Season-Opener in Tokyo Doesn’t Come ‘Close to a Normal Game’

Members of the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz are finding that even though their games in Tokyo will be played according to regular NBA rules, things aren’t quite the same as in an average season-opener.

“This is not even close to a normal game,” said Suns forward Tom Chambers. “People will be talking about these games like they were an All-Star Game.”

The two-game series tonight and Saturday marks the first time a major U.S. professional sports league has staged regular-season games outside North America. The games, which will be televised in the United States as well as Japan, are being held in a major sports center which holds 11,000 spectators. Tickets were sold out within 72 hours.

Josh Rosenfeld, NBA’s director of international relations, said the league is holding the games in Tokyo as part of a global campaign to promote basketball. He added that playing official league games is the best way to introduce the NBA.

“We want to show Japan the league’s best players going all out for an entire game. In an exhibition game, the big stars might only play for the first few minutes,” he said.

But keeping players fit and sharp in the face of distractions that come with overseas travel has been a problem for the coaches.

“There are a million different things involved with playing here,” Chambers said. “The travel, the culture--everything is different.

Utah’s Karl Malone experienced a bit of the cultural difference at a news conference. When asked in Japan about his prowess at “dunk shooting,” Malone broke into a wide smile before politely explaining that the expression favored in the United States was “slam-dunking.”

Ralph Sampson will “disenfranchise the franchise” with his contract unless the Sacramento Kings can trade the veteran center, team owner Gregg Lukenbill said.

Lukenbill, the Kings’ managing partner, said he is negotiating with Sampson and his agent, David Falk, and Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn regarding a trade for Sampson, whose arthritic knees have limited his NBA market value.

“We’re talking about serious money here, more than $8 million for the next three years,” Lukenbill said. “That kind of money kills us under the salary cap and kills our cash flow. It’s no secret, but I can’t let that kind of thing happen to the franchise. It’s like a cloud over the franchise.”

Moses Malone could set an NBA record tonight when the Atlanta Hawks open the season at home against the Orlando Magic but he insists that it won’t mean that much to him.

“It just means I’ve been playing a lot and shooting a lot of free throws,” he said.

Malone has made 7,690 free throws during his 14-year career and is on the doorstep of erasing the record of 7,694 held by Oscar Robertson, who ended his 14-year career in 1974 with the Milwaukee Bucks.