THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Manning Is Mandatory for Clippers

An amazing thing happened the other day.

The Clippers went in to clean out their lockers for the summer. The press guys were there to do the standard goodby story.

Of course, Danny Manning was asked about free agency.

Everyone knew what was coming next. Manning had been promising for all five of his years in town that when his contract expired, as it just had, he’d sign the mandatory one-year qualifying offer, become an unrestricted free agent and then, only then, talk to the Clippers.

To everyone’s surprise, Manning said he was willing to talk now.

While writers blinked awake, Manning sounded a new note: sad at the thought of leaving, intrigued at the thought of what they might do together.

Maybe he was only being polite but assuming he’s serious, what’s next?

The Clippers must respond quickly and decisively.

They shouldn’t kid themselves about the tab. They have to be willing to offer him a $20-million, five-year contract, putting him on a par with Michael Jordan’s $4-million salary and go from there.

This is only fair, as it represents Manning’s market value.

Since the advent of the salary cap in the early ‘80s, only a few All-Stars have come onto the market. Only one--Tom Chambers--was under 30 and none were as young as the 27-year-old Manning.

More to the point, it represents Manning’s value to the Clippers.

With him, the Clippers will be respectable for the life of his contract and if they do the right things, they will become contenders. They will inherit Los Angeles while the Lakers rebuild.

Without Manning, they will be back in the lottery in two years or I miss my guess.

Of course, they’re going to need an earth mover to dig a hole big enough to bury all the hatchets.

During the prolonged negotiations for Manning’s first contract, his agent, Ron Grinker, called Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling “a buffoon.”

Advised by cooler heads that he couldn’t say such things publicly, Grinker softened his position to “acts like a buffoon.”

Midway through the contract, Sterling told Grinker that Manning, then trying to come back from reconstructive knee surgery, was a disappointment and perhaps nothing more than a good college player.

Grinker says he’s past that and willing to talk to the Clippers.

Of course, Grinker can usually summon up 100 reasons to go somewhere else, like his last trip to town, when he noted that Sterling asked him to sit next to him during Game 3--and parked him several rows back, instead.

Students of Clipper history say it’s still a longshot, that the front office won’t move that fast or go that high.

Indeed, it’s hard for Clippers not to act like Clippers, but it isn’t often anyone gets a chance to undo five years’ worth of mistakes.

Sterling, Elgin Baylor and Harley Frankel need to be on Grinker’s doorstep in Cincinnati this week, with their best bygones-be-bygones looks and Donald’s checkbook.

In case they missed it, the governor just called with their reprieve, so they’d better answer.

IT’S ALL OVER NOW, CELTIC GREEN

Rookie Marcus Webb had multiple arrests on assault charges.

Elder statesman Robert Parish was busted for marijuana.

Sherman Douglas took off his sneakers in a game at Minnesota and jumped the team.

Reggie Lewis’ career was declared over after he fainted during a playoff game, but he is back after examination by a Dream Team of cardiologists.

They haven’t had many seasons like this one in Boston, but they had better batten down the hatches.

When the season ended with the first-round defeat at Charlotte, owner Alan Cohen protested heatedly at the non-goaltending call on Kevin McHale’s game-ending lob to Dee Brown, but he missed the point. How did he like the Celtics’ chances in the next round against the Knicks?

By next summer, the old order will be a memory. The Celtics plan to re-sign the 40-year-old Parish for one last season, mostly to maintain his $3.5-million slot for a free agent.

Manning is the No. 1 choice.

For what it’s worth, Grinker has often noted his admiration for the Celtic tradition and operation.

Even if the Celtics pull it off, they will still be a player or two away. Like the other ‘80s powers--the Lakers, Pistons and 76ers--it’s a new rebuilding day.

Wrote the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett:

“The dynasty did not crash after the glory years. It rusted.”

NETS: THE BEAT GOES ON

It was your standard New Jersey Net send-off.

One minute, they’re in the middle of a stirring effort, taking the Cavaliers to five games without the injured Kenny Anderson, Chris Dudley and Sam Bowie.

