The NBA / Thomas Bonk : Michael Jordan to Have Foot Unwrapped Before Christmas

In less than two weeks, Michael Jordan will get the cast taken off his foot. Not long after that, perhaps as soon as Christmas, Jordan thinks he will be ready to play again for the Chicago Bulls.

“Michael is too optimistic,” said Bull Coach Stan Albeck, who believes Jan. 1 is a more realistic date for Jordan to play his first game since breaking a bone in his left foot Oct. 29.

Jordan has been keeping a low profile since his injury. He does not travel with the Bulls and does not sit on the bench during home games.

In his only interview since the cast was put on his foot, Jordan said he has purposely avoided being too close to the Bulls while unable to play.

“They need their own identity,” Jordan said. “If I were with them now, I’d take a lot of that away if I even went to the game. They need their own focus, so I’m trying to let them prosper.”

As part of his policy of detachment, Jordan watched only the first half of the Bulls’ loss at Portland on television Friday night. Normally, he doesn’t even watch a half.

“I just can’t do it,” Jordan said. “All I wind up doing is counting the days until I get back. I know I’m not a part of the team. I’m just a spectator now. Until this happened, I had played basketball every day for the last nine years. Now, I can’t even touch a basketball. You can’t imagine how much that hurts.”

The Bulls aren’t feeling very good themselves with Jordan out of the lineup.

Last season, they were a playoff team, but the Bulls are 7-13 this season and have missed Jordan, especially down the stretch of most games. Jordan thinks so, anyway.

“The problem they’re having is trying to jell the chemistry all over again,” he said. “Since I’m not there, they’ve got to re-establish their plan. In the fourth quarter, I can see they’re looking for me. Well, I’m not there, so they don’t know what to do.”

One thing the Bulls did, before Jordan was hurt, was to trade for George Gervin, a principal in the only Jordan controversy so far.

Jordan was quoted as saying he was not happy when the Bulls got Gervin from San Antonio, but he says now it had nothing to do with a highly publicized incident in the All-Star game last season.

Gervin, on the West team, and Isiah Thomas, on Jordan’s East team, were supposed to have been ringleaders of a teach-Michael-humility movement by squeezing Jordan more tightly than necessary on defense and freezing him out on offense.

“When I said I wasn’t happy with the trade, it wasn’t anything against Gervin,” Jordan said. “It was that Rod (Higgins) has to get cut to allow some money to be paid for Gervin, and Rod was one of the best defensive players on the team. But I don’t have any control of the dollars on this team.

“The incident at the All-Star game was something that was blown out of proportion,” Jordan said. “I didn’t know for sure if Gervin did those things, so I can’t judge him on that. I told him when he got to Chicago that we’re teammates now, so we should act like it.”

If that Gervin-Jordan feud is over, there may be another one coming up quickly. General Manager Jerry Krause apparently assured Jordan that no Bull guard would ever make more money than he would.

So guess who makes the most money in the Bulls’ backcourt? That’s right, it’s Gervin, whose base salary is $750,000. Jordan makes $610,000 and won’t reach the million-a-season mark until 1989, the sixth year of his seven-year contract.

Quintin Dailey, another Bull guard, thinks all the problems the team has will be gone once Jordan comes back.

“There’s room for more than one star on this team,” he said.

Memo: To Tom Collins. Re: Ralph Sampson

Dear Tom:

Did you hear what happened with your client last week? Ralph hasn’t had a real dazzling season, so after he scored two points in a defeat at Portland, Ray Patterson, the general manager of the Rockets, asked Ralph if he was unhappy in Houston and whether he wished to get out.

Ralph said he was just not playing so great, nothing else.

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Patterson’s response:

“There’s no way, no way, you will ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever play for the L.A. Lakers. Ever.”

By rough count, that’s two ‘no ways’ and seven ‘evers.’ Think he means it?

We understand, meanwhile, that privately, the Lakers haven’t given up hope of eventually bringing Ralph to the Lakers. No matter what Patterson says.

Here is a short item about the Atlanta Hawks’ 5-5 guard Anthony (Spud) Webb.

The Hawks have petitioned the NBA to change Webb’s uniform number from 4 to .4.

Webb said he has little objection.

“That’s fine, just as long as they don’t give me a fraction,” he said.

The Sacramento Kings leaped to the front in the race for this season’s award as bonehead franchise of the year.

Not only have they managed to ruin a perfectly good chance at the draft lottery by signing free agent Terry Tyler, they also gave up their No. 1 draft choice so the Pistons would waive their right of first refusal.

Many general managers were stunned, because King General Manager Joe Alexson had spoken out at the summer’s league meetings to assure them the Kings would build from within, using their draft choices.

At the same time, Tyler wasn’t too thrilled about being in Sacramento. After playing every game in his seven-year career, Tyler’s consecutive game streak was ended at 574 by King Coach Phil Johnson in Tyler’s first week with the team.

“I learned there’s no such thing as loyalty or dedication in the NBA,” an angry Tyler said. “I played hurt, sick, even with a broken nose. I won’t ever play hurt again. It’s obviously not worth it.”

The Clippers, who aren’t interested in Lancaster Gordon, have finally found a team that is. The Phoenix Suns, desperate for help, seem willing to take Gordon off the Clippers’ hands.

Gordon has three years left on a fully guaranteed, all-cash contract of $200,000, $250,000 and $400,000.

Also, the Mavericks are still trying to peddle Dale Ellis, who last week was rumored to be heading to the Knicks for a No. 1 draft pick or Darrell Walker. Ellis is in hot water in Dallas after refusing to play in a game last week against Sacramento. He was quickly fined $2,744, or 1/82 of his $225,000 salary.