Larry Bird

WASHINGTON - I find myself in the unpleasant position of defending Larry Bird. Guy shreds my heart in the '84 Finals, his evil Boston Celtics defeating my valiant Los Angeles Lakers, and now, just 20 years later, here I stand between him and the torches and pitchforks of the mob. Still, Larry Legend is getting a bum rap, and I can't stand by and watch that, even if he is a former Celtic. It seems that during a televised roundtable on ESPN on June 10, Mr. Bird was asked whether the NBA could use more white stars.

The AT&T commercials with the little kids gathered around the classroom table answering questions ("Is it better to be bigger or smaller?") from the smarmy focus group leader? They were cute the first time around. Maybe the first 10 times around. But around the 10,000th time around, they got really, really annoying. And since it's apparently a law that no NCAA tournament game can be broadcast without 15 or 20 of these spots, the annoyance level has now reached epic, gouge-out-your-eyeballs, please-make-it-stop extremes.

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- The conversation began as a discussion on the mental edge, that nebulous term often used to describe what separates the elite athlete from the rest.Larry Bird is such an athlete. He got drafted, pulled on a Celtic jersey with the No. 33 and never looked back. He won three world championships, three MVP trophies. He has been to the JTC All-Star Game 10 times and was the NBA three-point king two of the three times he participated.Soon he will become the fifth player in NBA history to surpass 20,000 points and 5,000 assists.

The debate raging these days between those arguing whether this year's U.S. Olympic men's basketball team could compete with the Dream Team of 20 years ago is not answered simply by a generational divide. I for one, being of sound mind and slightly broken-down body, believe the 2012 version is not being given the respect it deserves before it ever steps on a court in London. I also think the 1992 team was not quite as invincible as they were made out to be because the international game was far from what it is today.

ST. LOUIS -- The following warning goes out to all Magic Johnson fans, and all those who can't read enough about the Los Angeles Lakers star and his return to the Lakers:In an effort to get NBA fans up to speed as to what's going on around the league this fall, there will be no further mention of what's-his-name for the remainder of this column. This is not meant as a slight to No. 32, but merely as a brief timeout. Management guarantees there will be plenty of mention of Mr. Johnson in later columns.

INDIANAPOLIS -- There are three minutes until game time at Market Square Arena. Reggie Miller and Chris Mullin are among the Indiana Pacers warming up, although in the stands there are more than a few fans who couldn't care less about what's happening on the court.Their focus is on the tunnel.Suddenly, applause begins to build almost wave-like, section by section. By the time the focus of their attention reaches the top of the tunnel, the entire arena is standing and applauding. Just like the scene that played out in Miami two nights before, in San Antonio last week and Detroit last month.

Good morning -- Tiger Woods -- As Larry Bird once said, "Who's playing for second?"

BOSTON-- Larry Bird is gone and we are again reminded that at the upper level there is Good, Great, Superstar and Truly Irreplaceable. And inside Truly Irreplaceable there is one further subsection, wherein reside the athletes whose ultimate gift to the sports fan is a vision, a feel, an actual inspiration that is so rare and so highly developed that when these individuals cease playing, they leave a spiritual void that threatens the True Believer's subsequent...

The debate raging these days between those arguing whether this year's U.S. Olympic men's basketball team could compete with the Dream Team of 20 years ago is not answered simply by a generational divide. I for one, being of sound mind and slightly broken-down body, believe the 2012 version is not being given the respect it deserves before it ever steps on a court in London. I also think the 1992 team was not quite as invincible as they were made out to be because the international game was far from what it is today.

The AT&T commercials with the little kids gathered around the classroom table answering questions ("Is it better to be bigger or smaller?") from the smarmy focus group leader? They were cute the first time around. Maybe the first 10 times around. But around the 10,000th time around, they got really, really annoying. And since it's apparently a law that no NCAA tournament game can be broadcast without 15 or 20 of these spots, the annoyance level has now reached epic, gouge-out-your-eyeballs, please-make-it-stop extremes.

