THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Grousing Players Are Undoing of Jones in Seattle

Adieu, K.C.: Under intense Bernie Bickerstaff, the Seattle SuperSonics were a rough, tough bunch with a lot of depth who would dog you from one end of the court to the other.

Under amiable K.C. Jones, they developed another personality: Five players starting, seven complaining about playing time.

Stuck at .500 and unable to accommodate 12 unhappy men, the Sonics did the overmatched Jones a favor and fired him, with this season and three more left on his contract, $1.9 million worth in all.

“What it may have come down to is guys grousing about minutes,” Jones said, “then not being happy when they did get in.”

Characteristically, Jones, 59, suggested that he would like to coach again, but in the meantime would sit at home and “watch the fish jump up and down.” Said Sonic President Bob Whitsitt: “We had to do something because .500 is not OK at this point. . . . K.C. came in and we were mesmerized by all his championship rings. He’s a legend, but it wasn’t the right staff.”

Translation: Whitsitt, 30-year-old boy wonder when he got the job in 1985, is on the hook for drafting Gary Payton and trading for Benoit Benjamin, who make $7 million per year between them, and has to show financially pressed owner Barry Ackerley some results.

Said veteran forward Eddie Johnson: “K.C. is laid-back. We all know that. . . . (But) you can only have players getting on players for so long before it gets to be a problem. . . . There are different kinds of coaches. The disciplinarians wear out players after a couple of years. But in this situation, there is no

discipline.”

The interim coach is Bob Kloppenburg, a veteran assistant who is no more hard-edged than

Jones.

Whitsitt now says he’s looking for someone with NBA head coaching experience. Ackerley wasn’t considered likely to shell out the big bucks necessary for Mike Fratello, but Whitsitt is nearing the end of his contract, too, and needs a hotshot.

Whoever the new coach is, he will inherit two problems:

--Payton, who is wild at heart, a scorer who always seems to be thinking, “What would a playmaker do here?”

--Benjamin, who in seven seasons has seen four of his coaches fired. It might not be a total coincidence.

THEY’RE B-A-A-A-CK

With consecutive victories over the Cavaliers in Cleveland and the Knicks in New York, the Portland Trail Blazers served notice that their 10-week funk was over.

Last season, they peaked early, so the slow start might help them. Having stared down their demons, they are more likely to head into the playoffs with some momentum. Once in postseason, they will be less likely to expect opponents to roll over for them.

Before everyone says, “I told you so,” nobody knows quite what to think when a team under-performs for two months.

As recently as last week, Portland management was thinking seriously about sending Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey and two draft choices to the Philadelphia 76ers for Charles Barkley, but decided to see how this hand played out.

SHERMAN’S MARCH

You’ve got to hand it to the Heat.

Everyone thought the Lakers had impaled them on a clause-packed offer sheet to Sherman Douglas, but Miami bit the bullet, matched . . . and then finally found a taker, trading him to Boston for Brian Shaw.

The Heat and the Celtics simply swapped problems--but the new Heat guard is 6 feet 5 and athletic, not 6 feet and pudgy.

In Boston, Shaw’s problem was that he was a cross between a point guard and a shooting guard. In Miami, he will be the No. 3 guard, a job for which he is perfectly suited.

The Heat, with 6-6 Steve Smith at the point, alongside 6-7 Glen Rice or 6-6 Willie Burton, now has the tallest guard corps in the NBA. It can play the way the Lakers did, switching on all screens--a tactic that would get other teams in trouble. The bottom line is, the Heat found another quality player and it had a bunch

already.

TEXAS TWO-STEP

When the Warriors were supposed to be getting out of the way for the Trail Blazers, Golden State won in San Antonio and Houston. If the Warriors can hold onto first place until next week, Don Nelson will become the West coach in his first All-Star game as player or coach.

Against the Spurs, jubilant after having beaten the Warriors in Oakland, Nelson sent 6-5 Mario Elie out as the starting center against 7-1 David Robinson.

Having had his little joke, Nelson then played 6-9 Tyrone Hill on Robinson and won, 124-123.

Turns out, the Warriors were upset that Robinson had said he feared them more before they traded Mitch Richmond.

“I’m going to bite my tongue,” Nelson said. “I’m not going to say a word, but I can’t argue with Mr. Robinson.”

Said Tim Hardaway: “They say all that stuff. David says we can’t win without Mitch. . . . We just let them do all the talking.”

Said Robinson’s teammate, Willie Anderson: “I think Dave pumped them up today. . . . You just can’t say certain things.”

FACES AND FIGURES

Education, it’s so . . . educational: The Denver Nuggets’ Dikembe Mutombo, whose charm is not outweighed by his humility, had his head handed to him in successive games by premier centers he had outplayed the first time around. Forewarned, the Rockets’ Hakeem Olajuwon outscored him, 25-10, and the Spurs’ David Robinson beat him, 20-7. . . . In the loss to Houston, Mutombo griped to an official, who lashed back at him. “He told me to shut the . . . up,” Mutombo said. “The referee is cursing the players! Since when, the game is changing?”

New dynasty on the block: The Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan, lobbying for Horace Grant to make the All-Star team with him and Scottie Pippen: “If all three of us don’t make it, it will be a robbery. How many years have you seen three members of the Celtics make the All-Star team?” . . . Charles Barkley was involved only as a witness in the latest 76er incident, when teammate Jayson Williams hit a patron, who said he had a knife, with a beer mug at a Chicago hotel bar. Neither player was charged, and the patron was booked for assault. However, 76er management isn’t enchanted by weekly taproom brawls. “This kind of pattern . . . is disturbing,” General Manager Gene Shue said. “It’s something that will be addressed. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to have a curfew.” . . . Who gets to pin a bell on Barkley?

Salary drive: Xavier McDaniel exercised his buyout clause by paying the Knicks $500,000 last week and will become an unrestricted free agent. . . . Bonus: McDaniel thus goes off the Knick salary total, putting them under the cap and making it possible for them to wheel and deal. They could make a trade and then re-sign McDaniel, because a team can always re-sign its own player at any figure. McDaniel, earning $1.8 million, says he wants to stay, and the Knicks want to keep him. After a slow start, he has averaged 21 points in his last 13 games. . . . Comeback of the year: Since being given up for dead, or unemployed, New Jersey’s Bill Fitch has put together a 9-3 streak. Fitch is now doing it his way, bringing rookie Kenny Anderson along v-e-r-y slowly. Anderson is now the Nets’ No. 4 guard, behind Tate George. In one game last week, Anderson didn’t even play.

Bill Walton, claiming that he’s now the radio voice of the Continental Basketball Assn.: “I did the game in Bakersfield. They folded the next day. I guess I’m having an impact on the league.” . . . Miami Coach Kevin Loughery, asking his assistant coaches if Brian Shaw knew enough plays to play and being told that Shaw had been shown three or four: “Really? Hell, that’s as many as I know. Brian, get in there.” . . . Utah broadcaster Hot Rod Hundley to former Jazz guard Bob Hansen, now with the Bulls: “You’ve got the greatest job in the world. You come into the game in the second quarter, break a sweat and give No. 23 a high-five.”