Pistons’ Edwards Seeks Happy Ending to Saga

James Edwards’ favorite daytime drama is “One Life to Live,” which is perfect for a guy whose NBA career has had more subplots than a soap opera.

“Nobody’s getting pregnant all the time, but there’s always a lot of stuff going on,” he says. “Sometimes my life sure does seem like a soap opera.”

Edwards, in his 13th year, is with his fifth team since being the 46th player chosen in the 1977 draft and one of those tours of duty had him caught up in a drug scandal in Phoenix.

But this story might have a happy ending yet. Edwards is starting for the first time in four years and he’s making a difference.

In his first 21 games as a starter Edwards, who was averaging 5.7 points per game as a reserve, came to life with a 13.9 average, and the Pistons went on a 15-6 streak. In the last 10 of those 21 games, Edwards has averaged 17.6 points per game.

“They’re calling my number more often,” says the 7-foot-1 center whose drooping mustache and catlike smile have earned him the nickname Buddha. “I’m getting the ball in good low-post positions where I can either spin inside or shoot from the baseline.”

What pleases Piston Coach Chuck Daly even more than the extra offense is the way Edwards has begun to play defense, something he had been a little soft on in the past.

In a recent victory over the New York Knicks, he held Patrick Ewing to just three points in the fourth quarter.

“Jimmy has really been hitting some big shots for us lately,” Daly says. “He’s playing about as well as I’ve ever seen him.”

But it has certainly been an uneven road.

“The last time I was a starter must have been about four years ago in Phoenix,” he says. “It’s working out better now.”

Edwards, who also has a passion for playing Nintendo, would just as soon zap his Phoenix experience.

Edwards was among 13 people, including four Suns players, indicted in Phoenix by a Maricopa County grand jury investigating drug use in the area in 1987.

Edwards was indicted on three counts--conspiracy to possess a narcotic drug, conspiracy to transfer a narcotic drug and conspiracy to transfer or possess marijuana.

According to court transcripts, Edwards was accused of supplying or offering to supply drugs to several people, including then-Sun rookie William Bedford, who made the Piston roster this season after years in rehabilitation clinics.

Later in 1987, Edwards officially entered a yearlong counseling program in Phoenix as part of a plea-bargain agreement that led to the dismissal of all three charges against him.

“That part of his life is behind him, and has been for quite some time now,” says Jack McCloskey, the Piston general manager. “James now is a solid citizen. He’s heavily involved in several charities both in Phoenix and in the Detroit area.”

But even McCloskey became involved in the soap-opera aspect of Edwards’ life last spring when he left popular Rick Mahorn unprotected in the expansion draft. Everyone thought Edwards should have been the one left unprotected.

Today, the critics are silent.