and personally, I think everybody should donate to his
cause.

Oh yeah, and Michael Jordan will not be playing. Why? He says
that it’s because he does not want to give the false impression
that he is coming back, should there be an NBA season sometime in
the near future. My guess is that he already made a decision and
loves keeping the media in a constant quandary. My gut tells me
that he is chuckling over the plethora of articles and features
debating if he is or isn’t coming back.

I think that Dave Stern even realizes that there is going to be
no season. He recently shaved his grizzly beard that he said he was
going to grow it throughout the duration of the strike.

Doesn’t Stern realize that nobody cares about the NBA
anyway?

A recent ESPN SportsZone poll showed that more than 70 percent
of visitors to the site have no regrets if there is no season.

The NBA, once on the verge of overtaking baseball as the
national pastime, has slid into oblivion. The selfishness on both
sides of the issue is creating such a rift between the fans and the
players that it’s making the baseball strike in 1994 look like a
campy sing-along.

But since I’m a baseball fan at heart, it just makes me smile.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the 1998 baseball
season was the best ever to occur.

Evan Lovett gives a special shout out to those who made him what
he is today. Evan can be reached at [email protected]
Lovett

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