Nets Better, but Not Perfect

The all-star-induced whining from the New Jersey Nets was justified. In case you missed it, Drazen Petrovic, Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman were miffed last week when they were not named to the team by Eastern Conference coaches. They said they deserved to make the team, and they were right. They also said it indicated a lack of respect for the Nets, and they were right about that, too.

But is that a surprise? Three years ago, the Nets won 17 games. They heve steadily improved, but last season, when they won 40 games and made the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, there was nothing but turmoil. Anderson was a rookie who didn’t play. Coleman was an extraordinary talent who on occasion refused to play for former Coach Bill Fitch. And early this season, Coleman harshly criticized some of his teammates. What was there to respect?

In Petrovic’s case, as in the case of many deserving players before him, he simply was the victim of a popularity contest and of long-established reputations. If fans had voted Mark Price a starter, it is likely that Isiah Thomas, who is having a subpar season, would not have been selected as a reserve. But when Thomas made the starting team, coaches obviously were going to put Price on the team. And Joe Dumars, the other guard, is an established All-Star. If coaches had to make a choice between Dumars and Petrovic at this point, they would lean toward Dumars. That’s not a slight to Petro, who is the only one of the top 15 scorers in the league to not make a team. It is, rather, a tribute to what Dumars has accomplished. Plus, Dumars has had an All-Star year.

In Anderson’s case, the All-Star Game is on the horizon. But I would be willing to bet he got very little support from the coaches this time. When you consider that only two guards were chosen by the coaches -- Price and Dumars -- and that former All-Stars Reggie Lewis, Jeff Hornacek and Reggie Miller were left off the team, then it’s hard to vote for Anderson based on a half-season of excellent play. Maybe next year, Kenny.

Perhaps the most amazing comment came from Sam Bowie, who criticized the selections of Larry Nance and Detlef Schrempf. Bowie said if Eastern Conference coaches were given the choice of Nance, Schrempf or Coleman on their team, all would choose Coleman.

Earth to Sam: That was precisely the choice Eastern Conference coaches were given. They chose Nance, the consummate professional who is quietly having another sensational year, and Schrempf, who has won the Sixth Man Award the past two seasons.

In terms of talent, Coleman deserves to be on the team. But fans and coaches have sent him a message -- the All-Star team is about much more. Coleman was the No. 1 pick in the 1990 draft. Larry Johnson was the No. 1 pick in 1991. Fans put Johnson on the team. Coaches put Nance and Schrempf. That is a statement on Coleman’s attitude, not his talent.

To Coleman’s credit, he has responded to the Nets’ success and Chuck Daly’s leadership. There hasn’t been a negative peep out of him recently, and he’s spoken in glowing terms about his teammates and coaches. All he has to do is continue what he’s been doing on the floor and in the locker room in recent weeks, and his All-Star time, too, will come.

*

Well, it certainly was informative to hear Reggie “Scoop” Miller tell us all a double standard exists in the NBA. Michael Jordan operates under one set of rules and the rest of the league has another.

No kidding, Reggie.

It’s a good thing Reggie is a player and not an investigative reporter. I could imagine my phone ringing right now and Reggie breathlessly shouting, “I’ve got a big one: Clinton wins.”

Jordan is the best player in basketball, the most gifted, the most athletic, the most popular and one of the greatest stars on the planet. It is not that he is given special treatment. He commands it because he has earned it.

That having been said, there was never any doubt that Jordan was going to be suspended after the altercation with Miller on Wednesday. It was hilarious listening to uninformed opinions that the NBA was so scared of Jordan that he would not be disciplined. Jordan punched Miller. The NBA has a simple rule that players who punch other players are suspended. Last year in Utah, Jordan bumped a referee. He was suspended for one game.

The fact is that the referees missed some of the events leading to the fight. Miller may think it’s news when a referee misses a call, but I see it happen pretty regularly. Maybe we’re watching different games.

Double standard? Absolutely. There’s little doubt Jordan sometimes gets an extra step or goes to the foul line repeatedly for ticky-tack fouls. But the NBA will not allow Jordan to punch players without retaliation. Jordan is subject to the NBA’s discipline. And that is nothing new.

*

The NBA, as the saying goes, has had some fantastic recent years. But on Thursday, the Portland Trail Blazers suspended and fined rookies Dave Johnson and Tracy Murray and fined Jerome Kersey and Reggie Smith after charges that the players had sex with two 16-year-old girls in Salt Lake City were dropped (the players union filed a grievance on the players’ behalf yesterday). The same day, Dennis Rodman was found sitting in his car in the parking lot of the Palace of Auburn Hills with a loaded shotgun in the front seat; he later was taken to a psychiatrist. And a general manager made an offensive comparison between a rookie holdout and Len Bias. On Friday, Jordan’s suspension was announced, and marijuana possession charges were filed against Celtics center Robert Parish. It was the ugliest 48 hours in recent NBA history.