Rough Flight Shakes Up the Nets Before Game 1

The turbulence on the New Jersey Nets’ flight to San Antonio was so extreme that at least one player said he thought he was about to die.

“It’s one of three flights I felt like, ‘Hey, I thought it was going to be over with,” ’ guard Lucious Harris said. “It was really bad. Everyone got real quiet on the plane.”

The Nets arrived in San Antonio to prepare for today’s opener of the NBA Finals. Their charter flight approached the airport Tuesday about the same time as a thunderstorm, the players said, prompting the pilot to abort at least one attempt to land.

“It was very, very windy,” center Jason Collins said. “It almost seemed like the plane was flying sideways at one point. I’ve flown hundreds and hundreds of times and never had it that bad.”

At first, Collins said, it was only a few bumps. Bumps became jolts, and then it really got bad.

“After a while it was like, ‘Hey, we’re not getting to the ground,” ’ Collins said. “The main thing I was thinking is, ‘We don’t have to land at this airport. We have the extra day. Let’s go up to Dallas if we have to and we’ll just drive in.’ ”

Collins said Harris actually yelled at the pilot, telling him to consider other options.

“Lucious yelled, ‘Don’t be a hero,’ ” Collins said.

Harris said he did yell at the pilot after the aborted landing.

The Nets eventually landed safely.

“It was a tough flight, but we’re here,” Harris said. “We have a job to do.”

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Representatives for Spark Coach Michael Cooper have reportedly been contacted by a couple of NBA Eastern Conference teams trying to determine his interest in leaving the WNBA. Cooper, who has led the Sparks to consecutive league championships, was not at the Sparks’ practice on Tuesday because of a family obligation according to team officials.

Lon Rosen, Cooper’s agent, said he could not comment. Earlier this year Cooper signed a contract extension with the Sparks through 2005.

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Carlos Perez, the man accused of shooting one of Allen Iverson’s friends outside a Philadelphia nightclub on April 14, faces new charges that he had cocaine stashed in his car.

In a criminal complaint filed Tuesday, an FBI agent said a search of Perez’s home and car 10 days after the shooting turned up a bulletproof vest, $4,480 in cash, two pistols, marijuana and more than 2.2 kilograms of cocaine.

Perez is in police custody and will be arraigned on the federal drug charge at a later date, authorities said.