The NBA / Sam McManis : Parity Makes Regular Season Interesting

Parity, when applied to sports, usually is a synonym for mediocrity. But in the case of the National Basketball Assn.’s regular season, which ends Sunday, parity has not been altogether bad.

In fact, this new NBA phenomena has made the 82-game prelude to the playoffs considerably less mundane. The unexpected rise of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns as contenders has stirred interest, as has the probability that only two teams will finish with winning road records.

Another benefit of parity is that the competition for individual awards has also been broadened. For once, there is no dominant choice for the big one, the most-valuable-player award. Five players are deserving candidates.

Votes from sportswriters and broadcasters across the country must be cast by Sunday. Here is one man’s opinion:

Most valuable player: Magic Johnson.

Runners-up: Karl Malone and Michael Jordan.

Reasoning: Put Jordan, now a point guard, on the Lakers, and they would not be as strong a team. Put Johnson on the Chicago Bulls, however, and they would be a championship contender.

Despite Jordan’s recent streak of triple-doubles, Johnson is a better all-around player. And his last-second baskets in three Laker victories this season, plus a 40-footer to send a game to overtime, only augment his established reputation as a clutch player.

As for Malone, after winning the MVP vote in the All-Star game, he has the star credentials that many voters deem a requirement. But Malone, though a prolific scorer and savage rebounder, alone has not lifted the Jazz into a contender. Point guard John Stockton splits the vote with Malone even for MVP of the Jazz.

Coach of the year: Cotton Fitzsimmons.

Runners-up: Don Nelson and Wes Unseld.

Reasoning: Traditionally, this award goes to a coach whose team exceeds expectations, rather than a coach whose team has superior talent and merely meets expectations. All three candidates fit the requirements. They took franchises in sorry shape and turned them around. And, since Fitzsimmons’ Suns will finish with a better record than Nelson’s Golden State Warriors or Unseld’s Washington Bullets, he gets the vote.

Whereas Nelson was a master at lineup manipulation and strategy--going with a starting lineup of four guards and a power forward and then bringing in two 7-footers--Fitzsimmons built a team with excellent balance, poise and chemistry by using the Doug Moe coaching theory that less is more.

Rookie of the year: Mitch Richmond.

Runner-up: Willie Anderson.

Reasoning: Richmond has been vital to the Warriors’ startling success. He ranks 16th in the league in scoring, just behind Magic Johnson. Anderson’s fine play, conversely, has not been able to lift the San Antonio Spurs to respectability. He is averaging three fewer points a game than Richmond but ranks higher than Richmond in more categories. However, the Spurs’ ineptitude lessened Anderson’s impact.

Defensive player of the year: Akeem Olajuwon.

Runner-up: Mark Eaton.

Reasoning: Each of the big men can influence the way an opponent runs its offense by posing a significant treat in the middle. Utah’s Eaton is a slightly better shot blocker than Olajuwon, but the Houston center is the only big man ranked among the league leaders in steals. Also, he has nearly 100 more defensive rebounds than anyone else.

Sixth Man: Eddie Johnson.

Runner-up: Dennis Rodman.

Reasoning: Johnson, along with teammate Tom Chambers, is a major reason the Suns have threatened the Lakers’ Pacific Division reign. His willingness to come off the bench after six seasons as a starter gave a spark to the Suns’ running offense. He is their second-leading scorer.

Rodman’s tough defense and offensive rebounding can change the tempo and course of a game, which is why Coach Chuck Daly of the Detroit Pistons often inserts him in the lineup at the start of the fourth quarter.

Most improved player: Chris Mullin.

Runner-up: Reggie Lewis.

Reasoning: The NBA has tried to discourage giving this award to alumni of substance-abuse treatment centers. But Mullin, a recovering alcoholic, can only credit his sobriety for part of his resurrection as a player. No, it was Mullin’s switch from shooting guard to small forward in Nelson’s offense at Golden State that enabled Mullin to finish the week as the league’s sixth-leading scorer with a 26.8 average.

Lewis, of course, benefited from Larry Bird’s surgery to find playing time at small forward for the Boston Celtics. Last season, then-Coach K.C. Jones buried Lewis on the bench. But under new Coach Jimmy Rodgers, Lewis has blossomed into a quality small forward who will switch to big guard next season when Bird returns.

For another view, here are the selections from Scott Howard-Cooper, who covers the Clippers for The Times:

Most valuable player: Magic Johnson.

Runner-up: Jordan.

Reasoning: Johnson’s statistics are comparable to when he won the award in 1986-87, but the numbers are for support only. His importance to the team with the third-best record in the league is reinforced every time he’s out of the game. And, besides, who would you rather have with the ball and the game on the line in the final 10 seconds? Or the final two seconds.

Coach of the year: Fitzsimmons.

Runner-up: Nelson.

Reasoning: Nelson has done his usual superb job, and before the end of the season the Warriors will have the third-best turnaround from one season to another in NBA history. But Fitzsimmons deserves credit for meshing the Suns, who didn’t have four of their five starters at the outset of last season, into legitimate contenders.

Rookie of the year: Richmond.

Runner-up: Anderson.

Reasoning: Richmond was the first rookie of the month of the season and never slowed down. In the Warriors’ short lineup, he was successful on offense, whether posting up or going outside for a jump shot.

Defensive player of the year: Rodman.

Runner-up: Eaton.

Reasoning: Rodman doesn’t intimidate or make a team change its game plan as Eaton does. He just suffocates his man any time the ball is near.

Sixth Man: Rodman.

Runner-up--Eddie Johnson.

Reasoning: Is it just a coincidence that the complexion of the game changes every time Rodman comes in?

Most improved player: Kevin Johnson.

Runners-up: Ken Norman and Reggie Lewis.

Reasoning: It could be argued that Johnson isn’t so much improved as he is a guy who took advantage of his time. He was, after all, the seventh pick in the 1987 draft. But given the chance, especially after a late-season trade from Cleveland to Phoenix, he has blossomed into one of the finest point guards in the league, young or old.

NBA Notes

According to one Bay Area report, officials of the Golden State Warriors will try to trade center Ralph Sampson during the off-season. Good Luck. Sampson has a history of knee problems and will earn slightly more than $2 million next season. Sampson has started the last few games, but he still is not a major part of Coach Don Nelson’s rotation. “He’s doing a good job,” Nelson said. “Give credit where it’s due. He’s played consistently well. I’m reluctant to put him back in after he sits because it takes (his left knee) two or three minutes to get going. He’s giving us strong starts. I don’t think we’ll see him like he used to be until summer, when he works on it.”

The Sacramento Kings have given Coach Jerry Reynolds a two-year contract extension. “He’s committed to us and we’re committed to him,” King owner Greg Lukenbill said. “We probably all ought to be committed.” Said Reynolds: “I don’t see myself as a 10-year coach. But I think I’m the right guy for three years. I have patience. I can teach. I can communicate with the players. After two or three years, it probably will be time for me to grow up and do something else.”

Roy Tarpley returned to the Dallas Maverick lineup last week after his second stay in a drug-treatment center. Tarpley missed 49 games and lost $310,000 of his $520,000 salary. And the Mavericks will miss the playoffs because of it. “Heck, what if we’d had him for just 20 (more) games?” Maverick Coach John MacLeod asked. “If we had him for just that, we would have at least seven more wins. That’s the thing that drives you absolutely nuts.”