NBA Notes : Jordan Says He Deserves to Be MVP

Unlike his main rivals for Most Valuable Player this season, Michael Jordan believes there is only one choice for the award -- Michael Jordan.

“I’ll be disappointed if I don’t win it,” the Chicago Bulls’ All-Star said. “I deserve it more than I did last season.”

Jordan is averaging two points per game less than he did a year ago, when he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history with more than 3,000 points in a season. But it’s not points that convinced Jordan that he is the man to take the award that the Lakers’ Magic Johnson won in 1987.

“I’m illustrating more all-around skills this season,” Jordan said. “The team is winning and I’m shooting much better. I never understood what the credentials of an MVP are, but I know I’ve improved.”

Jordan is proud of his league-leading 3.2 steals per game, which effectively disputes any charge that he puts out most of his effort on offense. In addition, he’s improved his shooting from 47 percent to 53 percent.

“Last year, Michael had to take five shots a game to beat the shot clock and he’s not having to do that this season,” Bulls Coach Doug Collins said. “He’s taking better shots and that’s making the team better.”

Johnson and Boston’s Larry Bird have been non-commital recently about who is most deserving of the MVP.

“It’s hard to choose between Magic, Michael, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and myself,” Bird said. “You could pick any one of those and not go wrong.”

Eighty media members who regularly cover the NBA pick the league’s MVP.

The salary cap system currently in force in the NBA includes a minimum team payroll of aproximately $5.4 million this season, and the league says it is uncertain whether a minimum will apply to the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat when those two expansion teams begin play next season.

The NBA says the decision is subject to collective bargaining, but the league is playing this season without a contract, and no negotiating sessions are planned. That leaves the Hornets and Heat scratching their heads while preparing for the expansion draft in June.

“We’re totally in the dark about whether we will be required to meet a minimum,” Charlotte general manager Carl Scheer said, “so we’re not going to take salary requirements into account when we go through the dispersal draft. That will be the lead of our considerations.”

If the expansion teams have to meet a minimum payroll, it would essentially force them to include several higher-salaried veterans on their roster.

“We’re going to try to mix veterans and young players to build a foundation for the future,” Scheer said.

In his first 42 games after returning from alcohol rehabilitation on Jan. 27, Golden State’s Chris Mullin averaged 21.0 points. Before leaving the Warriors on Dec. 10, he averaged 17.6.

Seattle’s Dale Ellis, Xavier McDaniel and Tom Chambers will be the third trio in NBA history to average 20 points apiece for two consecutive seasons.

The others were Alex English, Dan Issel and Kiki Vandeweghe of Denver from 1981-83 and Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Clyde Lovellette of the St. Louis Hawks from 1959-61.

Seven-foot Dallas center Bill Wennington said he dunked a basketball for the first time in the ninth grade, when he was 6-5.

“Everybody wanted to see if I could dunk, because I was so big,” he said. “It gave me a great feeling of accomplishment until I was in college and I saw someone dunk who was 5-7.”