THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Bulls Are Kinder, Gentler--and Better

Serenity has come at last to the Chicago Bulls, who once took creative tension to another level but are now proving they can win even if they like each other.

Once Michael Jordan challenged teammates--”my supporting cast”--Scottie Pippen wondered what it would be like to be like Mike and everyone dumped on thorny General Manager Jerry Krause.

Now Jordan has seen curveballs and rediscovered his love for basketball. Pippen has found that it’s easier to be Jordan’s sidekick than his replacement. And Krause is working on his acceptance speech for when he is named executive of the year for acquiring the original Detroit Piston Bad Boy, Dennis Rodman, a move that reversed Krause’s managerial philosophy, and just in time.

“We have a very ironic situation now,” Jordan says. “Here’s a guy who used to tear our heads off and now he’s telling me to go into the post so he can throw it to me. It’s a different situation.”

The Bulls’ 23-2 start is their best ever and projects to a 75-victory season that would break the Lakers’ NBA record--by six. In another team first, Rodman just posed nude for Playboy.

“They used to want guys with character,” says former Bull Horace Grant. “I caught all sorts of flak for being in one of those skin magazines, and I had my clothes on.”

Characters will have to do.

Jordan is back atop the scoring race, which he won for seven seasons before retiring. If this isn’t quite the old Mike, it’s close enough.

About the time ESPN was compiling a chart showing he didn’t play well on consecutive nights, he burned Vancouver for 19 points and Portland for 14 in fourth-quarter rallies, and scored 30 five times on a seven-game, 12-day trip. Then he toasted Penny Hardaway, pay-back for their first meeting.

“When I left the game I fell down in the ratings,” Jordan says. “Down, I feel, below people like Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and Charles Barkley.

“The question people end up asking is how do I compare the two players--the one before baseball and the one after I quit baseball. Quite frankly, I think they are the same.”

Pippen once merely flirted with greatness, but Jordan’s absence was good for him, the more so when he took himself out of that playoff game and learned a terrible lesson about responsibility.

Pippen is averaging 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists this month. Donnie Walsh, president of the Indiana Pacers, says he’s “the best all-around player in the league right now.” Just being best on the Bulls means you’re a probable Hall of Famer.

“They can mismatch you a lot of different ways,” Walsh says. “They start out the game, they put Jordan on the point guard, so how is Nick Van Exel going to guard Jordan?

“So you put Eddie Jones on Michael and Van Exel on Ron Harper--and then they put [6-foot-11] Toni Kukoc in for Harper. Then what do you do?”

Rodman seems happier than ever, soaking up the adulation of a grateful Chicago, doing his TV and radio shows, striking an affectionate pose with his girlfriend in Playboy. He hasn’t been thrown out of a single game, although a few opponents have dreamed of garroting him, such as Milwaukee’s Glenn Robinson, after Rodman suggested to him that he try earning his $68 million.

“I’m glad to be somewhere where my every move is not documented as some major event,” Rodman says. “I’m tired of people following me around, wondering what Dennis Rodman is doing.

“Michael Jordan helps. It’s great having him around, even though he’s bald.”

Blessed be the peacemakers.

N.Y. BOMBS RILEY, EYES NEXT SUCKER

Even if you believe Pat Riley’s version of his friend’s contact with the Heat last February, Riley behaved badly, bailing out without a word to the fans whose opinion, he says now, means so much to him.

New York, of course, behaved like New York.

The tabloids, whose manic style conditions everyone else’s coverage--or in other words, life in New York--went bonkers, especially the Post, which ran dozens of advance stories under the logo: “THE RETURN OF PAT THE RAT.”

Riley, followed round the clock by the tabs and TV crews, felt threatened enough to bring security people with him. However, he stuck to his itinerary, including Giorgio Armani’s party for him and the usual gang (Spike Lee et al.) and dinner with wife Chris and Blaine Trump at exclusive Matthew’s.

“To stop himself from tampering with any more NBA owners, Riley hired a dozen bodyguards,” the Post’s Pete Vecsey wrote. “He rotated six, overused four and trusted none.”

There were classy moves here and there. Patrick Ewing, John Starks and Derek Harper came over to shake hands--and were booed.

