Jordan Maintains Loyalty

Michael Jordan, talking with reporters after the Chicago Bulls’ first practice of the preseason, reiterated what he said all last year: If Coach Phil Jackson leaves after this season--and Jackson and team and management insist he’ll be gone--Jordan will retire.

“I’m very consistent,” he said. “If Phil’s not going to be here, I’m certainly not going to be here.”

Jordan also said that if Jackson went to another team next season, he wouldn’t follow him. “I would quit,” he said. “I wouldn’t say quit, I’d retire.”

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Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson and Portland’s Isaiah Rider were suspended by the NBA for improper off-the-court behavior.

Iverson was suspended for one game because he pleaded no contest to a weapons charge in Virginia, and Rider was suspended for two games because of a no-contest plea in California to possession of illegal cellular phones and his conviction in Oregon for possession of marijuana.

Rider’s agent, Arn Tellem, called the suspensions “grandstanding on the part of the NBA” and said a grievance would be filed immediately.

Iverson claims he learned a great deal from the August incident in which an acquaintance, Earl Hill, 32, was driving Iverson’s Mercedes at 93 mph in a 65 mph zone near Richmond, Va., and a police officer found two marijuana cigarettes and a loaded handgun in the vehicle.

Iverson said the hard line 76er Coach Larry Brown took with him over his involvement was justified. “He came at me real straight,” Iverson said. “I respect that. He has kids. I deserve any type of punishment I get. I made a mistake. I need to learn from it.”

As for Rider’s case, Tellem said the players’ union would support the grievance.

“There’s no legal basis for the suspension and the league is acting as if it is above the law,” Tellem said. “We will attempt to schedule a hearing as soon as possible. I have no doubt when the hearing is over, we will prevail.”

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers signed veteran center Alton Lister and swingman Sean Higgins. The 7-foot Lister, 38, was with Boston last season. Higgins, 28, played in Turkey.

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Shawn Kemp wasn’t happy with his contract, and the SuperSonics traded him. Coach George Karl isn’t happy with his contract, and management hasn’t talked to him.

That has put Karl in a testy mood.

“I think it can be very, very, very much a distraction,” said Karl, who is in the last year of a contract that will pay him $3.5 million. “And I think players can get you in a position where they can use it against you. But that’s not my decision. I wish it would be different.”

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Mitch Richmond arrived and practiced for more than two hours during the second session of the Sacramento Kings’ first day of training camp.

The five-time All-Star guard, unhappy with his contract, reported despite the team’s refusal to renegotiate his salary due to salary cap restrictions.

Richmond is earning $3 million this season and has one year remaining, for $2.5 million, on his contract.

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The Charlotte Hornets opened training camp without Muggsy Bogues, who refused to comply with the team’s demand that he have a special examination of his chronically sore left knee.

Hornet executive Bob Bass said the Hornets are insisting on the MRI because Bogues has been bothered for years by pain and stiffness in the knee and because there is little cartilage remaining in the joint.