Top Talk Topic Is All a Matter of Opinion

How big was the Mike Williams story in Los Angeles on Wednesday? It all depended on the radio station.

KMPC, the USC flagship station, went with almost continuous coverage after Petros Papadakis first called in at 10:45 a.m. with the news that the USC wide receiver was making himself eligible for the NFL draft.

Papadakis stayed on the air and talked about Williams -- and almost nothing else -- until he was so hoarse he began to sound like John Robinson.

Meanwhile at XTRA, a sister station to Laker flagship KLAC, Mychal Thompson, who also happens to be employed by the Lakers as a radio commentator, ranked the Williams story the fourth-most important of the day.

The most important story, in Thompson’s judgment, was the Lakers’ game at Denver.

At least partner Steve Hartman ranked the Williams story No. 1.

Trivia time: On this day in 1987, Michael Jordan scored 58 points against the New Jersey Nets. What was Jordan’s all-time high?

Ranking the Lakers: The No. 2 story on Thompson’s list Wednesday was Shaquille O’Neal’s finishing fourth in voting by Orlando Magic fans for their all-time favorite player. Nick Anderson finished first.

That list prompted Thompson to guess how Laker fans would vote:

1. Magic Johnson. 2. Jerry West. 3. Kobe Bryant. 4. O’Neal. 5. James Worthy. 6. Wilt Chamberlain. 7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 8. Elgin Baylor. 9. Michael Cooper. 10. Byron Scott.

Thompson gave Kurt Rambis, Mark Madsen and A.C. Green honorable mentions.

Ranking the Czar: Marv Albert and Mike Fratello, in town to call tonight’s Laker game against Sacramento for TNT, are voices for an EA Sports video game, “NBA Live 2004,” that has become the best-selling basketball video game.

“Of course the Czar takes full credit for that,” Albert said of Fratello, whom Albert affectionately calls “the Czar of the Tele- strator,” or just “the Czar” for short.

“That just goes to show you he does his best work on video games.”

Celebrity check: John Travolta, Vince Vaughn and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who are all in a new film, “Be Cool,” are expected to be at tonight’s game at Staples Center. They shot “1,000 Reasons Why I Love This Game” NBA promos at Staples on Wednesday.

Trivia answer: 69 in an overtime game against Cleveland on March 28, 1990. Jordan’s playoff high was 63 against Boston in double overtime on April 20, 1986.

And finally: Readers Bob Smagula and Murray Olderman, in separate e-mails, said the first sportswriter to step into a ring against a professional fighter was Paul Gallico, who squared off against Jack Dempsey in 1923 and was KO’d by a left hook.

Gallico was the sports editor of the New York Daily News and later become a novelist whose works included “The Poseidon Adventure.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.