James Can Take These Words to the Bank

Darryl Dawkins was the first player to go directly from high school to the NBA after he was selected fifth in the 1975 draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. After shattering a backboard and setting the league record for personal fouls, he acquired one of the greatest of all sports nicknames: “Chocolate Thunder.”

Dawkins, 46, coach of the United States Basketball League’s Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, has a few words of wisdom for teen sensation LeBron James.

“The older guys don’t want to hang out with you because you talk too much,” he told the Denver Post. “And you’re not old enough to go into a bar.

“But whenever you get lonely, you’ve got to pick up your bankbook and look at your balance.”

Uneasy driver: Dawkins said the two biggest adjustments he had to make were learning to get up on time and learning to drive in the snow.

Additions to LeBron’s to-do list:

* Buy really big alarm clock.

* Hire a limo if it’s cold.

Trivia time: Which two players were drafted before Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft?

Super freak: That’s how former Denver Nugget Jerome Lane, who preceded James at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio, describes James, whose vital measurements were a bit of a mystery until he was measured (6 feet 7 1/4) and weighed (245 pounds) at the NBA’s predraft camp in Chicago.

“I heard he’s 2% body fat,” Lane told the Post. “He’s ripped up, man. There’s a reason they call him the chosen one. Nobody’s ever been built like this. Physically, he’s ready to play in the NBA.”

Why gamble? Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution expects to see this ad in all the preseason football publications:

“You want winners? Rick’s Pick’s, got winners, nothing but! Let Rick Neuheisel put his knowledge to work for you before making your next wager. College, pros, horses, jai alai, keno and lottery numbers, let Rick’s Pick’s take the guesswork out of gambling.

“Call now and we’ll give you your first winner absolutely free! But hurry before he takes a job at Fresno State!”

Looking back: Mark McGwire, insisting home runs weren’t really that big a deal, said, “A home run is just a base hit that goes over the fence.”

Something’s fishy: Fresno State’s Bob Fraley gave up his $95,000 salary to keep the school from cutting its track and field program, so the 65-year-old coach says it’s back to the economy meals his wife Elaine used to make when they were first married 44 years ago.

“Actually, they’re Bob’s favorites,” Elaine confided to Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly.

One of the “specialties” high on Bob’s list is mashed potatoes covered with tuna gravy.

Trivia answer: Houston took Akeem (later Hakeem) Olajuwon with the first pick and Portland selected Sam Bowie second.

And finally: Austin Carr, the No. 1 pick in 1971, recalled the hoopla surrounding his selection for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: “I was in history class [at Notre Dame] when my professor announced to the class I was the first pick overall. A few people clapped ... “

-- John Weyler