THE NBA : Quintin Dailey Gets Another Chance to Silence Critics

Quintin Dailey, 24 hours removed from the Continental Basketball Assn., stood at the free-throw line last Friday night at Indianapolis with seven seconds to play and a chance to give the Seattle SuperSonics a victory.

His presence there indicated two things:

--The shortage of shooting guards in the NBA. The Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and SuperSonics, among others, have been searching for help, and the SuperSonics took a flyer on someone with a bad history.

--Quintin Dailey is a survivor.

He made the free throw against the Pacers, helping Seattle end a 12-game road losing streak. And the next night, he made six of 12 shots and scored 14 points in the SuperSonics’ two-point victory at Washington. In the early stages of a 10-day contract, Dailey again proved that he could play.

As if there was much doubt about that. He averaged 16.1 points last season with the Clippers, but got more attention after being suspended for excess weight, the result of having gained 30 pounds during the season. People laughed at him, but the Lakers were impressed enough with Dailey’s ability that they signed him to a one-year guaranteed contract last summer to back up Byron Scott.

Soon, people were laughing again. Dailey, at least looking trim again, missed a flight to Hawaii. He fainted during one practice. He missed the team bus to another.

He never made it to the regular season, squandering what he and everyone involved agreed had been a great opportunity. He went to Sioux Falls, S.D., and the CBA to earn his way back.

“I don’t think I had to prove I could play,” said Dailey, who turned 29 on Jan. 22.

“Everyone knew I could play. But I had to get by what people were saying--that stuff about always being either overweight or unmanageable. That made people leery.

“Everyone knew I had the talent to play in the NBA, but everybody wanted to make sure I was, you know, together.”

Dailey has always been open about his past drug problems, and frequently agreed at a moment’s notice to do community relations work while with the Clippers. But he declines to discuss his experience with the Lakers, except to acknowledge that perhaps he wasn’t ready for the challenge.

“The Lakers are a professional team and they’re only going to stand for certain things, especially from someone with my past,” Dailey said. “In my case, they probably thought it was going to continue through the season. I have nothing to stand on except my previous three years.”

He says he holds no grudges against the Lakers or the Clippers, with whom he started more games last season than any other guard, only to have his option dropped.

“I look at this like every opportunity, like I’m going to make the best of it whether I stick with the team or not,” Dailey said.

“At this point in my life, it’s a nice situation, because (the SuperSonics) are also looking at my passing and my defense, not just whether I can still shoot.

“But I’m looking at other things off the court, too, like my family. I’m not going to make basketball my entire life. I’m looking to survive for more than that.”

Despite the success of his San Antonio Spurs, Coach Larry Brown says there are times when he longs for the college ranks.

Brown, who guided Kansas to the NCAA championship, said he can get more involved with the teaching aspects of the game as a college coach.

“But I’ve got a college situation here in a lot of ways with all the young players,” he said.

The Spurs have become one of the top teams in the league, battling for the lead in the Midwest Division after finishing 21-61 last season. But their fans booed during a recent game.

That had to do with a certain prominent fast-food chain’s promotion, in which every fan in attendance gets a coupon for a free burger whenever the Spurs score at least 125 points.

On Jan. 22, San Antonio tied a club record by beating Washington for its 16th consecutive victory at HemisFair Arena. But with 124 points, the Spurs dribbled out the clock rather than put up a meaningless shot in a nine-point game. The crowd booed the Spurs off the court.

“They expected a shot to go up at the end of the game and they didn’t understand why one didn’t go up,” said Red McCombs, the team’s majority owner. “I’m not sure I understand why nobody put up a shot.”

Preparing to run for secretary of state in Massachusetts, Dave Cowens, 41, former Boston Celtic star, switched parties, from Republican to Democrat. Problem was, he changed registration Dec. 8, about six months after the deadline.

“He got caught traveling,” said Paul McCarthy, the Republican candidate.

Cowens apparently was unaware of a law that says a candidate for a statewide office in one party cannot have been registered as a member of another party during the year before the filing deadline.

Said Cowens: “I’m a novice at being a politician.”

That ought to impress the voters.

Add Celtic alumni: Bob Cousy, a Hall of Fame guard, also spent five seasons as an NBA coach in Cincinnati and Kansas City-Omaha. It felt like 20.

“I would have nightmares running all around the bed,” he said, recalling his coaching days. “I started to have physical pain that was so bad I was having EKGs once a month.

“I never had any health problems. My heart was strong, my blood pressure so low you couldn’t find it. But while I was coaching, I literally couldn’t eat a full meal without getting terrible cramps that would leave me crawling on the floor.

“The minute I stopped coaching, all the problems went away. The best thing I ever did was to finally say, ‘I quit.’ ”

Al Bianchi, general manager of the New York Knicks, didn’t try to hide his disgust when Knick forward Charles Oakley failed to make the Eastern Conference All-Star team while Dennis Rodman of Detroit was selected by coaches.

“You could lock him in a gym for an hour by himself and he couldn’t score 20 points,” Bianchi said of Rodman.

What Bianchi failed to mention is that Rodman, one of the game’s best defenders, would also hold himself to 18.

Few franchises in sports are more image-conscious than the Charlotte Hornets, whose owner, George Shinn, is so concerned with having a clean team that he does not allow his players to wear beards and mustaches. That makes what transpired last week all the more surprising.

Not that Dick Harter was fired as coach, with his players complaining about a lack of communication. It was the way it happened--allowing Harter to accompany the Hornets to San Antonio for a game and then handing him his walking papers hours before the game. And on the same day Harter’s brother died of lung cancer.

The organization had to cringe at the fallout. Beyond the appearance of insensitivity, there were reports of Harter ripping the players, and vice versa; Shinn ripping Harter, and vice versa. Nobody let the moment pass with silence.

“I had a strained relationship with Dick,” Shinn said. “Everyone did. Unfortunately, he had very much an us-against-them attitude. He even made me uncomfortable going into the dressing room after games.”