Rodman Gets Into Scuffle With Fan Outside Forum

A night of antagonism accelerated from verbal to physical when San Antonio forward Dennis Rodman and a 24-year-old Long Beach waiter apparently exchanged parting shots Thursday night outside the Forum.

The incident occurred after the Spurs had finished off the Lakers, 100-88, in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.

John Black, a spokesman for the Lakers, said reports from Forum security personnel indicated a man, later learned to be Steve Coakley, who had been heckling Rodman during the game apparently was waiting with dozens of fans outside the Forum Club entrance, where players frequently exit the arena.

Rodman and teammate Jack Haley were being escorted through the group of fans by security personnel when Coakley began taunting Rodman again, Black said.

“What we are hearing is that the guy pushed Dennis in the back,” Black said, “and Dennis apparently turned and went after the guy and got him in a headlock. Apparently, Jack Haley helped break them up and the guy ran away. We didn’t get his name, and there was no police report filed.”

Coakley said Black’s story “was about right,” though he added that he did not push Rodman and that he did not know how he could have been identified as a heckler by Rodman because “my seat was in the Colonnade [far from the floor].”

“I was just trying to get an autograph, and I had a pen in one hand and [the game program] in the other,” said Coakley, whose glasses were apparently knocked off in the incident.

Black said no action was planned by the Forum. Coakley said he would probably consult a lawyer.