The NBA / Chris Baker : Michael Jackson Leads a Life of Magic

Some basketball fans would love to trade places with Magic Johnson.

Johnson’s fantasy is to trade places with Michael Jackson.

“I’ll tell you what I would wish for if I could have any wish in the world,” Johnson told GQ magazine. “I’ll tell you what it would be: just once if I could get up on stage and be Michael Jackson, that is my fantasy.”

Johnson has gone on tour with Jackson, Prince and Stevie Wonder.

“That’s where you really find out what big time is,” Johnson continued. “But, man, I wouldn’t want to live that life. The security is unbelievable, and you never get a chance to grow up and be a regular person.

“But I would love to be able to make fans go crazy just like Michael does. As it is, I just try to make them go ‘Huh!’ ”

If forward Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers holds onto the National Basketball Assn. rebounding lead, he’ll be the shortest player to win the rebounding title since the 1950-51 season, when the NBA began compiling rebounding statistics.

Barkley is listed at 6 feet 6 inches but said that he’s actually 6-4 3/4 without shoes and 6-5 wearing basketball shoes.

The two shortest players to win the rebounding award were 6-6 Mel Hutchins of the old Milwaukee Hawks, who was the co-leader in 1951-52, and 6-5 Harry Gallatin of the New York Knicks, who did it in 1953-54.

Cedric Maxwell of the Houston Rockets thinks center Benoit Benjamin of the Clippers, 22, is going to develop into a fine player--in time.

“Ben will be a good player some day,” Maxwell said of his former teammate. “I just hope my grandkids live long enough to see it.”

Maxwell, 31, scored his 10,000th point in Monday night’s game against Denver.

The Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets for their ninth win of the season last Friday night, assuring themselves of no worse than a tie for the league’s all-time worst record with the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who were 9-73.

In a speech to the fans after the game, Coach Don Chaney gave thanks to God. That was in conjunction with the team’s “Gospel night” promotion.

Clipper guards Larry Drew, Darnell Valentine and rookie forward Steffond Johnson spoke, gave witness, as scheduled, and then Chaney, who was not slated to take part in the program, told the crowd that God has given him the strength to get through the team’s miserable season.

Gospel night has been one of the Clippers’ most successful promotions since the team moved here from San Diego three years ago, in more ways than one. Church groups are able to buy discount tickets on Gospel night, and the Clippers are unbeaten in three Gospel night games.

Some NBA teams will go to any lengths to avoid spending much time in Oakland--it’s frequently called Cokeland--where several players have had drug breakdowns. And all but one team has moved out of a hotel near the arena, which had a reputation for attracting drug dealers.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but the Clippers were scheduled to stay in Seattle after playing there Monday night, instead of flying to Oakland today for Thursday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers were supposed to practice in Seattle today and fly to Oakland Wednesday night. The team will bus to San Francisco after Thursday night’s game and catch a midnight flight back to Los Angeles.

Earlier this season, the Milwaukee Bucks arrived in Oakland on the morning of their game against the Warriors, then caught a red-eye flight to Houston immediately after the game.

The Houston Rockets also fly into and out of Oakland quickly.

During their recent eight-game western trip, the Boston Celtic starters were pretty busy. They played 80% of the time and accounted for 85% of the team’s points.

“If we get to the finals with the exact same lineup we have now, the starters will just play 45 minutes,” Celtic forward Kevin McHale told Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe. “For seven games, you can just play on adrenaline.”

Bill Walton, who has been out all season, was recently examined in Los Angeles by Dr. Tony Daly and has begun running on the beach. Walton hasn’t played basketball since last September.

With the addition of Mychal Thompson, the Lakers have four players who were selected first overall in the NBA draft.

The others are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy.