THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Brown Expects Robinson to Be Perfect All the Time

Driving Mr. David: San Antonio’s David Robinson, stepping out of the expensive neighborhood of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, now looks like the next in the line of succession from Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Robinson, however, has a harder master to satisfy than history.

He is being buffed to perfection by Spur Coach Larry Brown.

Said Brown last week, between compliments: “You’ve watched him play. He floats in and out.”

So far, Robinson has floated into the top 10 in scoring, shooting percentage, rebounds, blocks and--incredibly for a 7-foot-1 man--steals.

His 157 blocked shots are 60 more than the No. 2 man.

No one has dominated a category like that since Chamberlain’s heyday. Two seasons ago, Olajuwon was the NBA’s only rebounder to reach 1,000, in his 71st game. But his total was still only 16% higher than the second-place finisher.

Robinson’s blocked-shot average is 37% higher than anyone else’s.

It should be noted that Brown and Robinson, both personable men who socialize in the off-season, seem fond of each other except for the odd disagreement over basketball.

“Every time we get blown out,” Robinson said, “guess who should have made all the plays, who should have gotten every rebound down the stretch?

“He sees a lot of potential, I know that. I’ll get 30 points, 16 rebounds, eight blocks, and he’ll tell me there were so many things I could have done.

“I say, ‘Wait a second here! You’ve got to be happy at some point.’ ”

Try Robinson’s induction into the Hall of Fame.

BARKLEY WATCH

Is Charles Barkley headed for the Lakers?

Nope.

Rumors of a Barkley-James Worthy deal, with an Elden Campbell-Ron Anderson codicil, swirled for two weeks.

However, conversation between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers ended about two weeks ago, after a brief hello and goodby.

Recent reports are nothing more than old whispers being passed around until enough people hear them to get them published and broadcast.

The 76er story is that they only responded to inquiries. However, owner Harold Katz is exasperated at his enfant terrible and has shown an itchy trigger finger in better times than these, so form your own conclusion.

Now aware that no one is offering two starters and a No. 1 draft pick, Katz has pulled Barkley off the market, declaring: “Teams are trying to steal him.”

As local homeowners could tell you, the market’s soft now, but check back in the spring.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT

Before anyone could ask when Chamberlain and Neil Johnston might be along, Jeff Ruland, the 76er center who had been retired since 1986, posted credible numbers--nine points and three rebounds in 18 minutes--in a victory over the Houston Rockets.

Forced from the game by knee problems, Ruland found relief this year in a new surgical procedure performed by Dr. Richard Steadman of Vail, Colo.

Ruland was so emboldened, he decided to play basketball again.

The 76ers, who are starting Charles Shackleford, didn’t try to talk him out of it.

“I’m just 33 and I’m probably in better shape than I was when I was 27,” Ruland said.

He could have picked an easier first opponent, too, than Olajuwon.

Said Ruland, still quotable after all these years: “I’d have preferred a big slug like (Mark) Eaton.”

COACH DERBY

First of all, the present system of choosing the coach of the year is dumb.

Last season’s best jobs were done by Chicago’s Phil Jackson, Golden State’s Don Nelson and the Lakers’ Mike Dunleavy.

The coach of the year, however, was Houston’s Don Chaney, whose team lost Olajuwon for two months but posted a fine regular-season record.

Voting must be completed by the end of the regular season, presumably so the league can announce the winner during the playoffs and squeeze out an extra headline.

The Rockets, at regular season’s end, still featured the unfettered Vernon Maxwell and a collective scorn for the concept of shot selection that could give a Bobby Knight heart failure. They looked ripe for early elimination and, in fact, lasted three games.

This still paled before the irony in 1990 when Pat Riley, who had long been deserving, received his first award--after Game 4 of the Phoenix series, with the Lakers up in arms, trailing, 3-1, and a day away from elimination by the Suns.

Suggestion: Wait till the start of the NBA finals to vote.

The coaches in the finals probably will dominate the balloting, but that’s the way it should be. Since when is the regular season a proper test of a team’s achievement in the NBA?

Having said that, here’s an early list of nominees:

--Riley, for turning the Knicks around.

--Brown. The mad genius kept his cool, weathering injuries and holdouts, and has the Spurs in position to make a run.

--Nelson. First place? Those guys?

--Lenny Wilkens. The favorite because his Cleveland Cavaliers will post a big gain--something that can be measured in numbers--from last season’s 33-49 record. He always has been a fine coach, but his last two seasons were torpedoed by injuries. What changed this season? Nothing, except everyone is back.

