Larry Bird

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)

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?

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.

BOSTON -- I speak of the unspeakable.The NBA playoffs start tonight and Larry Bird probably won't play. Prepared to be buried in a compost heap by the loyalists of the Celtic Nation, I wonder if Bird's potential absence might be an asset at this particular time.Better without Larry? It is preposterous. Would The Doors have been better without Jim Morrison? Would the swimsuit issue be better without Kathy Ireland? Would the Union Oyster House be better if they took clam chowder off the menu?

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.

LANDOVER -- No Bird . . . no McHale . . . no problem.There ought to be a law against the Boston Celtics. Or at least an ordinance.Into the Capital Centre the Green Wave washed last night without Larry Bird (bad back) and Kevin McHale (bad knee), and with ancient Robert Parish moving even slower than usual on his permanently weak ankles.What a great time for revenge, especially when the Washington Bullets found themselves leading by 13 points five minutes into the third period. Remember all those games Bird won with three-point shots with no more than a second remaining on the clock?

The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat pulled the first major trade of the NBA season Friday in exchanging point guards Brian Shaw and Sherman Douglas, but it raised major questions on both sides.Miami's desire to trade Douglas was understandable after the Washington native sat out the first two months of the season in a salary dispute. The Heat was forced to match the Los Angeles Lakers' offer sheet of $16.6 million for the next seven years.But Miami's surprising success with rookie Steve Smith, a converted shooting guard, running its offense, made Douglas expendable.

NEW YORK -- With injuries threatening to ruin their season, the Boston Celtics have made a bold trade in hopes of strengthening their lineup.Boston acquired 6-foot-1 point guard Sherman Douglas from the Miami Heat, in exchange for guard Brian Shaw. Douglas was expected to make his Celtics debut last night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.Douglas is young (25) and talented, but his days were numbered in Miami when he criticized the team's front office last fall during a two-month contract dispute.

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.

You were standing there watching it on television Thursday evening and someone said, "I think I might cry," and you wondered yourself, because you crossed paths with Magic Johnson so many times and there he was now on your screen refusing not to smile as he told the world about testing HIV-positive.Then he was done and the TV was off and you sat there dumbfounded with a million thoughts racketing around your head, and as strange as it sounds, this was what you kept coming back to: At least now everyone was in on the secret you'd known for so long, which was that he always shone more because of who he was, not what he did.You would always say that when people asked about him, and they did ask you because you were in the locker room with him so often, but you always felt they didn't really believe you when you said he was even more remarkable as a person than a player.