He Avoids Being at the Center of a Controversy

Today being the 57th anniversary of the creation of the NBA with the merger of the American Basketball League and the Basketball Assn. of America, it might be a good time to look at whom John Wooden would put on an all-NBA team.

The legendary UCLA coach names Larry Bird at forward without hesitation. Among others who “should be considered,” he says, are Elgin Baylor at the other forward and Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan as the guards, although he also mentions Jerry West.

When it comes to naming a center, he hesitates and says he has to name three -- Kareem-Abdul Jabbar for his scoring, Bill Walton for his all-around play and Bill Russell for his shot blocking.

We’ll give Wooden some latitude here.

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Trivia time: Wooden is one of three men to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., as a player and a coach. Who are the other two?

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Player shortage: Former NCAA president Cedric Dempsey is spearheading the new All-American Football League, which plans to begin play next spring with eight teams based in college towns.

“The catch is that all players must have graduated from college,” wrote Pete McEntegart of SI.com. “The league is hoping to play five on five.”

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May need seasoning: In announcing the addition of Chorizo to the team’s lineup of racing sausages, Doug Melvin, general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, said in a press release: “He’s still very raw, but he has all the ingredients to be the missing link.”

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True, but strange: Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post points out that only eight of 32 NFL head coaches played in the league.

That’s quite a difference from Major League Baseball, where 25 of 30 managers played in the majors.

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This item may smell: Noting that New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter signed with Avon to promote his own fragrance, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times wrote, “Talk about serendipitous timing: Jeter was nearly on pace for a career low in whiffs.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1990, the PGA Tour announced it would not hold tournaments at golf clubs that have all-white memberships or show any other signs of discrimination. The announcement came a week before the start of the PGA Championship at Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., which was an all-white club until a few days earlier when a black businessman was given an honorary membership.

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Trivia answer: Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman.

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And finally: The San Francisco Giants finally won a game Wednesday after nine consecutive losses, defeating the Washington Nationals, 8-6. But the losing streak had prompted this from Bay Area reader Janice Hough: “San Francisco sports fans can’t wait for football season to start. At least the 49ers usually only lose once a week.”

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