One-Time No. 1 Pick Sampson Has Come a Long Way--Down

Peter May of the Hartford Courant on the trade that sent the Golden State Warriors’ Ralph Sampson to the Sacramento Kings for Jim Petersen, a 6-foot-11 center-forward who has been a reserve throughout his professional career: “(Coach) Bill Fitch was ready to strangle him after witnessing Sampson’s play for four years as a Houston Rocket. Warrior Coach Don Nelson didn’t even bother trying; he shipped Sampson out, probably to save his own health and sanity.

“In this decade, three No. 1 picks of an entire draft have been traded: Sampson, Mark Aguirre and Joe Barry Carroll. Sampson and Carroll share the distinction of having been traded twice. They also share the distinction of infuriating coaches, teammates and fans with their uneven and uninspiring play.

“With six years of pro experience, Sampson’s most memorable achievement still is his taking a swing at 6-foot-1 Jerry Sichting in the 1986 finals between the Rockets and the Boston Celtics.

“ ‘My girlfriend could take Jerry,’ the Celtics’ Larry Bird snarled at the time.”

Add May: “The Sacramento Kings are borrowing a page from the Lakers’ game plan and holding their first eight days of training camp in Hawaii. The practice site is Ioloni High School in Honolulu. You can be reasonably certain Bill Russell has scouted all available golf courses within 50 miles.”

Add Sampson: Joe Gergen of Newsday on the trade: “Thus did the 7-4 Sampson solidify his position as the tallest, if not the biggest, underachiever in National Basketball Assn. history.”

Nothing to it: Dennis Erickson, new University of Miami football coach, on recruiting: “It’s not real difficult to get a kid who wants to quarterback a pro offense on one of the winningest teams of the decade that just happens to be in a place like Miami.”

Trivia time: Other than being the top three home run hitters in history, what did Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays have in common?

It’s only a game: Toronto Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston, quoted by Bill Glauber of the Baltimore Sun, on the vagaries of his craft: “I’m not going to die for this, if someone fires me. They can only fire you. They can’t shoot you.”

Big talk: Roberto Duran, asked if he would say “no mas” and quit if Sugar Ray Leonard starts toying with him during their bout Dec. 7 in Las Vegas: “No. I will say, ‘More, more, more.’ ”

Quiet on the set: The five best sports movies of the ‘80s, according to Sport magazine: 1. “Raging Bull;” 2. “Bull Durham;” 3. “Hoosiers;” 4. “Field of Dreams;” 5. “The Natural.” The five worst: 1. “Personal Best;” 2. “American Anthem;” 3. “The Slugger’s Wife;” 4. “Rocky III;” 5. “Rocky IV.”

From bust to Boomer: Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post quotes Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason on the difference between the Bengals’ 4-11 season of 1987 and the Super Bowl campaign of 1988: “As lousy as I felt after the 1987 season, when nobody wanted to talk to me, is as good as I’ve felt after 1988. If I had to deal with the depression of ‘87, I’m sure as hell going to enjoy the spoils of ’88.”

Trivia answer: Each ended his career in the same city in which it began--but for a different team. Aaron began with the Milwaukee Braves and finished with the Milwaukee Brewers; Ruth began with the Boston Red Sox and finished with the Boston Braves, and Mays started with the New York Giants and finished with the New York Mets.

Quotebook: Houston Oiler running back Allan Pinkett, who shares playing time with Alonzo Highsmith, Lorenzo White and Mike Rozier: “On this team, ‘starter’ is a weird title because all it means is that you get introduced at the beginning of the game.”