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Rodman Makes Wrong Impression With Russell

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Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were reunited Tuesday in New York as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary by naming its 50 greatest players.

Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post reported that the inevitable question arose: What did Russell think of Dennis Rodman, the best modern-day rebounder.

“Well, he’s certainly an entertainer,” Russell said, then added: “He’s adequate. . . . To compare him with Wilt and me is, well, in error.”

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Rodman has a career regular-season rebounding average of 12.7. Chamberlain averaged 22.9, Russell 22.5.

Trivia time: When and where did Russell play his last game for the Boston Celtics?

Scary, scary: Detroit Lion quarterback Scott Mitchell went to a Halloween party Monday night dressed as Coach Wayne Fontes, with Mickey Mouse ears, an unlit cigar and a big pillow stuffed under his sweatshirt. He playfully poked fun at Fontes, saying: “I apologize for benching my quarterback.”

At the team meeting the next day, Fontes said: “I understand I went to a Halloween party. I just want to know if I had any fun.”

Say what? Here are some questions Reggie Miller faced during a live interview on a Berlin radio station during the Indiana Pacers’ European visit:

--Do you have a girlfriend, and if you don’t have one, does your girlfriend have to be as tall as you are?

--If you foul a friend of yours, really severe and it costs his team the game, he’s going to kill you, isn’t he?

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About time: From Jay Leno: “Sports fans in New York are celebrating something that has not happened, in, what, 18 years. People are going nuts. I guess you know what I’m talking about. The New York Jets finally won a game.”

Add Leno: “These Jet players are pretty confident. Like, today they said they plan to win a game next year too.”

Clip and save: Charles Barkley on the Orlando Magic’s loss of franchise center Shaquille O’Neal to the Lakers: “I compare it to when Milwaukee lost Kareem, only the Magic didn’t get anything back. They’re one ACL [knee ligament] away from being in the lottery.”

Amnesia: When USC played Arizona State on Oct. 19, a school-record crowd of 74,947 filled Sun Devil Stadium.

The next day only 27,738 showed up to watch the game between the struggling Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Said broadcaster John Cannon: “Thirty-thousand people forgot to go home.”

Looking back: On this day in 1913, Notre Dame defeated Army, 35-13, at West Point with a surprise passing combination of Gus Dorias to Knute Rockne.

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Trivia answer: Russell played his last game on May 5, 1969, at the Forum, where the Celtics defeated the Lakers, 108-106, in the seventh game of the NBA championship series.

And finally: Discussing “the slowest member of my club” in Golf Digest, David Owen said: “He moves through our nine-hole course the way a meal moves through a python.”

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