No Doubt About It, He Is Sold on LeBron

Filip Bondy in the New York Daily News: “The Knicks should start losing after the All-Star break, and they should keep losing until the commissioner rules they can’t lose anymore.

“They should also offer Latrell Sprewell, Antonio McDyess, Allan Houston, a first-round draft pick, plus 25% of Cablevision to the Cavs, just in case, for another lottery pick.

“Because no matter what Michael Jordan says, LeBron James wouldn’t be just an ‘average’ player right now in the NBA. He isn’t average anywhere. He is a franchise in waiting, and maybe a franchise right now.”

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Trivia time: Can you match the UCLA basketball player to a retired uniform number: 15, 32, 33, 42, 35, 54 and 31?

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Obstacle course: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle, on the recently concluded AT&T; Pebble Beach Pro-Am: “Nowhere else does a golfer have to overcome such a combination of obstacles -- bad greens, glacial play, gawky galleries, rude seagulls, hacking celebrities and Bill Murray running amok.”

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More Ostler: “Losers: The two or three Raider fans who heckled Patriot quarterback Tom Brady all day Sunday. These guys apparently haven’t yet heard about what happened to their team in the Super Bowl.

“Winner: Brady, though his team [with Jesper Parnevik] finished two strokes out of the pro-am title.

“In the best ‘Awww’ moment of the weekend, Brady walked his final fairway holding hands with his mom.”

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Good match: Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “ ‘Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,’ will take on a whole new meaning this season in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates will include Charlie Brown among their six bobble-head doll giveaways.

“It’s rather fitting, since Charlie went winless for decades and the Pirates haven’t had a winning season in 10 years.”

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Sad: Bernie Lincicome in the Rocky Mountain News: “News: Nike is highly insulted that Phil Mickelson has publicly declared that Tiger Woods is playing golf with inferior equipment. View: Imagine how Mickelson feels, always losing to Tiger with superior equipment.”

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Just leave, baby: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “More aggravation for Al Davis: The Denver Post points out that three of the last six Super Bowls were won by Raider coaches -- Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden.

“After they were no longer working in Oakland, that is.”

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Is he cocky? Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “Mike Tyson hired a new trainer. His name is Freddie Roach. Some jokes write themselves.”

* “Written on a sign featuring UCLA Coach Steve Lavin’s mug shot, ‘Got resume?’ ”

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Looking back: On this day in 1982, Moses Malone of Houston set an NBA record for most offensive rebounds, 21, in a game against Seattle.

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Trivia answer: Ann Meyers-Drysdale, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walt Hazzard, Sidney Wicks, Marques Johnson and Ed O’Bannon.

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And finally: NBC’s Jay Leno, on why his network decided to televise Arena Football League games: “Because we couldn’t afford donkey baseball.”

-- Mal Florence