Don’t Let Forum Door Hit You on Way Out

Mike Downey [July 1] has one thing right. When Vlade Divac returns as a Charlotte Hornet, the whole Forum will cheer. Here’s a guy who averaged 12.4 points and 8.5 rebounds during his seven-year career. This for a guy (don’t read this, Wilt and Kareem) 7 feet tall and being paid more than $3.3 million a season.

To Mike Downey, Vlade may not have been disloyal, disrespectful, greedy, lazy, a troublemaker or a loser. But for a guy nobody paid to see, who didn’t lead his team to a championship, never made an all-star team, never led the league in any category and rarely showed up for big games, I’ll be the first in line to make sure he makes his plane flight to Charlotte.

GENO M. APICELLA

Los Angeles

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What was that uproar over Vlade’s retirement threat? He retired competitively four years ago when he was asked to get in shape and play big in the low post. Except for picking up his paycheck and a few nominal appearances each season, Divac has been a spectator the last few seasons.

DONALD F. SMITH

Playa del Rey

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Vlade Divac earning $4.1 million a year. Now, that’s an atrocity.

STAN KAPLAN

Garden Grove

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The new contract offered to Shaquille O’Neal would pay him more in one year than Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer earned in more than 80 combined years on the PGA Tour. And I’ll bet that Arnie is still better from the free-throw line.

KEVIN H. PARK

North Hollywood