Brown Is Moving Target

Wrote Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun after Larry Brown was named coach of the San Antonio Spurs: “Brown is not just any coach. He wins at all levels. We know that, because he’s been at all levels. Constantly.”

Wrote Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post: “I’m betting within five years he wins the NBA title, which will make him the first coach ever to win the NCAA and NBA championships.

“Sometime after that, another thing we know about Larry Brown will occur.

“He’ll leave.”

Said Dick Vitale, who had promised to scrub the floor of Allen Field House with a toothbrush if Brown returned as the Kansas coach next season: “I’m broken-hearted. I was looking forward to scrubbing the floor. I had my toothbrush ready. But I said all along Larry’s a soap opera. He’s bigger than Luke and Laura on ‘General Hospital.’ ”

Add Kornheiser: After noting that Brown was partial to young, eager, coachable players, he wrote: “Memo to Walter Berry: Don’t waste time phoning your new coach to find out where you fit in. You don’t. Simply ask the Spurs for an open plane ticket out of San Antonio, you’re history.”

Add Brown: Said Dick Versace, Detroit Pistons assistant coach and former Bradley University coach, when told of Brown’s San Antonio contract: “It’s like hitting the lottery. What are you going to do, turn it down? You’re not going to turn down winning the lottery in order to call 18-year-olds every year and ask them what color tux they’re going to wear to the prom.”

Trivia Time: What four former Boston Celtics players have coached teams to National Basketball Assn. championships? (Answer below.)

Remember that item about Mike Tyson being knocked down by sparring partner Oliver McCall in a workout?

Writes Wallace Matthews of Newsday: “The next day, Tyson gave McCall a shot to remember. It was a hook, a left hand that McCall never saw. The wonder was that he didn’t go down. He took the blow flush on the jaw.

“Feeling his face days later, McCall said, ‘It was like an electric shock. It made the muscle from my neck down to my shoulder burst or go out of place or something. I couldn’t hardly bring up my right arm. It was numb. I felt the pain in the muscle to my neck and to my shoulder.’ ”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: From Monday night’s American League notes by the Associated Press: “Toronto’s George Bell, who dropped a routine fly ball in left field against Boston Sunday, spent batting practice taking grounders at shortstop.”

Said ABC’s Jack Whitaker when Billy Casper hit a line drive off the tee in the Senior TPC Sunday: “That didn’t stay in the air as long as Wright’s first flight.”

From the Denver Post: “An unnamed league coach, confirming suspicions that Bill Russell will serve Sacramento worse as vice president than coach, revealed, ‘I’ve been to all the college all-star games, and I’ve seen Russell there. I’ll tell you right now, he hasn’t done . . . . The only things I’ve seen him do is walk out the door with his golf clubs and laugh with John Thompson.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones.

Quotebook

Bob Frederick, University of Kansas athletic director, asked if the school tried to match the San Antonio Spurs’ offer to Larry Brown: “I don’t think there’s that much money in Kansas.”