Playoff Fight Getting Literal in Payton Place

Farewell, Seattle: First Shawn Kemp, then Ken Griffey Jr., then the Kingdome. Now Gary Payton?

The Lakers may not have to worry about the Sacramento Kings, after all, because hurtling into their laps at exactly the right time is the SuperSonics’ Wild Bunch, coming off its latest rumble.

As usual, it was with one another.

Once the surprise of the West, the SuperSonics are reverting to form with a vengeance. They’re now No. 8, on pace to meet the Lakers in the first round, which isn’t a good idea for anyone, much less a team that asks slender Horace Grant to guard Shaquille O’Neal.

Not that the Lakers, who are after a title, should care whom they play, but teams with little centers and skinny power forwards (Seattle, Minnesota, Phoenix) are more inviting than bigger ones (San Antonio, Portland, Utah, Sacramento).

The SuperSonics are feisty but short, having been made over in the image of Payton, who announced after last season’s fall from postseason grace that at 31, he couldn’t wait for management to rebuild and wanted “more ghetto.”

This sounded like a veiled shot at his friend/Seattle disappointment, Vin Baker. General Manager Wally Walker, taking it to heart, signed tough guys Vern Maxwell and Ruben Patterson, who have been welcome additions, except when Payton ran his motor mouth on them and they responded in kind.

Payton and Maxwell yelled at each other in a November game. In December, Payton blasted Patterson in the papers. Nevertheless, with Payton playing brilliantly, the Wild Bunch peaked at 37-23 in February.

Last week, with losses mounting, Payton and Maxwell got into another of their no-words-barred woofing sessions in practice, prompting Coach Paul Westphal, who saw Payton throw a memorable fit at Baker last season, to cut it short.

Maxwell followed Payton into the weight room to make up but apparently changed his mind when Gary threw a TV remote control at him.

Maxwell, who isn’t called Mad Max for nothing, picked up a five-pound weight and tried to skull Payton, but, instead, got Grant, the peacemaker, in the shoulder, knocking their center, however slight, out of the next night’s game against San Antonio’s Twin Towers. Not surprisingly, it became the SuperSonics’ fourth home loss in a row.

Of course, in the Wild Bunch, everyone understands that while these spats may be dangerous, they aren’t serious.

“Max and Gary are back on the same page,” Grant said a couple of days later. “It’s like a relationship and a marriage, you go through your ups and downs. Once you get back on the same page, making up is great.”

Assuming no one has called his lawyer.

Coincidentally or not, Payton’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, was in town. Last spring when the SuperSonics spun out, Gary was heard yelling at Goodwin to get him out of there. Skeptics (hello) have predicted all along that Payton would bail if the SuperSonics’ guerrilla campaign went south as it figured to, since they’re so much smaller than the Western elite.

Last week, Goodwin began making off-hand comments to reporters about getting Payton traded to the New York Knicks or Miami Heat, either of whom would kill (the other) to get him.

Nor was Payton pooh-poohing it.

“It’s on him, man,” Payton said of his agent. “Whatever he wants to do, that’s what we gonna do. If it happens, it happens. I’m with it. I’ll do whatever. It’s whatever. I don’t care.”

More likely, this is Payton’s idea--again--and Goodwin is airing it to keep the heat off Payton while making management think about the unthinkable. Trading Payton, of course, means going back to square one, but it would be more peaceful.

Everyone better get earplugs. The SuperSonics, already up against the wall, will give peace a chance only if they have no choice.

HELPED THEMSELVES IN ONE TOURNAMENT OR ANOTHER

* Darius Miles, East St. Louis (Ill.) Lincoln High--Named “Baby KG,” after Kevin Garnett, which is a bit much, he’s a 6-foot-9 small forward who took over the McDonald’s Classic. Signed with St. John’s but is expected to turn pro--and be drafted in the top 10. Eddie Griffen, another nice player, says he’s going to Seton Hall. Gerald Wallace, an athlete who isn’t much of a shooter, says he’s Alabama-bound.

