The Best Games in Town

The NBA’s endless summer continues at a bristling pace weekday mornings in the UCLA men’s gym, where nobody is locked out, all the players seem to have cellular phones and the trash talk is of a particularly high-profile nature.

What’s the surest way to measure the soaring quality of the UCLA pickup games, which often include Shaquille O’Neal, Eddie Jones, Paul Pierce and Jalen Rose among many other NBA notables?

The games are so good--and the pull to watch them so strong--the NBA recently warned its coaches and executives that they cannot be anywhere near them.

And as the lockout continues, this cramped gym has become one of the major places for antsy players to congregate and compete.

By the grace of school administrators, who have blocked off a couple gym hours for the workouts as an extension of the traditional summer afternoon pickup games, for many L.A.-area NBA players, UCLA is the only place to go for a serious run.

It’s time to play. Somewhere.

“I think you’ve got a lot of guys who are climbing the walls right now,” said Miami Heat free-agent guard Brent Barry, an occasional UCLA participant.

“It’s not so much that they’re so anxious to get back playing underneath a bad deal. It’s just that you know, when it’s time to set your clock back [ending Daylight Savings Time], it’s usually a good indication that the basketball season’s going to be starting.”

Said Utah point guard Howard Eisley, who, in recent days, matched up against Chris Childs, Pooh Richardson and Derek Fisher: “I don’t think you’re going to find runs any better than this, where you’re playing pretty much with all guys in the league.”

Former UCLA and current Clipper guard Darrick Martin, the longtime organizer of the summer pickup games, said it was natural to keep the workouts going into the fall.

When and if the lockout ends, the players are aware that training camps--and the battle for roster spots--are going to happen in a compressed period of time.

“Guys are kind of anxious to play for real,” Martin said. “It’s time to get into camp, you know, the lights, action, camera. . . . Oh yeah, everybody craves the fans, the arenas, the smell of the popcorn. We definitely want that. But we’ve got to do what’s right for us.”

Said Fisher, a regular: “It’s getting pretty intense out here. It’s not anywhere close to what you’d be doing in training camp. But for summertime basketball, it’s getting pretty rough here.

“Guys are starting to focus in a little bit, and they’re realizing that whenever this cracks open, we’re going to have to be ready to go. A lot of guys are taking it pretty serious here in the morning.”

Last week, Pierce, taken by the Boston Celtics with the 10th pick in last spring’s draft, stormed off the court and out of the gym after being banged around in the key by bigger players and losing several games in a row.

“It’s hit-or-miss up here,” Barry said. “Certainly, the guys who are coming out here are playing hard enough that they’re getting a good workout in.”

Every player--especially those who don’t have guaranteed contracts--knows about Christian Laettner, the free-agent forward who tore an Achilles’ tendon a few months ago in a pickup game.

That’s part of the reason Nancy Livingston, a free-lance sports massage therapist who works frequently with Clipper players, comes to every workout to stretch the players before they play and tend to any wobbly ankles or creaky backs on her courtside training table.

“They’re very happy that I’m here,” Livingston said. “It’s not only beneficial, but it’s security too.”

A few weeks ago, Boston Celtic Coach Rick Pitino was spotted on the narrow sidelines; the New Jersey Nets’ John Calipari and several other coaches have made the trip to watch as many as three games running side by side.

The NBA responded quickly, sending out letters recently that warned all coaches and general managers that they could not attend any workout session--pointing to three main spots: UCLA, a gym at Georgia Tech and one in Houston--for fear that the NBA employees actually might speak with players while the lockout was in effect.

The players, most of whom made the trek to Las Vegas for the recent union meeting, say the workouts at the men’s gym are just their way to be together, even if the league wants them apart.

“This even gives us another opportunity or format to sit here and talk about some of the things that are going on with our dispute,” Barry said. “This is another sign of solidarity.

“Whether we’re in business suits and at meetings in Las Vegas or whether we’re here in high tops and T-shirts, we can still talk about the things that are going on and are important to our jobs.”