Rodman Is Welcomed Back With No Stern Warning

Dennis Rodman will return from his 11-game suspension Tuesday, with David Stern, the commissioner who imposed it, as his new best friend.

“I told Dennis we’re not going to be sitting in the stands with a magnifying glass or a telescope,” Stern said Saturday night.

“Dennis Rodman is a great player who has performed in an extraordinary way. He’s welcome to play his game. The issues we’ve had with Dennis relate to what has happened after the whistle blows.

“He understands the difference. I’m satisfied, based on our conversation, that he understands the difference, and on that basis, dealing with the law of probability, he’s been reinstated.”

When Stern suspended Rodman, he ordered him to see a counselor. In the face of criticism that such direction should have been confidential, Stern settled for having a counselor sit in on his meeting with Rodman in New York.

“I think I said I wanted that counselor available so he could counsel me,” said Stern, lightening up.

“The fact is, I didn’t want that to become the overriding issue, and Dennis’ agent [Dwight Manley] and I agreed that having the counselor sit in with us was, for my purposes, as good as him having a meeting with a counselor.”

Rodman’s first game back will be at Chicago against Charlotte.

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With scoring off another four points this season, dropping averages to its lowest levels since the 1950s, the competition committee decided to . . . appoint a subcommittee to study the matter further.

General managers reportedly are in favor of moving the three-point line back to its former distance, 23 feet 9 inches, hoping it will open up the floor.