Hey, Pump Up the NBA, Don’t Let the Air Out

With Michael Jordan suggesting he’s gone--as he put it the other day, “To me, basketball is dead at this particular time”--the question is, when will we see his like again, on or off the court

Try never.

“What I will say is that no one will ever replace Michael Jordan,” says Commissioner David Stern.

“He is the most famous athlete of his time and perhaps with Muhammad Ali, of any time. When he retires, there is going to be a void that no one player can fill. . . .

“We will see Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Kevin Garnett, Grant Hill, a long list of players will step up. I don’t think it will be quite the same circumstance when Michael Jordan came along. The Nikes and Reeboks and Filas did not do the kind of advertising they do now. The relationship with the McDonalds and Cokes in sports was not as big. And the television, cable and satellite delivery hadn’t even begun to develop. There will never be a growth spurt like that again.”

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Trivia time: Five players, all Americans, won the British Open and the U.S. Open in the same year. Name them.

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Turkey to Greece: USA Basketball fired its NBA players for refusing to commit to go to the world championships before the league announced its lockout. Retired players now on European teams, like Dominique Wilkins and Byron Scott, declined invitations out of deference to their old union.

This leaves a squad of young collegians and journeymen like ex-Washington Bullet reserve Larry Stewart.

“It’s a way to get out of Turkey or maybe going back for a better deal,” said Stewart, who played in Istanbul last season.

“I certainly understand the position of the guys in the NBA, but they’re not going to feed my family. I have two girls, 1 and 5 years old. They’re getting big and they like to eat.”

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No Mo’ Mo? The Boston Red Sox broke off contract talks with upcoming free agent Mo Vaughn. General Manager Dan Duquette, hailed for the team’s strong showing, is maintaining his usual icy demeanor.

“During the season, we’re going to put our focus on the team,” Duquette said. “He’s having a solid season. He’s done a nice job. He’s played very well defensively and he can hit, and hit with power.”

Entering play Friday, Vaughn was leading the team in batting average and home runs. That’s pretty solid, all right.

“They said there would be no repeat of the Roger Clemens fiasco,” wrote the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy. “They said they would never again put themselves in position to lose a franchise player in exchange for a mere draft pick.

“But if you’ve just turned on your radios, ladies and gentlemen, it’s happened again.”

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Trivia answer: Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones.

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And finally: David Wood, who played for eight NBA teams in nine years, on making the world championship team: “This is the real Dream Team because nobody here had a dream they could make this team.”