THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Bernard King Returns, but Do Bullets Want Him?

Ghost of Christmas Past: Bernard King, gone since the spring of 1991 after knee surgery, reported back to the Washington Bullets last week.

The Bullets were a little surprised, since King had been out of touch for 18 months and hadn’t told anyone he was coming until he rapped on Coach Wes Unseld’s office door.

On the other hand, that’s Bernard.

King says he’s ready to go.

Bullet officials, committed to young forwards Tom Gugliotta and Harvey Grant rather than a 36-year-old in the last year of his contract, are wearing frozen smiles and pondering when to activate him.

“I would like to believe the Bullets are committed to winning,” said King, ever helpful.

“I think that’s the message they’re sending out to their fans and that’s obviously the message that the fans who pay their hard-earned money and cheer for them and support them should want from the organization.

“Considering that, any player who has the ability--namely myself--to rejoin an organization, to help that team win games . . . I think that’s all that should count.”

Said Unseld, perhaps noting a touch of self-interest in the sermon: “The Washington Bullets were committed to winning before Bernard got here.”

King is one of the league’s most tenacious, not to mention prickliest, stars. Bullet publicists so feared his wrath, they once cut paragraphs on his youthful indiscretions out of their file copy of a newspaper story, lest Bernard see it.

King was the defending scoring champion as a Knick in 1985 when he tore up his right knee, supposedly ending his career. He beat the rap with his first super-dedicated, arch-isolated rehabilitation and became an All-Star with the Bullets, without benefit of a right anterior cruciate ligament.

Skeptics think King is trying to interest another team for next season, as he did at the end of his Knick career when he returned for the last six games of the ‘86-87 season and averaged 23 points.

“Bernard’s 36 years old and he could say at the end of the year he’s gone,” Grant said. “And if he goes, it messes up everything we’re trying to do here.”

Said Unseld: “What intrigues me and concerns me, I’ll keep to myself. I’ll just say there are a number of things on both sides.”

BABY, IT’S COLD INSIDE

Were it not for the debacle in Dallas, there might be more attention on the Minnesota Timberwolves, now running a solid No. 2 from the bottom.

The Mavericks have two victories.

Were it not for Dallas, the Timberwolves would have only three. But going into the weekend, they were 3-0 against the Mavericks, 3-21 against everyone else.

The Timberwolves opened up shop after making a study of the Maverick front office, considered the expansion model. Then they hired iron-willed Coach Bill Musselman, who overturned their charts and graphs and packed the team with his old CBA champion Patroons, intent on rediscovering the glory that was Albany.

Toppling Musselman finally led to last summer’s hiring of a general manager, Jack McCloskey, recently of Detroit, but apparently under orders to win some games now.

McCloskey acquired 28-year-old Chuck Person, a curious move for an expansion team, and several of his former Pistons--Brad Sellers, Lance Blanks, Bob McCann--intent on rediscovering the glory that was Auburn Hills.

Neither has the draft been of great solace:

Luc Longley, the 7-foot-2 seventh pick in the ’91 draft, backs up 6-7 journeyman McCann at center.

Felton Spencer, the 7-0 sixth pick in ‘90, backs up Longley.

Christian Laettner, third pick in ‘92, can play but is disliked by teammates and many others who meet him.

Budding team spokesman Doug West recently complained of “brain-dead” teammates, which everyone took as a reference to Laettner, Three days later, Laettner stole the ball, overlooked West alone under the basket and dribbled in from 30 feet for a dunk. Person, setting a new personal best in diplomacy, called it “a selfish play.”

Exposed in mid-civil war, the Timberwolves put the best face on it.

“Sometimes I shoot too much,” Laettner said. “Sometimes the other guys shoot too much. What is said is said and that’s fine. But don’t let it be blown out of proportion.”

Said Person: “I’ve talked to Christian a lot this season. He’s got an awful lot of pride and yeah, he sometimes can be stubborn. But he has a heart somewhere, I think.”

ON THE TUNDRA, A VULTURE ALERT

Former Indiana Pacer Dick Versace, colorful even for a coach, has reportedly announced his availability, should the Timberwolves sack Jimmy Rodgers.

Last week, Versace, clad in his trademark black--shirt, baseball cap and dark glasses--sat three rows from the court at Milwaukee, taking notes as Minnesota lost to the Bucks.

