The NBA / Thomas Bonk : Drew Comes Clean Again, Is Set to Return, Probably With Jazz

John Drew, now a free agent, said he is also free of drugs and expects to be playing again before the end of the season, probably with the Utah Jazz.

“It’s a matter of when they want me back,” Drew said. “It’s only a matter of time. I will be back.”

Drew left the Jazz and the NBA Dec. 8, four days after he had taken a urinalysis and tested positively for cocaine. Drew’s contract with the Jazz provided for weekly testing and he was caught on the 19th urinalysis this season.

The 30-year-old forward, who had been treated twice for use of cocaine, said he spent 40 days in a program at Pasadena Community Hospital, the same place where ex-Houston Rocket John Lucas was under treatment for his cocaine problem.

According to the NBA’s drug guidelines, a player is allowed to be treated for a drug problem only twice before he is expelled from the league. Drew’s drug history lists three such episodes, but since the first one occurred before the drug rules were in effect, he still has one strike left.

“This is just my second time under the rules,” Drew said. “I’m sure a lot of people think of me as a risk, but I know I can help a lot of teams and I’m anxious to get back, now more than ever.”

Since he is technically a free agent, Drew could sign with any team, although it appears that Utah has the most interest. The Jazz has been hard-pressed to make up for the loss of Drew’s 16.2 points a game coming off the bench.

Frank Layden, Utah’s coach and general manager, allows Drew to attend practice sessions in Salt Lake City as a spectator but has been reluctant to sign him to another contract until Drew has proven he is succeeding in an after-care program.

Drew maintains that he is already on the road back.

“I’m doing what I have to do to take care of myself,” he said. “I feel good about myself.”

Drew said he has received a great deal of support from an unexpected source, the Mormon community in Salt Lake City.

“My problem was drugs, and they have all been sympathetic,” Drew said. “They know I’m human and we all make mistakes. I’m not saying I shouldn’t be punished. But if a drug problem is associated with a disease, why should I always be tortured about it?

“As far as getting loaded, getting high, well, I’m not loaded now,” Drew said. “I can’t say about tomorrow. But I’m taking it one day at a time.”

Former Laker Coach Paul Westhead has a new job. He began teaching two freshman writing courses Monday at Marymount Palos Verdes College.

Westhead, who earned a BA in English at St. Joseph’s and an MA in English at Villanova, is teaching an expository writing course and an analytical writing course at the two-year college.

In addition, he will teach two basketball classes with the idea of forming a school team in the future.

He has always been a starter, except for his rookie season in Philadelphia, but World B. Free is beginning to think that he could add a few more years to his career, and possibly a few more zeroes in his next contract, now that he’s a sixth man at Cleveland.

“I suppose I’ll get some more bids from other teams once my contract is up because I’m showing I can come off the bench,” said Free, 30.

Free’s three-year, $1.7-million contract will expire after next season. Cleveland signed him because he can score and Free knows that. He is developing into a three-point specialist and had a simple explanation for why he looks for the 25-foot shots.

“Because they’re there,” he said.

From where he sits, Hubie Brown believes the New York Knicks’ record this season is all a matter of how you look at it.

The Knicks have not had Bill Cartwright, their 7-1 center who has a broken foot, or 7-0 backup Marvin Webster, who has had hepatitis, all season. They also lost Bernard King, their best player and the NBA’s scoring leader, for 16 games because of injury.

“You take Moses Malone out of the Philly lineup for the season, then (backup center) Clemon Johnson, then lose Julius Erving for a third of the season and see what they would do,” Brown said.

King’s absence has not dimmed Brown’s opinion of him.

“If you’re talking about making key baskets, you would have a difficult time picking two or three guys any better,” Brown said. “He’s like a bird. Not (Larry) Bird, but a bird. When he attacks the basket, he has this swooping, ballet style.

“When he lifts off, he looks like he’s flying and the next thing you know he shifts gears and explodes. And all of that happens when he’s in the air.”

The NBA’s all-time leader in steals is guard Gus Williams of the Washington Bullets.

But don’t suggest to Williams that his record is tainted because the league only began keeping track of steals in 1973.

“I don’t care if they started it yesterday,” said Williams. “A record is a record.”

Rocket Coach Bill Fitch is exposing a thin skin to criticism in the Houston press.

After reporter Robert Falkoff’s story quoted Rocket guard Mitchell Wiggins as saying that the team’s offense sometimes appeared stagnant, Fitch made Wiggins stand up and read the story aloud to his teammates in the locker room.

Fitch did the same thing to Ralph Sampson last season after Sampson had been quoted as saying that Fitch’s practices were too long.