MacLean Fed His Desire to Make It Big in the NBA : Former Simi Valley and UCLA Standout Added 10 Pounds During the Off-Season and Bulked Up His Scoring Average to 16.5 Points a Game in His 2nd Season for Washington Bullets

Peculiar as it sounds, hunger has bulked up Don MacLean. He is starting at forward for the Washington Bullets after feeling starved of playing time last season.

MacLean has added about 10 pounds of muscle since riding the bench as a rookie from UCLA.

“I just wanted to get stronger this summer,” he said. “Losing some of the fat and putting on muscle is all part of that.”

The physical overhaul has provided the Bullets with additional offensive punch. MacLean averages 16.5 points a game, which ranks third on the team behind Rex Chapman (17.9) and Tom Gugliotta (16.6). MacLean, who averages 5.5 rebounds, scored 38 against the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this season.

MacLean, a 1988 graduate of Simi Valley High, has led the Bullets in scoring four times in 19 games and in rebounding three times.

His numbers from last season were far more modest. He averaged 6.6 points as a rookie.

“I think all he needed was an opportunity,” said Gugliotta, who starts at the other forward spot. “It’s hard to not know when you’re coming off the bench and you’re playing sporadically.”

That MacLean has carved a niche in the NBA is an inspiration to Bullets’ guard Mitchell Butler, a teammate of MacLean’s at UCLA and a graduate of Oakwood School in North Hollywood.

“MacLean has been real supportive,” said Butler, a rookie who was undrafted and signed with the team as a free agent. “It takes a lot of pressure off (playing on the same team). You feel a little more relaxed and it makes the transition a little easier.”

Butler, who has not signed a long-term contract, said his status with the team could change when forward Larry Stewart recovers from a foot injury and comes off injured reserve.

Butler started Saturday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks and scored seven points in 15 minutes.

“You never know in this league,” said Butler, who is averaging 4.9 points with a high of 16. “You’ve got to be prepared to pack your bags. But, at the same time, you know that you’re constantly playing to stay on the roster. So it’s a little heat under your butt to keep you performing and not rest on your laurels.”

MacLean’s laurels are substantial. He left UCLA as the leading scorer in Bruin and Pacific-10 Conference history with 2,608 points, set a league record by making 711 free throws in his career and boasted the best free-throw percentage in Division I basketball, .921.

Selected by the Detroit Pistons as the 19th pick in the 1992 NBA draft, MacLean arrived with the Bullets by way of the Clippers, who acquired William Bedford and him from Detroit in a trade for John Williams.

MacLean lives in Crofton, Md., a 30-minute drive from Washington, D.C. He is under contract with the team through the 1996-97 season.

“It’s quiet,” he said of suburban life, “but this year’s a lot different than last year in that I’m playing a lot of minutes. I need my rest. I’m not really worried about the social aspects of Washington as much as I was last year.”

At 23, MacLean is driven by a sense of purpose. He said he wants to be part of Washington’s resurgence. Washington, 22-60 last year, is 6-13 this year.

“Not playing really motivated me to see if I could,” he said. “I took it as a challenge. They didn’t play me my whole first year. I wanted to see if I could make myself so good that they had to play me.”

Now, Butler faces a similar challenge.

“The Bullets are going to be expecting more and more,” the rookie guard said. “I’ve got to be prepared to give it to them.”