Whose Last Season? Kareem on Verge of Signing Again

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has had serious financial reverses recently, is close to signing a contract extension with the Lakers for the 1987-88 National Basketball Assn. season. He said, however, that his money problems aren’t forcing him to continue playing.

“The signing of Kareem is imminent,” Laker General Manager Jerry West said Tuesday of the 7-foot 2-inch center.

At 39 the NBA’s oldest player and leading scorer, Abdul-Jabbar, who previously had indicated he would retire after the coming season, said he has talked to West for more than a year about extending his $2-million contract. Serious talks began in July about playing beyond this, his 18th NBA season.

Abdul-Jabbar is suing Tom Collins, his former agent and business manager for $55 million, claiming mismanagement of funds and fraud that have left Abdul-Jabbar unable to pay his debts.

Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview that the alleged losses were not his motivation for playing beyond this season. “I’m not going to play just to be taking down a check,” he said. “I still want to contribute, and if I have something to contribute, I’ll stay another year. “At this point, I can’t speak forever, but the financial thing we’ve been able to keep at bay. But it’s been very difficult and it’s still not resolved yet. That’s all I can say about it.

“Jerry (West) has been talking to me, and when we gave him positive signs back, it seemed that something might happen. Before the season starts, even, we might do something. . . . The Lakers, starting in July (1985), really, started talking to my people a couple of times about me playing another year. That was before anything that had to do with Tom came to light.”

Abdul-Jabbar, who will be 40 when the 1986-87 season playoffs start, said he hasn’t thought much about retirement. He said he will retire when he can no longer be a dominant player at his position. Abdul-Jabbar averaged 23.4 points a game last season, his highest average since 1981-82. He was named to the All-NBA team for the 10th time.

West indicated that Abdul-Jabbar will earn at least $2 million for the 1987-88 season. West also said he believed that money is not the primary reason for Abdul-Jabbar’s intention to continue playing.

“We’re looking at it like this: If he feels like he really wants to play, we have to be thrilled by that,” West said. “We don’t have to look beyond that for any other reason.”

As in his previous contracts, Abdul-Jabbar probably will have an option that will enable him to walk away from the agreement during the next off-season if he decides to retire.

“At the end of this season, if I feel good about next year and the Lakers feel good about me coming back, then I’ll come back,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I’m playing now because I want to play, and the Lakers want me to play. I think I belong.”

Leonard Armato, Abdul-Jabbar’s attorney, said there is no rush to sign a contract.

“If Kareem knows, in his heart, that he wants to play, everyone will let him,” Armato said. “Physically, he could play five more years if he wanted to. He’s going to take it year by year.”

Abdul-Jabbar called his lawsuit against Collins “a real mess” but declined to comment specifically on it because it is in litigation. Abdul-Jabbar confirmed that he has suffered heavy financial losses but said he is not seriously in debt.

Abdul-Jabbar’s 68-page lawsuit seeks $5 million in general damages and $50 million in punitive damages. It states: “(Collins) mismanaged (Abdul-Jabbar’s) finance to such an extent that (Abdul-Jabbar) was frequently required to borrow money from (Collins) in order to meet living expenses. . . .”

The suit, filed July 18, also alleges that Collins, who had complete control over Abdul-Jabbar’s personal and business finances from Nov. 15, 1980, to Jan. 31, 1986, made a series of multimillion-dollar real estate deals on Abdul-Jabbar’s behalf and also had Abdul-Jabbar sign bank notes obligating him for complete liability in the investments, even though Abdul-Jabbar did not have controlling interest.

Collins, who filed a cross-complaint against Abdul-Jabbar Aug. 22 for breach of contract, denied all of Abdul-Jabbar’s charges in an answer to the complaint the same day. Repeated attempts to reach Collins have failed. A spokesman contacted by phone at Collins’ office said he was out of town.

Donald P. Rivers, Collins’ attorney, said: “(Tom) is obviously hurt and disappointed by this. He and Kareem had a pretty good relationship for a long time, but it’s too bad it had to end with a lot of finger pointing.”

Collins’ countersuit claims that Abdul-Jabbar refused to pay Collins’ commission from his Laker contracts since 1980 and also his commission from Abdul-Jabbar’s shoe contract with Adidas. Collins is asking for $382,050.03 in damages.

Abdul-Jabbar, who said in his suit that he did not read any of the documents Collins had him sign because of his “complete faith and trust” in his agent, became aware of irregularities in his finances last fall. At that time, Abdul-Jabbar hired Ernst and Whinney to audit his financial situation.

The suit states: “Upon completion of the preliminary audit, (Abdul-Jabbar) discovered, for the first time, that many of the . . . limited partnerships and corporations were suffering severe financial difficulties . . . that (Abdul-Jabbar) lacked sufficient capital to meet the cash requirements of the various partnerships, that (Collins) failed to select investments suitable for (Abdul-Jabbar) in light of (Abdul-Jabbar’s) foreseeable reduction in income based upon Abdul-Jabbar’s impending retirement from professional basketball.”

The independent audit found, among other things, that Abdul-Jabbar:

--Lost $300,000 from an investment in cattle feed and $25,000 in the commodities and securities market.

--Had to pay in excess of $182,000 in penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service because Collins failed to file Abdul-Jabbar’s 1982 tax returns until March of 1985. Collins, the audit found, also filed Abdul-Jabbar’s tax returns from 1980, 1981 and 1983 late.

--Had not been paid $13,000 he was owed after Collins sold a car that was owned by Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar alleges that Collins kept the money.

--Was charged more than $9,000 for basketball tickets Collins bought from the Al Brooks Theater Ticket Agency.

--Was unaware that Collins had borrowed money from his other clients to pay debts charged to Abdul-Jabbar, and was also unaware that Collins had borrowed more than $213,000 from Abdul-Jabbar to pay other clients’ debts.

Collins, once one of the most powerful agents in professional basketball, also counted among his clients Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets, Terry Cummings of the Milwaukee Bucks, Alex English of the Denver Nuggets, Brad Davis of the Dallas Mavericks and Ricky Sobers of the Seattle SuperSonics.

All but Cummings have dropped Collins as an agent in recent months, a source said. However, Rivers said Collins is still in business.

“As far as his other clients are concerned, everything is up in the air,” Rivers said. “As the litigation ebbs and flows, so has his relationship and the emotions of his clients.”

Cummings, a free agent, still retains Collins to negotiate a contract but said he no longer uses him as a business manager.

“I handle it myself now,” Cummings said. “We (Collins’ clients) have suffered quite a bit. There are problems, that’s evident. But I don’t think it’s anything that can’t be overcome.

“I understand how Kareem feels. A lot of us would feel that way. But I don’t think any of us are in that much trouble. I found out from Tom a lot of things that haven’t been in the open yet.”

Sampson is now represented by attorney Bruce Stockburger of Roanoke, Va. According to a source, Sampson met with Collins in Los Angeles after Abdul-Jabbar had filed his lawsuit. Soon afterward, Sampson removed his financial records from Collins’ control, the source said.