Versace said he was scouting the Bucks for a TBS game he was broadcasting later in the week. He turned down an invitation by the Timberwolves’ TV crew, saying he preferred to remain low profile.

His idea of a profile is a little different. Versace has admitted to having his own name paged in airports.

POINT, COUNTER-POINT

Talking of former coaches, here’s Dick Motta on his last job, with Sacramento:

“I felt like a drowning man, willing to grasp anything they threw me. Turned out, they threw me razor blades.”

And Spud Webb, on the same subject:

“I told our guys, ‘You don’t know how lucky you are to play for Saint (Garry St. Jean). We had Dick Motta here and you know what that was like. Saint treats us like men. If we lose or mess up, he doesn’t walk by you with shades on, like you’re not there.”

FACES AND FIGURES

Watch out for those 12-year-olds, though: Michael Jordan on granting a one-on-one interview to 11-year-old Maria Sansone of NBC’s “Inside Stuff”: “I feel that everything she would be looking for is positive. She’s not like some of the other reporters who are trying to get you down.” Hey, Mike, we don’t have to try that hard. Jordan on this season’s All-Star game in Salt Lake City: “I say, keep it in a warm place, let us play golf for two or three days. . . . The best thing about it (though), is that you’re a hop and a skip away from Vegas.” . . . Smart woman: Sansone, asked if she plans to go into journalism: “I’m sort of thinking about dermatology.”

San Antonio’s David Robinson, waiting for his wife to deliver their first child, got a message before last Sunday’s Suns-Spurs game that said his wife was in labor and he had to go immediately to the hospital. Upon checking, he found out the message had come from the Suns’ Charles Barkley. . . . Cleveland’s Mark Price averaged 22 points and shot 61%, including 58% on three-pointers, in Cleveland’s 11-2 run. Said Chicago’s Scottie Pippen: “On my All-Star team, Price would be the starting point guard, followed by Isiah Thomas and then John Stockton. Said Jordan of Price: “He’s right there with Stockton and Tim Hardaway.” So much for the end of the Mike-Isiah feud.

How is the NBA going to get around the Suns’ protest of the loss at San Antonio that ended their 14-game winning streak? With the score tied at the end of regulation, the Spurs were putting the ball in bounds. Five Spurs were on the court and the referee handed the ball to a sixth, standing out of bounds. Sun players protested. The rules call for a technical foul but none was assessed. Your move, David Stern. . . . How you can tell he’s feeling better: Dennis Rodman has carved “Pro-Choice” into his haircut but says it has nothing to do with the debate over abortion. “It means having complete freedom,” Rodman said, “having people accept you as you are.”

Next, a Human Highlight Film auction? Dominique Wilkins is expected back next week for Atlanta. The Hawks went 3-7 without him but Wilkins is 33 and doesn’t fit into a long rebuilding program. “Whether it’s good or bad, this team relies on him more than it should,” Hawk General Manager Pete Babcock said. “That’s the reality of the situation.” . . . The Pistons fastened the snaps of Jeff Ruland’s warmups with glue, causing Ruland to trip trying to enter a game. Said Bill Laimbeer: “It was our only chance to laugh at Jeff without getting slugged.” . . . Lewis and Clark, they’re not: Miami’s record on West Coast trips before this one: 1-30. They got the victory last season at Sacramento.

Younger generation: Jordan’s biggest fans among NBA players include Harold (Baby Jordan) Miner and Anthony Peeler, who was once asked if he was a Jordan fan and said, “Sure, isn’t everybody?” Here’s Mike on the fan club: “Miner is more flashy. Peeler is harder-working, maybe. I think Miner’s got more ability. Peeler seems to be more mature in his game.” . . . Loved that line by GQ’s Peter Richmond about Chicago’s Jerry Krause being the best general manager in basketball. All the Bulls need to be unbeatable is a reserve who can score 15 points but in the last three seasons, Krause has acquired Rodney McCray, Cliff Levingston and Dennis Hopson. With three of the first 22 picks in the ’89 draft, he chose Stacey King, B.J. Armstrong and Jeff Sanders, passing up Vlade Divac and Cliff Robinson. In Chicago, they like to say that Krause could have gone to sleep like Rip Van Winkle after getting Pippen in the ’87 draft and the Bulls still would have won two titles. . . . Trail Blazers’ chaplain Al Egg, on the cheerleaders’ request for a pregame religious service: “I was happy to do it, but I went and got my wife first. I wasn’t going in there without her.”