Elgin Baylor Doesn’t Need the Reminder

The New Jersey Nets are sitting pretty with the top pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft.

Writer John Brennan of the Bergen Record reminds Net principal owner Lewis Katz--and the rest of us--of the potential pitfalls of having the first pick:

“In virtually every draft that the selection of No. 1 has been open to debate--like this one--the team making the first pick has chosen the ‘wrong’ player,” Brennan said.

“Some cautionary notes: Kevin McHale proved to be head and angular shoulders better than the rest of an awful 1980 draft crop, while Golden State picked Joe Barry Carroll. Clyde Drexler, not Ralph Sampson (Houston), was the only huge star of the 1983 draft. Ditto Mitch Richmond, not Danny Manning (L.A. Clippers), in 1988; and Gary Payton, not Derrick Coleman, whom the Nets picked in 1990.

“And so it goes, as teams usually wind up with a very good player but rarely make what ultimately is the best selection. The three clear exceptions since 1987 also are the ones that a 6-year-old could have foreseen: Tim Duncan in 1997, Shaquille O’Neal in 1992, and David Robinson in 1987.”

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Trivia time: Juli Inkster defended her LPGA title Sunday and hopes to defend her U.S. Open championship starting July 20. Which female golfer most recently won two majors in a season?

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Say it ain’t sew: Boston Globe writer Peter May on Laker Coach Phil Jackson during the playoffs:

“An hour before his team’s critical Game 7 against Portland, the Laker coach was in his office in Staples Center. Was he going over film, working the phone, doing the chalk thing? No. He was mending his pants.”

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Is that all? Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times is thankful that Don Ohlmeyer didn’t hire Sterling Sharpe as a member of the “Monday Night Football” announcing team.

“The former Green Bay Packer was the rudest athlete this media creature ever was forced to interview,” Telander said. “Profane, sarcastic, mean to the point of intimidation and cruelty, Sharpe was about as communicative and sweet as a sledgehammer.”

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Judge not: The Cincinnati Reds, down 7 1/2 games to St. Louis in the National League Central, are showing signs of turmoil. There have been two team meetings in three days, and there are grumblings on whether Jack McKeon should still be the manager.

Writer Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer doesn’t believe McKeon deserves the sniping.

“Laying this so-far Titanic season all on McKeon is like blaming the cars in California for the smog in New York,” he wrote. “It would be good, though, if the manager could get ahead in the count. It would put him one up on the rest of his pitching staff.”

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Georgian theory: Speaking of dreary play, Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell writes that Oriole owner Peter Angelos should accept his share of blame for the team’s bad season.

“Few owners in baseball are as daunting a presence as Angelos,” Boswell said. “Pleasing him, or at least not angering him, has dominated front-office conversation for years.

“If you’re going to act like [George] Steinbrenner, at least take the heat like Steinbrenner. If you’re going to fire general managers, veto trades and negotiate personally with free agents, then you have to take the rap when your teams stinks for three years. But Angelos won’t do it.”

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Trivia answer: Se Ri Pak, who won the LPGA and U.S. Open championships in 1998.

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And finally: Bob Keisser in the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

“The L.A. Kings have received permission to talk with free agent Eric Lindros. I can think of 8,000,005 reasons not to: He wants $8 million a year, he’s had four concussions, and his father is his agent.”