The NBA / Gordon Edes : Abdul-Jabbar Sees Age-Old Problem Through New Eyes

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived in Atlanta with the rest of the Lakers Monday night, on the observance of the 58th birthday of native son Martin Luther King Jr.

Two nights before, in his hotel room, Abdul-Jabbar had watched the news reports of the brotherhood march that had taken place 30 miles north of there, in all-white Forsyth County, a march that ended in ugliness and confrontation, with jeering whites pelting blacks with insults and worse.

“It was like 25 years hadn’t passed,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “It didn’t surprise me.”

While the episode recalled the civil-rights marches so prevalent during Abdul-Jabbar’s youth, there was a difference, the Laker center said.

“It’s gotten a lot more complex,” he said. “Twenty-five years ago, the apparatus of state and local government would have been against the marchers. That has changed. But some people still have bigoted ideas.

“I don’t think blacks will be intimidated at all. They’ll fight back. But as far as stopping racism, some people will never be convinced. It’s something we’ll have to live with.

“It’s a lot more widespread than we like to think. From Cumming, Ga., to Howard Beach (in Queens, N.Y., where a gang of white youths attacked three black youths, one of whom was killed), everywhere you look. But tolerance has spread a lot more, too.”

Asked what kind of world he expected his children will encounter, Abdul-Jabbar said: “All I know is that things are a whole lot better than when I was in high school. (On) the TV report, they interviewed one bystander who said she was shocked by what happened.

“It’s not like those (the hecklers) are the only people in Cumming, Ga., who have an opinion. They may have been the only ones who voiced their opinion. But you can’t paint the whole county as bigots.”

There was a time in his life when Abdul-Jabbar would have jumped at the chance to point an accusing finger at whites collectively.

“It was real easy, then,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

But he, too, has changed.

Giving it to the Max: A sellout crowd of 14,890 at the Boston Garden gave Cedric Maxwell, the former Clipper and Celtic, a standing ovation when he made his debut for the Houston Rockets Sunday.

“Welcome back, baby,” Larry Bird said to Maxwell, before scoring two quick baskets on his ex-teammate.

Maxwell scored five points in 17 minutes. Said Houston Coach Bill Fitch: “Discount whatever you saw out there today. He had not practiced with us and when I sent him in, we just made up a couple of plays for him to run up and down the court.”

Hot shots: The Boston Celtics made 38 of 39 free throws in a 133-128 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last Friday, including 9 of 9 in overtime. Kevin McHale (8 of 9) was the only Celtic who missed.

Wild shots: Milwaukee Buck backup center Randy Breuer made only 6 of 19 shots from the floor and 2 of 8 free throws in a 124-122 loss to the Dallas Mavericks last Friday night. Breuer missed four free throws in eight seconds.

Bill Hanzlik has played every position for the Denver Nuggets, who were forced to use him at center because of injuries, even though he’s only 6 feet 7 inches. Someone suggested he might as well coach, too.

Said Nugget Coach Doug Moe: “Yeah, he’d be perfect because he has no idea what he’s doing.”

All Bark, no bite: Before the Philadelphia 76ers played the Chicago Bulls last Saturday night, Charles Barkley said he wanted to guard Michael Jordan one-on-one.

“He’s not going to embarrass me,” said Barkley, who could joke about it knowing that guards Julius Erving and David Wingate would draw the defensive assignment. “He can’t score 37 or 43 points on me. I’ll break every bone in his body. When he gets up to about 30 points, I’m going to foul him every time he gets the ball.

“He won’t score 37 on us. . . . He might get 42, but not 37.”

Jordan scored 47 in the Bulls’ win . . . and survived intact.

John Lucas, the 33-year-old guard who was recently picked up by the Bucks, has been nailed for cocaine use four times in his career--in 1978 with the Golden State Warriors, in 1980 with the Washington Bullets, in 1984 with the Rockets, and with the Rockets again in 1986.

But the first two incidents occurred before the current NBA drug policy went into effect, a policy that states a player who voluntarily turns himself in for treatment will be given three chances.

On his latest comeback, Lucas was quoted as saying: “Everything is a gamble. Our program needs to be tested in real life. It needs to be given a chance.

“Despite all the knowledge I’ve gained, I’m acutely aware of the fact that I have a disease that wants me back. My dad used to tell me that things you spend years building can be destroyed overnight, but build them anyway.

“If I can give anything back to those who follow me with this disease, then all this will be worthwhile.”