Larry Bird

Larry Bird, at 35 the only player among the NBA's top 20 inscoring, rebounds and assists, was placed on the injured list by the Boston Celtics last night because of a persistent back problem.Dave Gavitt, the Celtics' basketball operations chief, said that doctors had recommended rest and anti-inflammatory medication for Bird, and no timetable has been set for the 13-year veteran's return.Gavitt said tests confirmed the earlier belief that Bird has inflammation resulting from a fall or falls.

IT'S PLAYOFF time in the National Basketball Association. And thanks to David Stern, the league's commissioner, the NBA has had another season of financial and popular success. Yet as a former referee who watched from center court as the league grew and changed, I wonder if the NBA hasn't become a victim of its own good fortune.In some ways, it seems to have struck a Faustian bargain, trading artful basketball for big bucks. Before 1979, the NBA struggled to gain legitimate big league status -- and the lucrative national TV contracts that go with it. Fortunately, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan gave the league the personable and exciting stars necessary to help its financial ascent.

Boxers or briefs?Pistachio or Rocky Road?Mantle or Mays?Magic or Michael?The debate over which player, Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan, is the greatest to lace up a pair of basketball sneakers has been refueled by the return of Johnson to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Turner commentators have taken lukewarm positions.Jordan's supporters, who are legion, point to his acrobatic brilliance, three championships won with a group of players perceived to be inferior and seven straight scoring titles as proof that he is the best player of all time.

Michael Jordan and Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller had not always been the best of friends, as evidenced by their on-court scuffle late last season.But there was never any doubting of Jordan's ability and tremendous following in the league, which left Miller wondering just what direction the NBA is headed with yesterday's announcement of his rival's retirement."It's a big loss, not only for myself, but for the NBA," Miller told The Indianapolis Star. "The NBA might be suffering for a little bit now. The major stars are gone."

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S. Olympic men's basketball team won its first two qualifying games by an average of 62 points, but that apparently wasn't enough for veteran Brazil guard Marcel De Souza.De Souza is eager to face his NBA idols, and when the historic first meeting takes place -- probably in the final of the Tournament of the Americas on Sunday -- neither he nor his celebrated teammate Oscar Schmidt wants the Dream Team to hold back."I hope, honestly, that the USA-NBA, All-Pro, All-Universe team will play the best they can," De Souza said at a news conference after Brazil (3-0)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Together they came into the NBA from the Midwest 13 years ago, directly from one spotlight, the NCAA championship game, into another.Within two years, each played on an NBA championship team. Through the 1980s, they alternated titles and Most Valuable Player awards.Their battles and eventual competitive friendship became the prism through which most people saw the NBA. They were hailed as the saviors of a foundering league.But as the curtain is raised on today's 42nd NBA All-Star Game at the Orlando Arena, the specters of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird hover over the event.

There is only one person on the Boston Celtics that worries me and that is Larry Bird. You can throw out as many Dee Browns and Brian Shaws as you want. Tall guys? Bring on the tall guys, Kevin McHale, Joe Kleine, Ed Pinckney. Even the old man, Robert Parish -- who recently celebrated his 92nd birthday -- even him, I can handle. I need an ax. But I can handle him.Bird worries me. Always has. There are athletes who just seem to have something secret up their sleeve, something they know and you don't and never will.

Michael Jordan and Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller had not always been the best of friends, as evidenced by their on-court scuffle late last season.But there was never any doubting of Jordan's ability and tremendous following in the league, which left Miller wondering just what direction the NBA is headed with yesterday's announcement of his rival's retirement."It's a big loss, not only for myself, but for the NBA," Miller told The Indianapolis Star. "The NBA might be suffering for a little bit now. The major stars are gone."

PORTLAND, Ore. -- First, the crowd chanted, "We want Bird," then "Larry! Larry!" A fan held a green street sign that said, "Larry Bird Ave." The video scoreboard showed the great Boston Celtics warrior on the bench, and the crowd exploded.Larry Bird did not play in the Tournament of the Americas last night, did not play because of his chronic sore back. Naturally, the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team won without him, but its 105-61 victory over Canada was a given.Bird's return next season is not.Will he or won't he?

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.