Good morning -- Tiger Woods -- As Larry Bird once said, "Who's playing for second?"

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Those who have followed Adam Morrison's career consider him somewhat of a throwback. The high-scoring Gonzaga forward makes up with moxie what he lacks in athleticism. The high-release jumper is sweet and true. Screens are used to set up defenders. Invariably, the comparison is to Larry Bird. NBA draft Tomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN

WASHINGTON - I find myself in the unpleasant position of defending Larry Bird. Guy shreds my heart in the '84 Finals, his evil Boston Celtics defeating my valiant Los Angeles Lakers, and now, just 20 years later, here I stand between him and the torches and pitchforks of the mob. Still, Larry Legend is getting a bum rap, and I can't stand by and watch that, even if he is a former Celtic. It seems that during a televised roundtable on ESPN on June 10, Mr. Bird was asked whether the NBA could use more white stars.

Like many others Tuesday night, sports marketing analyst Dean Bonham watched Kobe Bryant knock down a late three-pointer that might have saved the Los Angeles Lakers' season. The lack of a white American superstar in Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Detroit Pistons failed to register with Bonham, even as the issue was about to come front-and-center yesterday. Hall of Fame player and Indiana Pacers general manager Larry Bird prescribed more white stars in an interview scheduled to air tonight on an ESPN special.

LOS ANGELES - Few point guards maneuver with the skill and grace of the New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd, and that dexterity is helping during All-Star weekend, as he has had to weave his way through the traffic of questions about the team's coaching change. The Nets, fresh off two straight trips to the NBA Finals, dumped coach Byron Scott on Jan. 26 and replaced him with former assistant Lawrence Frank. In terms of wins and losses, the move was a good one, as the team has won 10 straight games - nine since Frank took over.

YESTERDAY MORNING, Al Moore pointed to the ceiling where thieves dropped themselves into his Hilltop Market, in Cherry Hill, and made off with 140 cartons of cigarettes. Once upon a time, such crime would have drawn neighborhood shrugs. What else was new? Now it draws notice in the newspaper. On such distinctions, we measure a community's progress. There was a time when the drug dealers openly sold heroin in this shopping center, while police sat in their little community relations center and seemed to notice nothing.

NBA games lost yesterday: 8.Total games missed: 77.Earliest estimated date that season can start: Dec. 15.Negotiations: Nothing scheduled. Commissioner David Stern and union director Billy Hunter were supposed to speak by phone yesterday.Projected player salary losses (through Dec. 15): $250 million.Today's best canceled game: Lakers at Boston. Sure, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are long-since retired, but it's always special when these teams meet.Pub Date: 11/13/98

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Those who have followed Adam Morrison's career consider him somewhat of a throwback. The high-scoring Gonzaga forward makes up with moxie what he lacks in athleticism. The high-release jumper is sweet and true. Screens are used to set up defenders. Invariably, the comparison is to Larry Bird. NBA draft Tomorrow, 7 p.m., ESPN

LOS ANGELES - NBA great Larry Bird coached his final game last night, but what he will do now that he is the former Indiana Pacers coach remains largely a mystery. "I don't know what I'm going to do," he said during last night's pregame coaches news conference. "It's up in the air. I'm not worried about it. This season has been draining, but it's been great. The guys have really stepped up in the playoffs." The only thing that is certain is that Bird will not return next year as coach.

Alonzo Brown has known for years how to make money from the economic engine that drives Cherry Hill's public housing projects.Having lost a job after high school graduation, Brown got cash by selling cocaine and heroin. Easy money, but hard work, he said.When he realized Cherry Hill lacked convenience stores, he began selling groceries to residents from a bus he bought for $200. Harder work, he said.But Brown, 35, said neither job compares with his bumpy journey from a convicted drug felon in a Maryland adult boot camp to the proud owner of an athletic apparel store started with the help of a federally backed small business loan.