Dennis Rodman to Greece? The Gods Must Be Crazy

According to a British magazine, Shaquille O’Neal was asked once if he had visited the Parthenon during a trip to Greece. “I can’t really remember the names of the clubs we went to,” he said.

Until this week, I would have thought all of Greece would have been offended by his lack of a classical education. I didn’t know Greece. Apparently, all is fair there in love, war and basketball.

What made me reconsider was the report a Greek team offered a contract to Dennis Rodman.

Panathinaikos of Athens, with the assistance of Dominique Wilkins, became the country’s first team to win the European championship in 1996 and delighted so in the rarefied air that it wants to return.

If Rodman signs, speculation is ticket sales will soar by thousands per game.

The report, however, did stir prominent critics:

“It made hair stand up in panic and fear.”

--Sophocles

“A savage-creating stubborn-pulling fellow,

“Uncurbed, unfettered, uncontrolled of speech . . . “

--Aristophanes

“Often an entire city has suffered because of an evil man.”

--Hesiod

“Everything that deceives may be said to enchant.”

--Plato

“You can’t teach a crab to walk straight.”

--Aristophanes

*

So Scottie Pippen isn’t coming to the Lakers. . . .

Jerry West reportedly hung up the phone when Chicago General Manager Jerry Krause said he wanted Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones and Kobe Bryant. . . .

Bryant has become as L.A. as the Hollywood sign. “Daily Variety” reports he’s up for a role in a Spike Lee movie, “He Got Game.” . . .

He would play a high school basketball recruit whose convict father (Denzel Washington) is offered parole if his son signs with a school in the state. . . .

That couldn’t really happen, could it?. . . .

Maybe we’ll get some insight into college basketball recruiting from Cameron Dollar, who’s becoming an assistant coach at UC Irvine. . . .

His former coach, Jim Harrick, has gotten a commitment for Rhode Island from 6-foot-8 Rico Harris out of L.A. City College. . . .

A few dozen college basketball recruiters from throughout the country are expected to visit area gyms this weekend. . . .

Just for fun, they will watch the IntenseCity Summer Classic Sunday night at Ocean View High in Huntington Beach. . . .

The players, recent graduates, have committed to colleges. But if all of them who are advertised show, the game could decide the unofficial championship between Orange County (Kevin Augustine, Chris Burgess, Eric Chenowith) and Los Angeles County (Kenny Brunner, Baron Davis, Schea Cotton, the Collins twins). . . .

Intensity for the recruiters will come when watching undergrads in the Watts Summer Games at Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Best of the West Shootout in Artesia and one of the games on the undercard in Huntington Beach. . . .

A player to keep your eye on from that Huntington Beach game is Andrew Zahn, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from Redondo High. . . .

Recruiters say they haven’t seen a Southern California big man with his grasp of fundamentals since Bill Walton. . . .

But is he as chivalrous? Walton came to the rescue of a bride Saturday outside Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel, dispatching her to the wedding in his limo when hers was an hour late. . . .

Virtually everyone I know who could be called a boxing expert believes Evander Holyfield will win Saturday night. . . .

Virtually everyone else I know believes Mike Tyson will win. . . .

Their logic: Tyson must win in order for there to be a third fight between them. . . .

If there’s so much cynicism about boxing, why is Showtime’s Jay Larkin predicting a record of more than 1.6 million to buy the $49.95 pay-per-view package?. . . .

Maybe they’re paying to see Christy Martin avenge her only loss against Andrea DeShong. . . .

I’m no expert, but I like Holyfield in eight. . . .

Among the Hollywood crowd expected at ringside is Mira Sorvino,, who won an Oscar for “Mighty Aphrodite” by playing a woman chased by a sportswriter. . . .

In “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Julia Roberts chases a sportswriter. . . .

I know that couldn’t happen.

*

While wondering if basketball season ever ends, I was thinking: I bet I missed the Clipper lottery party more than they did, I like Maurice Taylor, he got game.