The next, everyone says he’s leaving.

Drazen Petrovic, angered that the team failed to sign him, said it was 95% certain he would be back in Europe next season.

Petrovic was also upset after playing the Cleveland series on a sore knee--and being told by Derrick Coleman to get out of the way if he couldn’t do any better than that.

Guard Rumeal Robinson, a pleasant surprise after being thrown into Anderson’s spot, is also a restricted free agent and an unhappy one.

“I’m out of here,” Robinson said. “I can’t take this anymore. I’m leaving. There are other teams that will treat me right.”

The Nets have four more restricted free agents--Rafael Addison, Bernard King, Maurice Cheeks, Chucky Brown--as well as Dudley, who is unrestricted.

“I tell you,” Bowie said, “after losing Terry Mills and Mookie Blaylock and with Chris Dudley talking about leaving, it’s too much to handle.”

FACES AND FIGURES

When not terrorizing his teammates, New Jersey’s Coleman, a non-All-Star, torched Cleveland’s All-Star, Larry Nance, averaging 27 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. “Not making the All-Star team really bothered me because I knew I belonged there,” Coleman said. “There was the so-called elite and I knew I belonged there. But I’m not going to worry about it in the future, as long as guys know when I step on the court, I’m the main man, Derrick Coleman.”

The arrogance is back: Remember when the Bulls were slumping and Horace Grant said they still had their confidence, but he didn’t know about their arrogance? They felt so much better after their sweep of the Hawks, they all but dismissed second-round opponent Cleveland in advance. “We’ve proved ourselves and they haven’t,” Jordan said before the series. “I’m pretty sure that’s playing on that organization’s mind in terms of changes and what things have to be done if they don’t do it this time.”

The Sam Perkins-for-Doug Christie and what’s-his-name deal will be remembered as the one that committed the Lakers to rebuilding, but the Seattle SuperSonics aren’t complaining about their end. Perkins made five of six three-point shots during the Game 2 victory over Houston. He made at least three three-pointers in three of Seattle’s first eight playoff games. . . . Remember, the Rockets blew home-court advantage for this series by losing to the Dallas Mavericks the last weekend of the regular season.

Wes Unseld’s Washington Bullet teams used to be known for their scrappiness, but this one quit on him and finished 22-60, the Bullets’ worst record in 26 years. Unseld, owner Abe Pollin’s darling, was given the option to return and did. “If he had been fired, it would have been like we failed him,” Tom Gugliotta said. “Everybody says we need a new coach. We don’t know if we need a new coach because our players didn’t go out and compete all the time.” . . . Unseld clashed with General Manager John Nash, who wanted him to try Rex Chapman and Don MacLean more. “All coaches and general managers have their differences,” Nash said. “Wes and I both understand we’re going through a painful, difficult rebuilding phase.”

How to tell the veterans from the kids in the playoffs: The kids woof, the veterans win. Charlotte’s Muggsy Bogues said of the Knicks: “You look at New York and you constantly wonder how they got 60 wins.” The Knicks showed them by winning the first two games of the series, including a rally from 10 points down in the last four minutes of Game 2. . . . Blazermania, catch it and die (cont.): With Terry Porter at the point, the Trail Blazers had trouble running their offense in the crunch, but things weren’t much better with Rod Strickland. In their four-game defeat by the Spurs, the Trail Blazers went scoreless in the last three minutes of Game 1; went scoreless in the last three minutes of Game 3 and went scoreless in the last four minutes of regulation in Game 4.

The Lakers slowed the Suns down and almost ended their season, but Phoenix turned it back up against the Spurs to grab a 2-0 lead. “The traditional view is, you can’t run in the playoffs,” Phoenix Coach Paul Westphal said. “Thou shalt not run in the playoffs. That’s a bunch of bull.” . . . Sacramento General Manager Jerry Reynolds, given a new contract after having worked without one for the last two seasons: “People were sniffing around this job like lions sniffing out the weak antelope. . . . It’s a typical contract--five years or 50 losses, whichever comes first.”