A Sobering Thought for SuperSonics: Third in West

Ask the inmates to hold it down: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, even if it’s only a Western Conference crown, particularly if the Seattle SuperSonics are wearing it.

Young, talented and deep, the SuperSonics were supposed to have arrived last spring, but they have since arrived at third place in the West.

Actually, seven of them are over 31 and their stars are still arriving. Gary Payton never made 30% of his three-point shots until last postseason, when he made 41%. Now he’s back down to 32%.

Nor are they deep after dropping Vince Askew and Frank Brickowski to sign Jim McIlvaine, a large shot-blocker rather than an athlete who can trap and rotate, which is how George Karl teams distinguish themselves.

McIlvaine averages 19 minutes, most of it in non-crunch time. The Lakers got Shaquille O’Neal, the Rockets got Charles Barkley and the SuperSonics got a $35-million bad fit.

Nor did the era of good feeling last. Shawn Kemp held out in defiance of common sense, public relations and the rules that said he can renegotiate only once every two years.

As Payton could have told him, money didn’t buy happiness. Payton got $11 million a year and dropped out of sight, ducking reporters before and after games.

Seattle reporters now find the door opening to reveal a deserted dressing room. After a victory over the Washington Bullets, Terry Cummings, the lone player available, declared they just had to play “Sonic ball.” Cummings had just signed the week before, and anything he knew about “Sonic ball” was presumably learned watching from the other bench, though the reporters must have been glad for the company.

Just before the All-Star break, the mood turned worse. The Chicago Bulls came in and walked on the SuperSonics. The Utah Jazz followed and won its second game there.

Afterward, Karl declared, “The thing I hate about my basketball team more than anything else is that they’re not good teammates to one another. I think we have too much judgment, too much pointing fingers and not enough camaraderie.”

Payton told the Seattle Times they need reinforcements, say, Otis Thorpe or Mitch Richmond. He was right, but on the other hand, who doesn’t?

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Kemp was out until 2 a.m. before the Bull game, which started at 12:30 p.m., quoting four waiters who said he consumed nine or 10 drinks.

A subsequent Post-Intelligencer story produced a receipt for seven drinks for Kemp’s party of four. Kemp said the drinks had been divided among the four. The story may have been overblown, but Kemp has a history of tardiness and absences, including three in the last eight weeks. And now he’s suspended from today’s game against the Lakers.

In any case, Karl ripped the media (“It’s you all trying to divide us with innuendoes and exaggerations”), but he has lodged similar complaints in other seasons and he said it about the Payton interview too.

“My recommendation,” Karl told reporters, “is to give short answers to you all and to keep everything inside the cocoon and we will work it out. It’s already been established that what I’m looking at isn’t what you are seeing. I see a team that is 32-15 [now 34-15] and that’s pretty good, and we are in a good position for not having one of our best players [Nate McMillan] the whole year. But you all are seeing something totally different and creating a tremendous amount of chaos that is very irresponsible.”

The SuperSonics are 2-0 since, a tribute to their new unity, their abandonment of the last vestiges of dealings with the media and/or the return of McMillan.

Gee, what a surprise, turmoil in Seattle.

The SuperSonics’ success in the ‘90s is due as much to Karl as anyone--they were at .500 for two seasons before him, they’ve been at .728 in five with him--but even if he has chilled, relative to his J.B. Carroll-locker-cleaning-out days, he’s high-strung. He broods, goes off, is shocked by the response and circles the wagons, seeming to forget his role in the process.

One way or another, the SuperSonics are spectacular, soaring to the finals or getting jolted between the eyes by the Denver Nuggets as Karl keens, “I wake up in the morning and I ask myself, ‘Why?’ ”

Why indeed?

Intangibles are one thing, but they could still use another tangible player inside that old cocoon.

SEATS STILL AVAILABLE ON THE NELLIE SHUTTLE

Good thing American Airlines is still flying that Don Nelson Shuttle out of its Dallas hub.

The new era got off to a rollicking start. Even before signing his own contract, Nelson dumped Oliver Miller, perhaps just to hear the thud, providing the perfect capper for Miller’s Mavericks career:

July--Opts out of his $2.5-million Toronto contract to become a free agent.

October--Signs with Mavericks for $247,500 league minimum.

November--Starts the season at 350 pounds or so, heavy even for him. Subjects publicist Kevin Sullivan to a public tirade, upset at a newspaper story that details his relationship with his father, a convicted murderer. The story also explores the weight issue, reporting the Phoenix Suns took Miller to Rick’s Onion House because their scales didn’t go that high.

January--Announces, “I don’t care any more.”

February--Waived by Mavericks, re-signs with Raptors.

Then Nelson (or Coach Jim Cleamons, maybe this was only a coincidence) switched Chris Gatling from reserve forward who didn’t want to start, to starting center, whether he liked it or not, giving the Mavericks a smaller, more athletic, Nellie look.

Next, Jamal Mashburn, whose promise has dimmed but whose five-year, $25-million contract remains in force, went to Miami for a non-defending Yugoslav (Sasha Danilovic), an unused Estonian (Martin Muursepp) and an injured forward with a questionable attitude (Kurt Thomas).

If Nelson moves Eric Montross--he’s working on it--and Jimmy Jackson leaves when his contract ends in 1998, the Mavericks will be committed only to Gatling by 1999, with a few players (Sam Cassell, Michael Finley, Samaki Walker) to re-sign by then.

Meanwhile, Pat Riley gets Mashburn for one player in his rotation. The ex-Monster Mash, coddled by Rick Pitino, has been lost since. If he can make the jump to Riley Ball, where stars and role players alike break rocks in the hot sun, they’ll have something.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Dennis Rodman’s return against the Charlotte Hornets was marked by the presence of his father, the aptly named Philander, who ran out on the family 30 years ago and, by his own account, fathered 27 children in the Philippines. It would have been heartwarming, except that Dennis wouldn’t meet him and Philander’s trip was paid for by “Extra,” a tabloid TV show. . . . Suggesting the depth of his remorse, Rodman announced he’ll donate 11 games’ salary, $1 million, to charity. Suggesting he doesn’t really feel any remorse, he rejoiced in the news that Eugene Amos was charged with assaulting his girlfriend. “I think he should give the money to charity or come and shake my hand and apologize to me for taking me for $200,000,” Rodman said. . . . Rodman after Michael Jordan made the game-winning shot and hugged him: “That shows you he knows what kind of person I am and all the jerks who write things in the paper can. . . . If you don’t want to stick behind me, then don’t say nothing at all. Simple as that.” . . . Add jerks: “All I know is Dennis doesn’t give a damn about most things,” Scottie Pippen said. “I’m not sure he’s capable of learning any lessons from his suspensions.” . . . The Warriors, with a pile of rubble to show for their trades of Tom Gugliotta, Tim Hardaway, Rony Seikaly and Gatling, are determined to get something for Chris Mullin. General Manager Dave Twardzik asked the Lakers for Eddie Jones and the Bulls for Toni Kukoc, but nobody has offered him a starting player. Insiders say Mullin wants out badly. Since Mullin is 33 and a free agent in 1998, Twardzik is up against it. . . . Meanwhile, Warrior attorney Robin Baggett, perhaps intending no irony, said as part of the team’s bid for the 1999 All-Star game, “I can envision a great NBA party on Alcatraz. It’s the greatest area in the world. It would be well-received.” . . . Comment: And we could lock up all the knuckleheads! . . . Pippen to Patrick Ewing, who was joking around as the top 50 players posed for a group picture: “You can only talk to people around here without rings.”