NBA Notebook : Jones, Auerbach Criticize McAdoo; Say He’s ‘Desperate for a Contract’

Not all of the critical comments made by K.C. Jones Tuesday were directed at what he perceives as the Lakers’ thugnacious play so far in the National Basketball Assn. championship series.

The coach of the Boston Celtics also criticized Laker forward Bob McAdoo.

He said that McAdoo’s inspired play in Game 3 Sunday--19 points and 6 rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench--is only a temporary condition.

“McAdoo is playing out of desperation to get a contract,” Jones said before Tuesday’s practice. “When he gets his contract, he’ll go back to being the same old McAdoo, bouncing from team to team.”

Red Auerbach, president of the Celtics, got a piece of that action, too. “He’s so hungry to stay on the job that he’s acting like a tough guy,” he said of McAdoo. “It’s only a matter of time before somebody gets him, because he’s throwing elbows.”

Next season, the 33-year-old McAdoo will be in the option year of his contract, which is not guaranteed. If the Lakers pick up the option, McAdoo will make $979,000--$324,000 of it deferred. McAdoo has said that the Lakers’ play in the championship series will determine his future with the club.

After playing with five other NBA teams, McAdoo said he wants to stay with the Lakers, and the recent upsurge in his play seems a strong indication of that.

In a turnabout after Game 3 Sunday, Cedric Maxwell, the Celtics’ outspoken forward, refused to talk to the press. It turned out that Maxwell’s vow of silence lasted just a day.

“I was just upset,” Maxwell said. “Upset about the game, upset about my play, the team’s play. It was a one-day thing, like using a headache for an excuse.”

Monday and Tuesday, Maxwell was talking again, and, as usual, he had a lot to say.

For one thing, he said, the Celtics aren’t playing as a team, and that is the main reason they trail the Lakers, two games to one.

“Individually, we’re having some great performances,” Maxwell said. “But, as a team, we’re not moving as much, not working as a unit. Kevin (McHale) is having a great offensive series, but the Celtics have never had just one individual scorer who can come out and hurt you. We usually have three guys score 19 points.

“We’re stagnant, predictable. We come down and set up, and if we don’t get an outside shot, we throw the ball inside to Kevin.”

Maxwell, who had arthroscopic knee surgery late in February, also said that he’d like to play more, but says he won’t talk to Jones about it. Sunday, Maxwell scored four points and had one rebound in 18 minutes.

“I want to get involved in some way,” Maxwell said. “At this stage, we need a player who can come through in a big game. It’s evident, from the past, that I can do that.”

Maxwell added, however, that since the operation, his jumping ability is off and he can’t move as well as before.

“It won’t be healed until next year,” he said. “But, as K.C. says, you just got to say, ‘What the hell,’ and go out there and play.”

The Celtics would like Kevin McHale to guard James Worthy and Larry Bird on Kurt Rambis, but it didn’t work out that way Sunday, when Worthy scored 29 points.

Bird said that since Worthy isn’t called upon to go for defensive rebounds, he makes an early departure to the offensive end and McHale is not able to pick him up. So, it’s left to Bird to guard Worthy.

Johnny Most, Celtic radio broadcaster, called Riley the dirtiest coach in the league Sunday, on the air. He also said that Kurt Rambis not only should have been thrown out of Game 3, but that he should be thrown out of the NBA. In another shot at Riley, Most told Boston listeners that Riley was a hoodlum as a player and a hoodlum as a coach.

Riley’s response: “That’s real objective broadcasting.”

McHale intimated that Riley is just trying to get the officials’ attention by complaining about the physical nature of the series.

“He’s just trying to keep this thing going in the newspapers so the referees will read it,” McHale said. “I’ve got to give him credit for working hard. Anybody would have to work hard to keep his hair in place that long.”