He’s Enough to Give Owner a Breakdown

There can be no doubt about it now. Don Carter, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has not had the best luck when it comes to dealing with Roy Tarpley, the former Maverick forward who has been banned from the NBA for refusing to take a drug test.

Hoping to catch Tarpley’s Continental Basketball Assn. debut Tuesday at Wichita Falls, Tex., Carter and his wife, Linda, found themselves stuck on the side of a road when their truck broke down 40 miles from Wichita Falls. They were spotted by a pair of Maverick fans, Dan and Jana Freundlich, who also were on their way to see Tarpley play, but Don declined the offer of a lift.

“Don wouldn’t leave his truck,” Linda Carter told the Dallas Morning News after the game, “so I told him I would hitch a ride with these nice people. We told Roy we would be here, so one of us had to make it.”

Add Carter: Although the Maverick owner was a no-show, the Wichita Falls Texans, for whom Tarpley is expected to play three games, drew 3,319, their largest crowd of the season. The only time the Texans came close to drawing that many fans this season was New Year’s Eve, when 3,200 showed up to watch the Laker Girls.

Trivia time: What brothers have coached against each other in an NBA game?

Much in a name: The full name of University of Dayton basketball player Makor Shayok, a native of the Sudan, is Makor Marial Shayok Yul Bol Manyang Thyen Bakjok Chueu Alilek.

Add name: The 6-foot-9 Shayok has proved to be an excellent rebounder for the Flyers and a treasure for the Dayton community.

According to Bill Jauss of the Chicago Tribune, Shayok recently explained to a group of Dayton seventh-graders that, as part of Dinka tribal wedding custom, the father of the groom presents a dowry to the father of the bride.

Case in point: When Shayok married his wife, Helen, his father presented her father with 85 cows.

Not that such gifts are irrevocable.

Said Shayok: “Some marriages don’t work out, so you can get your cows back if your wife doesn’t stay with you.”

Buzz off: Best name yet for the assault on the senses that is ABC’s pairing of Dick Vitale and Jim Valvano on college basketball telecasts comes from Prentis Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Killer V’s.”

Tough guys: Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe polled some of the Celtics to find out who they believe is the toughest player in the NBA. Her findings: Three votes for Charles Barkley. Two each for Karl Malone and Michael Jordan (Larry Bird’s choice). One each for Buck Williams, Patrick Ewing and Muggsy Bogues.

That’s right. Muggsy Bogues.

“He’s definitely the toughest,” Kevin McHale said. “He’s out here playing, and he’s only 5 foot 6.”

Add tough: Ed Pinckney was one Celtic who wanted clarification as to what criteria should be used in picking the NBA’s toughest player.

MacMullan told him: “Think of it this way, Eddie. Who is the guy that, when you see him coming, you say to yourself, ‘Oh, no?’ ”

Chimed in Robert Parish: “That’s easy. (Celtic Coach) Chris Ford!”

Trivia answer: Larry and Herb Brown--when Larry was coaching the Denver Nuggets and Herb the Detroit Pistons.

Quotebook: Tom Brunansky of the Boston Red Sox on Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s recent visit to spring training sites in Florida: “Isn’t he the guy who wants to juice up the upper tax bracket? Well, that’s the bracket all those guys (on the field) are in. He’s in the wrong place if he’s looking for votes.”