THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Clippers and Manning: It May Be Destiny

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Elgin Baylor wins the draft lottery in New York and whips out a Clipper uniform with Danny Manning’s name on it.

Three months later, Manning and the Clippers have a protracted contract squabble.

Within three seasons, they’re disenchanted with him, let him know about it and offer him around.

Manning doesn’t seem to mind, either.

Last week, Manning’s agent, Ron Grinker, said owner Donald Sterling recently told him, “he didn’t think Danny Manning was a very good basketball player. . . . Donald Sterling said he felt he can’t shoot the ball, can’t pass the ball and is not a very good rebounder, and that he is very disappointed in him and that maybe he was just a good college player.”

Aside from that, Sterling presumably had no complaints, except perhaps for Manning’s taste in clothes, the way he parts his hair and the color of his eyes.

Grinker’s report sounds suspiciously like the story Sterling, himself, told last spring when he talked of sitting courtside with his friend, Al Davis, who asked how good Manning really was. Sterling left the story hanging there.

Let’s just say, Manning retains his promise.

“I think they’re crazy if they trade him,” an NBA general manager said.

“I’m not sure he’s the next Larry Bird, which is what people projected him (to be) but I think he’s a good player. I think he helps other people. Whether he’s a superstar or not, I don’t think anyone can tell you, because of his injuries.”

However, if the Clippers aren’t past the point of no-return in shopping Manning, they’re right there.

You’ve heard of the United States’ Manifest Destiny?

This is Clipper manifest destiny.

Double-zero: In Charlotte, 7-foot Benoit Benjamin found himself guarded on a switch by 5-3 Muggsy Bogues of the Hornets.

Benjamin attempted a 20-footer and missed.

Coach Mike Schuler turned to press row and remarked: “Basketball intelligence . . . “

Wishful thinking: Knick players whisper that Patrick Ewing shoots too much, chasing the MVP award.

Responded Ewing: “Don’t go to the press and say Patrick is getting too many shots. Tell me to my face. Or they can go to management and ask them to trade me. Then we’ll see who’s going to go.”

Did Ewing think he might go?

“They traded Wayne Gretzky,” he said. “They traded Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar). Yeah, they could trade me.”

Hint for Ewing: fat chance.

Lifeboats: Al Bianchi, soon-to-be-former New York general manager, on the possibility that players already tune out new Coach John MacLeod:

“If it happens, we’ll make some people unhappy around here, and I know how to do that.”

Force them to sign long-term contracts?

Bounty hunter: Houston General Manager Steve Patterson is still complaining about Chicago’s Bill Cartwright elbowing Akeem Olajuwon.

Said Patterson, 33, whose meteoric rise is perhaps only partially due to the fact his father was team president: “We all know you can make something look unintentional when it’s intentional.”

Houston observers note Patterson’s revulsion for violence overlooks the fact Olajuwon has been ejected several times for throwing punches.

NBA Vice President Rod Thorn saw a tape of the incident and said it looked accidental.

Bull Coach Phil Jackson, showing he can still relate to his flower-power youth, complained about Rocket attempts at “drumming up this vigilante kind of Texas spirit.”

Armon Hammered: Armon Gilliam, the second choice in the 1987 draft, has been traded twice in 13 months.

Said his first coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons of the Phoenix Suns: “If Philadelphia wants a guy who can score and get you eight rebounds a game, they’ll be happy with him. Armon is a very talented player. He has as good a touch as there is. But if you want someone who’ll dominate defensively and on the boards, they’ll be disappointed.”

Coach Jim Lynam of the 76ers said he will start Manute Bol to cover up for Gilliam’s defensive mistakes. Lynam said opponents shoot 40% when Bol plays, 53% otherwise.

Said Lynam: “Skeptics will ask what the (76er) offense is doing when Manute is on the court. The challenge is to function a little better when he’s out there.”

Bol’s high game this season is six points.

NBA Notes

Detroit’s Joe Dumars to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Henry James, a Continental Basketball Assn. pickup who scored 13 points in one quarter against the Pistons: “Who are you?” . . . Chicago’s Michael Jordan to James, after he scored 25 against the Bulls: “Where’d you come from?” . . . James was a 6-foot-9, 255-pound butterball at St. Mary’s College in San Antonio who played in Europe and the CBA, slimmed to 220 and is now an outside-shooting small forward. . . . The Bulls’ Scottie Pippen is one of the NBA’s finest all-around players: Going into the weekend, he was averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists a game. Only he, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are averaging at least 17 points, seven rebounds and 6.5 assists a game. Pippen should stay home: In Chicago, he averages 21 points and shoots 58%; on the road, it’s 13 and 39%.

Sacramento General Manager Jerry Reynolds, telling King fans they will love CBA pickup Jim Les: “I’m willing to stake what’s left of my credibility on it.” . . . Denver General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff said he will trade Walter Davis, 36. Davis is hoping for a Chicago deal “to be with my main man, Michael Jordan.” . . . Last summer, Davis turned down the Bulls’ $1.3-million-a-year offer--$300,000 more than he got to remain with the Nuggets. He told Jordan he did it for his family and because there were too many gangsters in Chicago. Huh? . . . The Nets’ Jack Haley, the talkative former Bull and former UCLA Bruin, on Jordan’s big game in New Jersey: “Michael just played unconscious. I think he gets up for me.”

Two guys who deserve each other: Minnesota’s Tony Campbell, on the thaw under Coach Bill Musselman of the Timberwolves: “He’s still Musselman, still the same guy, but the atmosphere is a little bit better.” . . . The Bulls’ Stacey (Moby) King experiment ended after three starts in which he averaged four points and three rebounds and shot 22%. . . . Denver Coach Paul Westhead says he doesn’t think prize rookie Chris Jackson pushes the ball well enough to play the point and is too short to be No. 2 in a backcourt with Michael Adams. He’s bringing Jackson off the bench, instead. It’s not ideal when the third pick in the draft can’t start in a youth movement.

Piston General Manager Jack McCloskey, cheered only a little by the recent winning streak, which reached nine games after Saturday night’s overtime victory over Miami: “We’re playing a lot better, but we’re not where I think this team should be. We can’t wait much longer. We don’t want to lose (the) home-court (advantage).” . . . The Pistons will have to go some: They started the weekend 5 1/2 games behind Boston. Also, Bill Laimbeer and Mark Aguirre got into a fight in practice last week that was filmed by a Detroit TV station. The Pistons promptly fixed everything by barring TV cameras from future practices. Dilemma: When Laimbeer fights Aguirre, whom do you root for?

Wilt Chamberlain finally accepted the 76ers’ longstanding invitation to attend a ceremony retiring his jersey. Said Chamberlain of current centers: “Guys have allowed guards to take over the league and phase the center position out--kind of someone who’s just out there, like a statue.” . . . Chamberlain knows where they can find a real center, living in retirement in the Hollywood Hills, and the initials aren’t K.A.J., either.