He Suspects Jordan Story Is a Lot of Hot Air

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post ridicules the notion that Michael Jordan will return to the NBA as reported by Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated:

“What next? Amelia Earhart alive, touring with the Supremes?

“Earth to Rick, Elvis is dead and Jordan ain’t returning to play for the Wizards! He’d have a better chance of winning with Elvis.”

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More Jordan: Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, among others, guesses that the source for the Sports Illustrated story that Jordan might return is Charles Barkley. And Boswell says:

“Over the years, Barkley has been a delightfully unreliable source even about what’s going on in his own mind.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA men’s championship-game record for rebounds?

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He’s bugged: Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, on what it’s like to play in the post against the Heat at Miami:

“You put the ball on the floor and five guys are on your back. They’re really aggressive. They’re like roaches on bread. You drop some on the floor and, boom, they’re on it.”

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For him, OK: Flip Saunders, coach of the Timberwolves, gets a chuckle out of the big, comfortable chairs that Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban has put at the player stalls in the locker room.

“They look comfortable,” Saunders said. “I don’t know if I would have them for the game. I don’t want my players to be that comfortable. But I do think I’d like one in my office.”

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Party, if you can: New Arizona Diamondback Manager Bob Brenly is letting his players relax this spring. “I told them spring training curfew is 1 a.m. I also told them if they could find anything to do in Tucson that would keep them out to 1 in the morning, please let the staff know.”

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Cross-dressing: Don Haskins, who coached Texas Western to the 1966 NCAA basketball title, recalled a game against Indiana and Bob Knight.

On Fox Sports Net’s “The Last Word” with Jim Rome, Haskins said: “He peeled off his red sweater and I put that on, and he put my old jacket on. He looked terrible, and I went out and acted like I was going to throw a chair.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1990, Jeff Fryer scored 41 points to lead Loyola Marymount to a 149-115 victory over defending national champion Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA tournament history.

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Trivia answer: Bill Russell of San Francisco, 27, against Iowa in 1956.

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And finally: Some findings from a poll of 45 NBA players by Sports Illustrated for Kids:

The best crowd is Sacramento, with Atlanta, Utah and the L.A. Clippers tied for the worst. The best road city for food is New York. Milwaukee was voted at the bottom of that category and also the worst city to visit.