THE NBA : Team of Decade Should Avoid Becoming Team of Decay

The Lakers have had a nice run--five NBA titles in eight trips to the finals and a 72.5% winning percentage--and probably deserve that “Team of the Decade” label they proudly wear along with all those gaudy championship rings.

But the 1980s are history and the Lakers, like a once-proud fighter, are ready to relinquish their throne and bequeath the title to the next dominant group, the “Team of the ‘90s,” the . . .

Lakers?

“That’s us,” Laker center Mychal Thompson said. “We’ll be the Team of the ‘90s, too.”

Added Michael Cooper: “If Magic Johnson’s still in the league, it’ll always be the Lakers, thank you.”

In reality, the Lakers, as we have come to know them, really only have a few good seasons left. Unless Earvin Johnson changes his nickname from Magic to Methuselah, he will be long out of the league by 1999. And James Worthy will be 38 in 10 years and, with his sore knees, will need the help of a walker to make his low-post spin moves.

So, if the Lakers will no longer be the league’s dominator, which team will step forward?

The consensus among the Lakers is that there simply will not be one.

“With the parity in the league, that’s not predictable,” Worthy said. “It’s not going to be like the old Laker-Boston days. It’s going to be like the NFL, a new team every year.”

Is that good for the NBA?

“Yeah, but not for us,” Worthy said.

The Lakers actually like their chances of remaining in the top echelon until mid-decade, about the time Johnson hangs up his sneakers.

“I think we’ll be the team of the early ‘90s,” Riley said. “The Lakers will go as far as Worthy and Magic will take them until they retire. The window is two to four years with this team.”

Likely successors as the Team of the ‘90s, should one emerge, are the San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and, according to one Laker, the Clippers. The Spurs, of course, have 23-year-old David Robinson, who many predict will become one of the NBA’s all-time great centers. They also have Sean Elliott, 21, Willie Anderson, 22, and the comparatively elderly Terry Cummings, 28.

The Bulls, of course, have 26-year-old Michael Jordan and a relatively young supporting cast. The Knicks’ Patrick Ewing is only 27. The Cavaliers’ potential trio of Brad Daughtery, 23, Mark Price, 25, and unsigned Danny Ferry, 23, all figure to be productive for the entire decade.

And the Clippers’ core players (Ron Harper, Ken Norman, Danny Manning, Gary Grant, Charles Smith, Benoit Benjamin) are 25 or younger.

Laker players, however, do not see one team emerging.

“You have to say (San Antonio) is a team that’s going to have to be dealt with,” Johnson said. “So is New York and Chicago. But, you know, I don’t think one team will dominate (the ‘90s) like we did (the ‘80s). We’re hoping the Lakers still start it off in the ‘90s, and everybody else will follow after that.”

Cooper says the other Los Angeles team may soon become a serious contender.

“The Clippers got a good chance of making some waves in the ‘90s, if they keep the same team together for a while,” Cooper said. “But that’s not a scary thought to us, because they’ll have San Antonio to deal with. But we aren’t dead yet, either.”

True, the Lakers enter the ‘90s with the NBA’s best record at 21-6. But they have begun thinking about life when they are not on top. They have seen the Celtics grow old not-so-gracefully, and they say they want to avoid anything like the recent infighting among Larry Bird and his teammates.

“That can happen,” Riley said. “You can get old, cantankerous and jaded. Things aren’t as easy as they used to be. Speculation creates dissension. The truth comes out, but guys don’t want to hear it. The Celtics and Lakers had 10 years of their lives when they’ve gotten nearly everything they wanted. You’ve just got to look up and say, ‘Thank you, whatever happens now, so be it.’

“I’ve always felt great teams should go down with great dignity. They should not go down, moaning and blaming and arguing because it’s time for them to move on. The only thing permanent in this league is change.”

Contrary to a recent report, Jordan is not unhappy with the altered offense of new Bull Coach Phil Jackson, even though it means slightly fewer shots for Jordan and more perimeter attempts.

“Now that Larry Bird is supposed to be having that type of problem, they’re trying to pass it off on me, too,” Jordan said. “I’m happy with the offense. It’s what I’ve wanted all along.”

Charles Barkley is not exactly a subtle negotiator. The irrepressible Philadelphia 76er forward responded to Denver Nugget Alex English’s trade request last Tuesday by shouting to Nugget Coach Doug Moe during a break in play: “Hey, Doug, y’all want to trade Alex, we’ll take him.”

After the game, Barkley told reporters: “We’re taking all loose strings this year.”

The now-competitive Laker-Clipper rivalry is not the only intra-city NBA confrontation heating up this season.

The New York Knicks and New Jersey (across the Hudson River) Nets met at the Meadowlands last Thursday, and the Knicks escaped with a 106-104 victory. Of course, the Knicks had lost Charles Oakley to a knee injury, and Ewing played with a rib injury and had 29 points and 16 rebounds.

The 20,049 fans on hand for the Nets’ home game were overwhelmingly supporting the Knicks, chanting “defense, defense,” in the final minute.

“It takes about three Knick fans to make as much noise as one Net fan,” Net Coach Bill Fitch said.

Ewing complaining about his rib injury apparently did not go over well with some of the Nets.

“Hurting, my butt,” Net forward Roy Hinson said of Ewing. “Babies, all of them. They can use any excuse they want (for the close games). If they were hurting, I guess next time, they’ll blow us out.”

Probably so.

If Adrian Dantley was unhappy as a Dallas Maverick before--and he was--he must be absolutely miserable now under new Coach Richie Adubato.

Dantley’s playing time has been trimmed to about 24 minutes a game and, in the last six games, He has averaged only 10.3 points. That’s including the 19 points he scored while playing 38 minutes in Dallas’ three-overtime loss to Portland on Friday.

Dantley’s slump began on Dec. 23, when he was held scoreless for the first time in his career against the Sacramento Kings.

“It ain’t got nothing to do with me,” Dantley said of his scoring drought. “I know what I can do. If Coach doesn’t want to use me, what can I do?”

K.C. Jones, the former Celtic coach now an assistant to Bernie Bickerstaff with the Seattle SuperSonics, has not ruled out becoming a head coach again. But he was not actively pursuing either the openings at Dallas or Sacramento this season.

“I’m only interested in this team right here,” said Jones, referring to the SuperSonics. “At the end of the year, there will be time to sit down and talk about it.”

Even Xavier McDaniel, the roguish forward for the SuperSonics, is a tad wary about driving the lane against the 76ers’ hefty tandem of Barkley and Rick Mahorn.

“It’s tough getting through there,” McDaniel said. “They probably could have the All-Butt team all by themselves.”