Vaughn Says He’s Riding Out Lengthy Jazz Apprenticeship

Such is life as the third-string point guard that the only games Jacque Vaughn really has played in since early December have been the waiting games, so he waits for his chance.

It’s just that it looks to be a long wait. With the Utah Jazz likely to keep the tandem of John Stockton and Howard Eisley, arguably the best backup point guard in the league, intact again next season, the rookie from Kansas and Muir High in Pasadena may only be in the early stages of having his patience tested, not that he needs to be reminded.

“There’s a lot of pros and cons,” Vaughn said.

The pros are that he gets to go against the solid Eisley and future Hall of Famer Stockton in practice and also play with another superstar, Karl Malone. The cons are just as obvious: He had played only 24 minutes in the playoffs, including seven minutes in the Game 3 blowout in his only appearance of the finals, heading into Wednesday night.

Vaughn’s best opportunity came, ironically, when he didn’t have any experience, as a first-year player thrust into an increased role because of Stockton’s knee injury. He played 340 minutes the first 20 games, 17 minutes per while also averaging 4.9 points and 3.4 assists, but got only 79 the rest of the way.

“You try to stay positive,” Vaughn said. “I guess that’s the way I could approach it. But at the same time, I’m a competitor and when I see other guys around the league at my position, sometimes it makes it a little tougher to bite the bullet a little bit, but I’m very confident of what I can do in this league for a long time.

“I won’t say it’s been easy on me, because I’m a competitor and I want to be in the game when it’s 86-86 with four minutes left on the clock and the ball’s in my hand. As long as I continue to have that attitude, then I’ll be in this league a long time.”

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There is some certainty in the future of Michael Jordan, after all. He won’t so much as entertain the idea, silly or otherwise, of returning to the Bulls as player-coach, should Phil Jackson leave.

“No, no, no,” Jordan said when a reporter mentioned the career path. “That’s out of the question.”

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The better Jerry Reinsdorf’s Bulls do, the worse, it seems the White Sox--which he already has started rebuilding--are doing. They went into Friday action 11 1/2 games out of first place, and 12th among 14 American League teams in attendance.

“To be honest,” Manager Jerry Manuel said recently, “we might be best-suited for triple-A baseball right now.”

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Meanwhile, back at the Bulls: Reinsdorf, who is not on the warmest terms with franchise linchpin Scottie Pippen, has told Jordan to see if he can keep him aboard.

“Reinsdorf is going to put Michael Jordan in charge of bringing the team back--himself, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Coach Phil Jackson,” Charlie Besser, president of a Chicago cable network, told USA Today.

“Reinsdorf’s willing to run the team on a break-even basis.”

Either that, or Reinsdorf wants to be able to tell Bull fans he tried to keep the team together, to keep him from being tarred and feathered.

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Butch Carter, interim coach of the Toronto Raptors for the final two months of the NBA season, was made full-time coach.

Carter’s contract will run through the 1999-2000 season, and the team will have an option for the 2000-2001 season. Financial terms were not announced.

Carter became interim coach Feb. 13 after Darrell Walker resigned with the Raptors reeling with an 11-38 record. Under Carter, they were only 5-28, finishing the season with a 16-66 record and in last place in the Atlantic Division.

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Officials seized about $3.5 million in suspected counterfeit merchandise from a Chicago shop owner who was ready to cash in if the Chicago Bulls won the NBA championship.

No charges have been filed against the Bloomington man because it has not been determined how many pieces of merchandise were seized. The unidentified 42-year-old was being held at a jail in Maywood, Ill.