Even Players’ Union Knows L.A. Is Place for Expansion

NFL owners aren’t going to consult the players before deciding where to put the next expansion team, so union leader Gene Upshaw’s comments here Thursday don’t necessarily mean much.

Then again, the owners and the players have the same motivation when it comes to this issue:

Money.

In a news conference to discuss the goals of the NFL Players Assn., Upshaw said one is to see that the league’s 32nd team is awarded to Los Angeles instead of Houston.

“I don’t want to say that any city should be excluded,” he said. “But our top priority has got to be the top 10 markets. We have to address what the players can do to ensure we have viable stadiums and great teams in those markets.”

That makes sense for the NFLPA. The bigger the market, the bigger the revenue from television contracts and the bigger the pot that owners will have to share with players.

But I’m a little disappointed. I thought maybe they wanted to come back to Los Angeles because of their fond memories of our beaches, night life and friendly Raider fans.

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Eli Broad, who will be the most prominent member of the ownership group if an expansion team comes to the Coliseum, made his first appearance before NFL owners Thursday and told them that Los Angeles hasn’t had a “community” team in 20 years. . . .

Translation: We haven’t had a team we wanted in 20 years. . . .

Eyebrows were raised in Minnesota when Timberwolves’ General Manager Kevin McHale let Tom Gugliotta go to Phoenix for nothing instead of trading him to the Lakers for Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones. . . .

The decision made sense to McHale for four reasons. . . .

Paying Campbell $7 million a year is like paying alimony. It’s going to make you cringe every time you write a check and you’re never going to get anything in return. . . .

Also, there was no guarantee Minnesota could sign Jones to a long-term deal, and, even so, McHale isn’t convinced he’s a big-game player. . . .

The fourth reason? Shaquille O’Neal guessed right. McHale figured Gugliotta was the last piece the Lakers need to win the championship and no self-respecting former Celtic is going to do anything to further that cause. . . .

Pat Riley would love to have Dennis Rodman playing for the Miami Heat. All he has to do, Riley says, is come to practices. . . .

Rodman is considering whether he can work under those conditions. . . .

Scottie Pippen has never been taken for a Rhodes scholar, but you’d think he would be a little more knowledgeable about geography after all the traveling he has done. . . .

He said in an interview this week that he’s happy in Houston because he has always wanted to live on the West Coast. . . .

Part of Jerry Krause’s plan to rebuild the Bulls was to sign a potential superstar as a free agent after this season, a player like Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker, Shareef Abdur-Rahim or Kobe Bryant. Sorry, Jerry, all four are locked up. . . .

For now, Krause is talking up the potential of Brent Barry. . . .

Has anyone told Krause that Barry couldn’t start for the Clippers? . . .

Maurice “Rocket” Richard has a favorite in the race to win the new trophy named after him, the one for the NHL’s leading goal scorer. Nothing against Eric Lindros or John LeClair, Rocket says, but he’d like to see a fellow French-Canadian like Luc Robitaille win it. . . .

According to ESPN’s Dan Patrick, the Fox ads featuring Keith Olbermann’s picture on the boards at NHL games “have resulted in a 70% increase in checking.” . . .

Bobby Ross’ reputation as a disciplinarian is taking a beating this week. . . .

Falcon wide receiver Tony Martin, who played for Ross’ San Diego team in the 1995 Super Bowl, says the Chargers were told by NFL security that they were the biggest party team in the game’s history. . . .

Denver’s Mike Lodish, the former UCLA defensive tackle playing in a record sixth Super Bowl, finally was asked a question this week he has never heard before: How does it feel trying to repeat? . . .

His first four Super Bowls with Buffalo ended in losses. . . .

There’s a debate raging in Denver over whether to hold a parade or a rally to celebrate the Broncos’ victory Sunday. . . .

Bronco fans are smug, with justification. In order to win, the Falcons say they must stop the run on defense and establish the run on offense. They will do neither. Denver in a blowout.

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While wondering if Mike Shanahan will try to run up the score for old time’s sake, I was thinking: I know Joe Namath and Ray Buchanan is no Joe Namath, I bet Shannon Sharpe talks in his sleep, my heart is with Dan Reeves.

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Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.