Leave It to Them to Get to the Heart of the Issue

It occurs to me that players who really have heart don’t tell you about it every five minutes. They don’t thump their chests and count their injuries aloud or roll around on the floor every time they get called for a foul. They don’t make excuses and they don’t believe in moral victories.

Most of all, they don’t beg for respect, they earn it.

Art Alenik

Capistrano Beach

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If Rasheed Wallace tried to show up the referees as blatantly as Allen Iverson does on every foul or non-call, Wallace would earn a permanent suspension from the NBA. To me, Iverson will always be The Attitude, not The Answer.

Ron Antonette

Long Beach

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My daughter learned two things:

1. Inappropriate childish behavior is not always punished.

2. Life is not always fair.

I can’t explain to her why Iverson can get away with an obvious technical foul. One that would certainly have been assessed against Shaq or Kobe. Perhaps the NBA officials would care to explain it to her.

Eugene Hopson

Simi Valley

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Having just read the article by Shaun Powell of Newsday [June 13] I am so glad to read the truth about Iverson. To use the excuse of growing up poor as an excuse to be an irresponsible boring gangster just does not cut it with this proud black man. Many people, not just black people, grow up poor and can be considered a “role model,” which Iverson is not. Iverson’s basketball talent is immense, but that is as far as it goes.

Stephen Patterson

Los Angeles

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The protests of the 76ers and Dikembe Mutombo over the difficulty of guarding Shaq are valid and require action by the referees. I suggest two possible solutions for Mutombo:

a) Let him ride a golf cart when the Lakers are on offense.

b) Force Shaq to play barefooted with a Komodo dragon double-teaming him in the paint.

Kevin Park

North Hollywood

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It brought a tear to my eye when I read Mark Heisler’s nostalgic trip down Philadelphia’s memory lane [June 12]. Obviously Mark’s heart is still in Philadelphia, while his wallet is in L.A.

Mark seems to want to apologize for Philly fans’ crude and fanatic behavior because in Philadelphia the teams “represent us.” Mark goes on to explain that in Southern California the fans view sports as just “something else to do, like going to the mountains or the beach if our teams are losing.”

Let me clue you in, Mark. When the Lakers lost Game 1, I wasn’t thinking about a trip to the mountains, I was thinking about stuffing four straight losses and a cheese steak down Iverson’s throat. Save your Philadelphia memories for the Travel section and we’ll demonstrate our fanaticism in the celebration parade after the Finals.

Richard W. Adams

Long Beach

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Those poor 76ers have been playing the “Rocky” theme on their public-address system in hopes of motivating themselves to victory. Apparently the 76ers are unaware Rocky lost his fight for the title.

Craig P. Fagan

San Diego