At Least Laettner Didn’t Say of Shot, ‘That Is Not a Brick’

Duke basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski told the Dallas Morning News that he recalled the time Christian Laettner missed a late free throw that would have tied the score during a game against Arizona at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

The Blue Devils lost and, as Krzyzewski was walking off the floor, two Secret Service agents told him that former President Richard Nixon wanted to talk to the team.

“Well, he comes in and starts talking and said, ‘Christian, don’t worry about missing that free throw. We all make mistakes.’

“I was standing back in a corner. When he said that, I told one of my assistants, ‘Yeah, and some of them are a hell of a lot worse than missing a free throw.’ ”

Trivia time: Unbeaten Washington State will play USC Saturday at the Coliseum. When did the Cougars last come to Los Angeles with an undefeated football team?

House hunting: Clipper forward Danny Manning isn’t thrilled about playing in the 33-year-old Sports Arena.

“I want to play in a new arena,” Manning told Lyle Spencer of the Riverside Press-Enterprise. “The Sports Arena has been around a long, long time. I want us to have training facilities like other teams in the league have.

“It’s not about money. Ron (Harper) and myself would take pay cuts if that’s what it takes to get the right facilities. We just want to play for an organization that cares about winning.”

Stonewall: Deion Sanders of the Atlanta Braves/Falcons doesn’t speak to reporters in Atlanta, claiming they’ve been making fun of him.

“They had a privilege,” Sanders said. “They abused the privilege. They lost the privilege.”

To which Cincinnati Enquirer writer Rob Parker responded: “What does he think he is? An American Express card?”

Family feud: Ed O’Bradovich, a former teammate of Mike Ditka’s, is upset about Ditka’s reaction to quarterback Jim Harbaugh’s ill-advised audible call two weeks ago against Minnesota.

“If you are the leader of a team, you cannot yell at someone in public all the time,” O’Bradovich said. “Take him behind closed doors. Teams will lose confidence after constant public humiliation.”

By the way, Ditka’s son is married to O’Bradovich’s daughter.

Complaint: Before Washington’s Billy Joe Hobert lost his starting quarterback job to Mark Brunell, he was quoted by the Seattle Times as saying:

“Last year, I had the team. It was my offense. Now we’re splitting it up. It’s not my (winning) streak. It’s not really my offense. I’m not running things anymore.”

With everything?Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe on the Detroit Pistons’ signing of Terry Mills: “All that Mills has ever proven is that he can run a cheeseburger down his throat in 4.5 seconds.”

Trivia answer: In 1981, when the 6-0-1 Cougars were beaten by USC, 41-17.

Quotebook: John Salley, the former Detroit Piston forward, now with the Miami Heat: “I won a championship. Now, I want to see what it’s like to be a superstar.”