THE ATHLETE AND THE MEDIA : In Time, Abdul-Jabbar and McEnroe Have Learned the Press May Be as Big a Challenge as Their Foes on the Court : Sometimes, Bad Calls in the Paper Are Worse Than Those on the Court

John McEnroe’ admission last week that his girlfriend, Tatum O’Neal, is pregnant accomplished what McEnroe’s announcements usually do. It sparked controversy.

That’s because McEnroe had spent several weeks denying rumors that the Oscar-winning actress was carrying his child.

The entire incident was merely another flare-up in his on-again off-again feud with the press, one he wages with slightly less intensity than his ever-hot war with umpires, linesmen and tennis officials in general.

Last summer at Wimbledon, where personal questions are the order of any day, McEnroe tried to turn down the heat a little by making the trip to England without O’Neal.

The usual media battles occurred, anyway, with McEnroe getting into angry exchanges with reporters. Kevin Curren eliminated McEnroe in the quarterfinals.

O’Neal did travel with McEnroe to Australia for the recent Australian Open, a fact not missed by Australian reporters. Naturally, her presence drew questions, which McEnroe resented. A skirmish between Mac and the media ended in an ugly shoving and spitting incident, and McEnroe has since said: “I made an ass of myself.”

McEnroe lost in the quarterfinals and, because of various code violations, was fined $3,750 and will this week begin a 42-day suspension.

“I’m not happy with it,” McEnroe said. “It makes me think, as a person, I need to work on things.”

When McEnroe returned to Los Angeles, he revealed O’Neal’s condition in an interview with Pam King of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. The story was picked up across the country and the world, since it was the first time McEnroe had admitted to the pregnancy.

Last week at a press conference before an exhibition here, McEnroe was asked about the story. “Very fair,” he said. “It at least showed you my side of what is going on. Everything’s fairly clear and up front in this article.”

McEnroe said it surprised him, however, that newspapers would print a story, then other reporters would call him the next day to check the accuracy of the quotes.

“I hope that someday in this society we get to the point that people don’t have to call me about an article that was written yesterday, that if quotes are attributed to me, you should assume they are correct. Hopefully, at some point in this day and age, people can believe quotes.

“The media are asking me whether the quotes are accurate--that’s kind of funny, if you think about it. I’m not attacking the media.”

Martina Navratilova, who was seated next to McEnroe at the press conference, joined in: “He was responding to articles in Australia that were not true. I’ve had it happen to me. Where do you stop it?”

A reporter shouted, “You stop it by telling the truth.”

McEnroe shot back: “I’ve been telling the truth all my life. I’ve got news for you--it hasn’t gotten me anywhere as far as accuracy and fairness. After nine years of dealing with that, I’m just a little bit sick of it.

“If people are that accurate about what I said in Australia, why didn’t they listen to me months before when I said it in Europe. I had to go through the same thing there. Everywhere I go, I deal with the same problem.

“It upsets me simply that I get cynical people who will come up to me and I think they are not going to see the problem fairly.”

Referring to the Herald story, McEnroe said, “That’s one of the first articles I’ve read in a long time. I was worried because I figure I haven’t seen anyone in the last couple of years who has really given me a fair shake.

“I think it was me talking, there’s no doubt about it. You take what you want to believe out of that story. I can tell by the tone of the girl’s voice, that she was interested in what I had to say as a person and as a human being and therefore I ended up telling her something I would have preferred not to tell her.

“I asked her not to print that part of it. But I said, ‘If you do, it’s certainly not going to surprise me.’ ”

King said: “(McEnroe) said, ‘I’d prefer you not to print it,’ but he didn’t go off the record. I prefered to print it.”

Whatever is said about McEnroe, whether you like his style of play or his personal style, the man is usually honest. He doesn’t duck questions and he can be brutally honest about himself.

On another subject, McEnroe said: “What I would like to see done is for players to take more control of their sport,” he said. “They truly care about it. It’s such a shame, they make us play so much. I think you are going to see 23-year-old who are burned out on tennis. It’s too bad. Most people don’t know what’s going on in tennis. After you bang your head against the wall enough times, it starts hurting.”

His anger about the way tennis is run is based on a genuine love for the game. He has long been active in the players’ council and other organizational groups. McEnroe does not just criticize, he also suggests ways to make things better.

Perhaps that is the heart of it: His zeal for perfection drives McEnroe to push himself and others. Sometimes other people don’t mind mediocrity.

‘I hope that someday in this society that we get to the point that people don’t have to call me about an article that was written yesterday, that if quotes are attributed to me, you should assume they are correct.’

--JOHN McENROE