* Jamaal Tinsley, Iowa State--An unknown junior before the NCAA tournament, he wowed scouts. Could be the first point guard taken if he comes out.

* Stromile Swift, Louisiana State--A 6-8 sophomore, whose coach, John Brady, hired a private detective to keep agents away during the tournament. Brady may have to tie him down to keep him because Swift is projected as a top-five pick.

* Marcus Fizer, Iowa State--Still questions about size (6-8? 6-7?), but he has enough skills to move out onto the floor. Has a shot at the top five.

* Jerome Moiso, UCLA--Everyone’s impressed, but if he comes out, he’s out of his mind. The NBA is not where you go to develop confidence and toughness. You better have those when you get there.

FACES AND FIGURES

I’m getting confused: Three weeks ago, Boston Coach/Failure Rick Pitino said he told his son, Ryan, it would be wrong to quit and he wouldn’t because that would “let down my family.” Two weeks ago, he announced he was steadfastly positive, despite the sea of negativity around him. Last week, Pitino all but announced his resignation. “Come next year, if this team doesn’t reach its potential, doesn’t make the playoffs, I’d be honest with you at that point, I would definitely make a move myself,” he said. “Because all I would be doing if I stayed at that point, it’d just be trying to take [owner] Paul Gaston’s money.” . . . This followed a blowout at Orlando, where Antoine Walker, Danny Fortson and Doug Overton argued on the bench. Pitino, fuming, promised “major suspensions” but, instead, announced he was giving everyone one more chance, including himself. . . . Of course, if Gaston grasps the obvious and offers to let Pitino go--which the frugal owner might, if Ricky doesn’t insist on a buyout--you think Pitino will argue?

Not that he’s losing it but . . . Miami’s Pat Riley went off on everyone: the press, opposing players who’ve criticized him (Denver’s Chris Gatling, who said Riley’s hard practices wear players down; New Jersey’s Kendall Gill, who called the Heat predictable) and opponents (cast of thousands) commenting on Tim Hardaway’s struggles. “If you want to keep mocking, keep bashing, keep thrashing, [go ahead],” Riley told shocked Miami reporters, who hadn’t realized they were personally responsible. “The referees can do it, the opponents can do it, you’re entitled to do it. We’re being trashed and maybe rightfully so. We have the right to say, ‘The hell with you.’ ” . . . Of course, Riley started the thrashing and trashing, himself, saying he doubted his players. “I have to have doubts,” he said. “I don’t want to coach a .500 team. That’s not what I brought these guys down here for. I really thought they wanted more.”

The Pacers stayed atop the East while acquiring young prospects, but veterans, whose contracts are running out, are still complaining about the Antonio Davis deal. “Jonathan Bender is going to be a heck of a player,” Mark Jackson said. “He’s going to be special down the road. But he’s not where they expected him to be right now. So we can’t count on him. Giving away a 6-9 thoroughbred [Davis] for the future? It can’t be better.” Especially, if you think you aren’t in that future. . . . Coach Larry Bird, also a short-timer, sounding as if he’s ready to go too: “It’s up to these players. It’s their team. We’re sitting in first place, but things don’t look good for them. Maybe they don’t have anything left. We looked old and tired.”

Losing it, II: Milwaukee’s George Karl, tired of lashing his players, discovered a conspiracy to help Orlando beat the Bucks for the last playoff spot. “They [Magic] have almost got the blessing of the NBA where they’re a little bit of their darling boys,” Karl said. “It’s the way NBC talks about them. They’ve done a good job perception-wise. They’ve got a lot of people following them and supporting them subconsciously.” . . . Detroit’s Mikki Moore, in a radio interview: “We have to play hard for the full 40 minutes.” Told the NBA goes 48, he replied, “Forty-eight? Oh, that’s right. Twelve-minute quarters.”