--Jackson. It’s tough to discount a 68-victory pace.

--Jerry Sloan, an underrated guy who finally may have enough depth to get the Utah Jazz over the top.

--Dunleavy. I know, I know, he’s the guy I cover every day, but he’s a heck of a coach.

FACES AND FIGURES

Coaching salaries, compiled by Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune: Aristocrats--Pat Riley, $1.2 million; Don Nelson, $1 million; Larry Brown, $750,000; Chuck Daly, $700,000. . . . Well to do--Cotton Fitzsimmons, Lenny Wilkens, Don Chaney and Mike Dunleavy, all $500,000. . . . Can still afford two German touring cars--K.C. Jones, $475,000; Bill Fitch and Wes Unseld, both $450,000; Jerry Sloan and Jim Lynam, both $425,000. . . . Imagine what it comes to per victory--Paul Westhead, $375,000. . . . They have been around, except for the underpaid Celtic guy--Kevin Loughery, Bob Weiss, Bob Hill and Chris Ford, all $350,000. . . . Can you believe this one? Phil Jackson, $325,000. . . . Well, it’s cheaper to live up there--Rick Adelman, $300,000. . . . What the heck, it’s a job--Richie Adubato, Matt Guokas, Jimmy Rodgers, Allan Bristow and Mike Schuler, all $250,000.

Magnificent Eight Meet the Dirty Dozen: The Orlando Magic, which has lost 18 of 19 and is without starters Scott Skiles, Jerry Reynolds and Dennis Scott and reserves Brian Williams, Otis Smith and Mark Acres, suited up eight players in Seattle and beat the SuperSonics, who were at full strength. The Magic bench consisted of Greg Kite, CBA pickup Anthony Bowie and rookie Chris Corchiani. “To put it bluntly, this is the most embarrassing loss I’ve ever seen,” Seattle forward Eddie Johnson said. “We’ve got to walk a good game, instead of talking a good game. Said teammate Nate McMillan: “This is ridiculous. This is embarrassing. We’re not playing basketball. We’re not focusing on anything. I can’t imagine what is going on with this team.” . . . Seattle observers imagine management is considering a shake-up. . . . The one, the only, Orlando General Manager Pat Williams, on the slump: “We’re losing at home. We’re losing on the road. We’ve got to find another place else to play.”

Former Hawk Doc Rivers in last week’s Clipper-Atlanta game, to new Hawk Morlon Wiley, who didn’t know what the coach’s call of “three-up” meant: “Hey, Morlon! That’s when you trap me at half-court!” Wiley laughed and trapped Rivers at half-court. . . . Former Heat guard Rory Sparrow to Miami’s Kevin Edwards, who was about to break Sparrow’s club record for consecutive free throws: “You’re not man enough to break my record!” Edwards missed.

An NBA referee maintains that Detroit’s Dennis Rodman isn’t as big as the 6-8, 210 pounds that he is listed, but is only 6-6 or 6-7. At whatever size, Rodman leads the NBA in rebounding with an average of 17.1 a game, a mark bettered in the last 20 years only by Chamberlain (18.6), Elvin Hayes (18.1) and Moses Malone (17.6). . . . Said Piston teammate Isiah Thomas: “Dennis, in his own way, is kind of like a genius. He’s kind of like the guy in that movie, ‘Rain Man.’ ” . . . Curious diagnosis of the new year: The Boston Celtics’ grand poobah, Dave Gavitt, who prefers the title of CEO, hoping to stem the rising tide of fear in Boston, says Larry Bird’s back woes aren’t related to last summer’s back surgery. L.S., an occupational therapist, writes to ask if Bird has more than one back.

Nice guys finish second: The Bulls’ Michael Jordan, the All-Star balloting leader for the last five seasons, on trailing Charles Barkley: “I think I need to write a book and say I was misquoted, or say I punched somebody in Milwaukee.” . . . That should do it: Indiana Pacer Coach Bob Hill, stung by his team’s dive, closed his practices. . . . After consecutive 20-point losses at home, Rocket owner Charlie Thomas and General Manager Steve Patterson had Coach Don Chaney and his staff in for a two-hour late-night meeting. “This is not a point in time when you start panicking and distributing your roster to the NBA,” Patterson said. “Right now, some people in our organization need to take stock of themselves.”

. . . Julius Erving, preparing to play Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one-on-one Feb. 28, was asked if he can repeat his behind-the-backboard reverse layup against the Lakers in the 1980 NBA finals, which has been a staple of higlight shows ever since: “If frightened properly.”