Charles Oakley, however, said Riley “came in here like he was God, dancing, doing his little thing. It was an ego thing, trying to show New York couldn’t get to him.”

Riley’s waves and kisses were a bit much, but what they actually showed was how much he does care. In an increasingly controversial career, he has rarely had anyone act as if he didn’t like him personally, and when it happened, as when Bull Coach Phil Jackson started zinging him, he was taken aback.

At his zenith, in an interview with Knick fan and NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, Riley recalled the 1992 playoffs, “when there were 20,000 flag-waving Knick fans and we were beating the Bulls.

“I mean, there’s nothing like that,” he said, in a reverie. “Nothing.”

New York raised him to demigod status, which he accepted gladly enough, writing his management books, upping his speaking fee to $45,000. Departing, he found it inconvenient to stand up and take the heat. What would have been wrong with saying, “We’ve gone as far as we can together”? Instead, he ran off and took the Heat.

There was nothing like Riley’s return, either. Nothing.

RILEY FLEES NEW YORK; NOW WHERE TO?

In case anyone had forgotten how good Riley was, the next night the Heat beat the New Jersey Nets, starting Danny Schayes, Kurt Thomas, Kevin Gamble and Keith Askins.

(And if anyone is holding out hope for Yinka Dare and Shawn Bradley, Schayes outscored the two of them, 17-2, and outrebounded them, 16-7.)

For Riley, the New York trip was merely unpleasant. Here comes the hard part: Unless O’Neal leaves the Magic and Jordan ditches the Bulls, even a sound Heat team is no better than third in the East.

Miami can get $7 million under the salary cap next summer, but only by renouncing Kevin Willis, an 11-point, 10-rebound man. Riley would then need a power forward as well as a point guard but would have enough cash for only one big free agent, not two.

Insiders think Riley will be less interested in Kenny Anderson than Derek Harper, at 34 the NBA’s oldest starter but a good player and much cheaper. Then he could pursue someone such as Indiana’s Dale Davis.

There is speculation about Ewing, Riley’s guy, going to Miami in two years when he’s 35 and a free agent.

Will Riley go for young players for the future, or old ones for a quick turnaround so he can compete for a title in the five years he knows he will coach?

Riley isn’t known for his patience and after he gets his players back and deals with the Knicks--yes, pay-back is coming--he will want to bag bigger game. How about that Jackson guy who keeps calling him all those names? Or that Shaq punk who just compared him to John Gotti?

Buckle up, Heat fans, there’s about five years’ worth of turbulence on the radar screen.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

The pot is boiling under Mike Dunleavy, the Milwaukee coach-general manager who is beset by doubters above and below. Owner Herb Kohl is reportedly fuming and Dunleavy’s relationship with Robinson looked frayed when Dunleavy benched the Big Dog for the fourth quarter of a loss to the Lakers. Said Dunleavy, “Ultimately it doesn’t matter who you are or whatever. You’ve got to be doing things on the floor, as far as playing hard and defending and doing what’s necessary to keep us going.” Big Pouty Dog declined comment but bounced back by scoring five points in a loss to the Pistons. . . . Betting in Milwaukee is that Dunleavy will be obliged to give up one of his titles, probably general manager. . . .

Vice President Kevin McHale of the Minnesota Timberwolves sacked Bill Blair and made his old college roommate, General Manager Flip Saunders, the new coach, which wasn’t a very nice thing to do to a friend. There is speculation that McHale won’t stay around long and when he leaves, Saunders will take over. “The guys better look at Flip as the GM as well as the coach,” McHale said. “He is the guy who is going to dictate their future earnings in this league.” . . .

The Washington Bullets hope Mark Price will be ready in early January, but what happens then? They are happy with Robert Pack and both will be free agents. Insiders say they are leaning toward Pack, 26, over Price, 31. Price is thought to want to finish his career with a veteran team, maybe the Pacers. . . .

Net General Manager Willis Reed on Ed O’Bannon, shooting 34% and struggling with his confidence: “Ed is a guy we have to push a little bit. He’s been worried about taking shots and missing. I said, ‘Ed, were you worried about taking shots and missing last year at UCLA?’ ”