Wilkes to Guide Team in ABA Revival

Jamaal Wilkes has been hired as vice president of basketball operations for a proposed minor league team in Los Angeles, the team said Monday.

The Los Angeles Stars plan to play in ABA 2000, a revival of the American Basketball Assn. that hopes to tip off in December.

Wilkes, a forward on the Lakers’ championship “Showtime” teams of the 1980s, did not return a call Wednesday. Mike Selsman, executive vice president of the Stars, said Wilkes had been hired and said another former Laker great, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was under consideration as head coach.

Abdul-Jabbar was an assistant coach for the Clippers last season.

Adam Millar, managing director of the Great Western Forum, said he had talked with the Stars about playing at the Forum but said no lease agreement had been completed.

The Stars would assemble a roster from players cut by NBA teams and former local college players.

The Stars hope to draw from 5,000 to 7,000 a game, Selsman said, with most tickets priced from $6 to $12 and tickets for children and senior citizens as low as $3. A concert would follow each game, Selsman said.

“Our goal is to be the No. 2 team in Los Angeles,” he said. “I think we can compete very successfully against the Clippers.”

The Clippers averaged 13,652 in their inaugural season at Staples Center.

ABA 2000 hopes to launch with at least nine franchises, including one in Anaheim. The player draft has been delayed from July to August and the start of the season has been delayed from November to December.