THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Chicago Is Bullish About 70 Victories

Chicago, feverish enough under ordinary circumstances, such as three NBA titles in a row, is about to lift off the ground with the Bulls off to a 37-3 start.

A Chicago columnist nominated the Bulls, whom he says everyone likes, as the real “America’s Team,” replacing the Dallas Cowboys, whom everyone has learned to dislike because they’re cocky, vain, talk too much, etc.

He gets around the Dennis Rodman problem this way:

“Even when Rodman is being the child, like when he went on Howard Stern’s show and talked of how a lesbian tried to pick him up Monday, we’ve learned to just giggle.”

Dennis may run his mouth too, but he’s their loudmouth and they love him. Besides, he gets a lot of bad raps, such as the tabloid reports he was in a Manhattan topless bar the night before the Knick game, showing his tattoos to the dancers. There were several Bulls there, including Toni Kukoc and Scottie Pippen, but Dennis passed it up (this trip).

Before they played a game, the combination of the Bad Boy extraordinaire and Michael Jordan, Mr. Wonderful, was irresistible. League-wide cable TV ratings are already up a fast 50%.

What do you know? This team can play basketball too.

In Chicago, it’s never too early to run amok. They’re already comparing their Bulls to the great teams of the past, to the players’ amusement. Ron Harper, asked how they’d do against the 1971-72 Lakers with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, noted, “Those guys are pretty old now.”

Chicago has its heart set on the Lakers’ record, 69 victories, and for the moment, the Bulls are being dragged along for the ride. They’re currently on pace to win 75 games, but now comes the hard part: After today, they’ll play 11 of 13 on the road, starting with a six-game Western swing that will bring them to the Forum on Friday. In three weeks, we’ll know whether this is really happening.

On one hand, Bull players consistently remind everyone their only goal is a championship.

On the other, they’re clearly intrigued at the thought of winning 70.

“I think it’s realistic, as long as we stay focused each and every night that we step on a basketball court,” Jordan said. “We feel that we can achieve that, yes.”

The Bulls are the NBA’s oldest team. Only one starter, Luc Longley, is under 30. Rodman will be 35 when the season ends. Jordan will be 33 next month. Harper is 32. Pippen is 30. Once they lose a game or two, it may occur to them they shouldn’t whip themselves through March and April with May and June waiting.

Of course, Jordan is vintage Mike, at 31.2 points a game, almost six ahead of second-place Karl Malone, or in other words, 21% ahead of the field. Pippen is better than ever. Rodman is blissed out, leading the league in rebounds at 14.4 and vowing to stay forever. America’s (basketball) Team is coming to an arena near you, and it means business.

HE CAME, HE SAW, HE WANTS $1.2 MILL

The firing of Simon Gourdine, director of what is laughingly referred to as the NBA Players Assn., was surprising only because the union just gave him a two-year, $1.2-million contract.

No, the elevator doesn’t run all the way to the top in that building.

Gourdine was the union’s legal counsel until able but high-living Charlie Grantham was mysteriously sacked last spring in the middle of negotiations. In a bad position, caught between a hard-driving commissioner and a disinterested membership, Gourdine made it impossible, freezing out the powerful agents’ committee, fomenting a full-scale revolt.

That was simply bad judgment. Staying on with the union so badly splintered was willful, greedy or both.

Gourdine and union president Buck Williams should have resigned after the decertification movement was finally defeated and a bargaining agreement approved, to allow players to elect someone they could unite behind. Instead, the players forgot about it and the leaders on both sides went back to politicking.

Williams rehired Gourdine. Executive committee members Herb Williams and Jim Jackson protested they weren’t consulted. The Mavericks wrote a letter demanding Gourdine be fired and vowing to withhold dues.

Gourdine got the ax last week. Taking his strongest stand to date, he is now insisting on being paid in full.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Overmatched Philadelphia 76er General Manager/Coach John Lucas, whose team is a laughingstock, dangled all week while equally credible owner Harold Katz negotiated with Chris Ford. Said Lucas, as talks dragged on: “That’s what I’m afraid of. I’m afraid they can’t get anybody to take it.” Sure enough, Ford turned it down and Katz gave Lucas a vote of confidence, ripping the press for starting rumors. . . . Safe prediction: Lucas gets canned after the season and Katz makes up with the press. . . . Knicks get reality check, fail: With the glitterati back Tuesday night to see if Jordan could match last spring’s 55-point game, the Bulls routed the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, 99-79. Said Rodman: “I think they should break up the team. They’re not the same any more. You could see their yellow streak extending tonight in the third period. They put their heads down and their tails between their legs.” . . . Said Knick Coach Don Nelson, who has been asked since arriving if the gulf between the Knicks and the elite teams wasn’t widening: “At the beginning of the season my answer was no. The answer is yes now.” . . . With the Heat still spinning out, President/Coach Pat Riley is speechless and Alonzo Mourning so angry, people are wondering if his reenlistment is really a done deal. Said Riley: “I have no idea right now what is going on. We just have lost the desire. It’s really not my job to get it back. It’s an individual thing. These are professional basketball players, highly paid, in what we feel is a first-class organization. To play like that is unconscionable.” . . . The Heat then lost at home to the Knicks as Patrick Ewing went for 37 points. Said Ewing: “I told [Mourning] before the game that Riley wasn’t going to double on me. He doesn’t believe in that.” . . . Said Mourning: “He was going on me one-on-one. At some point, you have got to make some adjustments. I probably could have done a little better job defensively, but it’s got to be a team effort out there.” . . . Mourning also ripped the fans, many of whom were expatriate New Yorkers rooting for the Knicks. “It’s . . . ridiculous, to tell you the truth,” said Mourning. “We’re at home and half the . . . arena is cheering for the Knicks. Look at this [pointing to his shoulder], scratches all over and they’re out there cheering for the Knicks. The last thing we need is our fans against us. We need support, and the fans are against us.” . . . OK, here’s what’s going on: Only four Heat players (Mourning, Kevin Willis, Billy Owens and Kurt Thomas ) are shooting over 42%.

Proving they still don’t have a clue, the Hornets have installed scanners to read the bar codes on their tickets, to determine why so many fans who have bought the tickets aren’t showing up. “I want to know why,” said owner George Shinn. “It’s important to me. These codes will tell us.” . . . Comment: An infant without a scanner could tell him. People are disappointed. Soon they may decide they don’t even want to buy tickets if all they get is a mediocre team and invasions of their privacy. . . . And while we’re on the subject, here’s Mourning on the Hornets’ trade of Kendall Gill and Khalid Reeves, both signed through 1999, for free agent-to-be Kenny Anderson who is represented by David Falk, the man who spirited Mourning away: “I can’t believe that trade. And you know David’s got to come back to town--after everything we’ve been through. George Shinn doesn’t like David, Spencer Stolpen [Hornet president] doesn’t like David, and I know Allan [Bristow, coach] really doesn’t like David.” . . . Vancouver’s Blue Edwards after a victory over Milwaukee: “We watched them on tape. They’re a team, for whatever reason, that doesn’t want to defend. We went right at Glenn Robinson. We shot-faked and took him to the hole.”