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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Tuesday, November 3, 1992
7
Magic Johnson retires from NBA amid controversy
The Associated Press
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Magic Johnson has retired again; this time for good, not because the AIDS virus sapped his strength, but because it struck fear among fellow players.
Johnson said yesterday — four days before the start of the NBA season — that he would not play because of the "controversies" surrounding his return.
After talking it over with his wife, Cookie,
and his family, Johnson said in a statement: "I
decided I will retire — for good — from the
Lakers.
Though Johnson declined to be more specific, his agent, Lon Rosen, said: "His feeling was, if people were afraid to play against him, that they would become of the game, and Farcyn didn't want that."
"It has become obvious that the various controversies surrounding my return are taking away from both basketball as a sport and the larger issue of living with HIV for me and the many people affected."
Johnson was physically able to play.
Dr. Michael Mellman, Johnson's personal physician and the Lakers' team doctor, said
"This is not based on his doctor's advice," Mollman said. "It's his lifestyle decision."
Mellman repeated what others doctors have said all along — that there was practically no chance of contracting the virus from Johnson through basketball.
But that didn't convince some people.
"It is infinitesimally small," he said. "We have no numbers that make any sense because we are talking about such a low-risk situation, according to the experts."
Several NBA stars, including fellow Dream Team member Karl Malone, said they were concerned about playing against Johnson for health reasons.
One NBA general manager, speaking on the condition that he not be identified, was quoted in a story published Sunday in The New York Times. "The player should simply avoid any controversy."
Malone was quoted in the story as saying, "Just because he came back doesn't mean nothing to me. It may be good for basketball, but you have to look far beyond that."
Contacted yesterday. Malone added: "Look
at the cuts and scratches I get now. All of a sudden, the last second of the game, and here comes Magic to the basket. It's the same as, what if I had the virus as a player and what if a Buck Williams or a Charles Barkley comes in? It is a physical game, and you do get kicked and scratched. I do have concerns, just like anybody would have. It's not a thing of kicking a man when he's down."
Johnson, the NBA's career leader in assists with 9,921, made his announcement four days before the beginning of the 1992-93 season.
Michael Jordan, another of Johnson's Dream Team teammates, said, "I guess he looked at it and said he'd rather be remembered as a guy who enjoyed the game, but not as a guy who stirred problems amongst his peers. I respect that decision."
The 33-year-old shocked the sports world last Nov. 7 when he announced his retirement after testing HIV positive.
It was only Friday night, after the Lakers' final exhibition game, that Johnson had said he and the team were ready for the upcoming season. Johnson made only 1 of 10 field-goal attempts while scoring eight points in the Lakers' 103-92 loss to Cleveland at Chapel Hill, N.C. He played 28 minutes and had five assists.
He sat out a few minutes in the first quarter of that game when he got a scratch on his right arm. The scratch required a bandage, which he covered with a sweatband.
Johnson played in five of the Lakers' eight preseason games, averaging 10.4 points and nearly 2 assists a game. The Lakers were 4-1 with Johnson in the lineup.
"I've come to realize that it simply isn't possible to return to playing in the NBA and still continue to be involved in all the things I want to do," Johnson said. "Although my family has given me their support to return to the Lakers, I feel that it is more important to spend my time with them as well as continuing with HIV and AIDS education projects than in the competitive and time-consuming world of the NBA."
Rosen said that Johnson felt his message about AIDS was not getting out because "people were focusing on the controversy," and that Johnson now plans to devote more time to AIDS awareness.
"He will continue to speak at schools, write books, give lectures, appear on TV and raise money for research," Rosen said. "And this doesn't mean that he's not going to play basketball any more. He wants to go on a world tour, playing basketball."
Pressed repeatedly for the reason Johnson decided to quit, Rosen said: "There's nothing out that caused him to retire. There was no hidden agenda."
Within weeks of his retirement announcement last November, Johnson began contemplating a comeback. He was the Most Valuable Player in the NBA All-Star game in February when he scored 25 points and made three straight 3-pointers in the final five minutes.
A week later, his number was retired by the Lakers, but even at that time he made it clear he was considering a return. He continued to work out during the spring and was a key member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in men's basketball at the Barcelona Olympics.
High school center commits to Kansas
By David Dorsey
Kansan sportswriter
Kansas basketball fans who asked high school senior Scot Pollard for his autograph last Saturday night during "Late Night with Roy Williams" will get to see more of the big man next season.
Pollard, a 6-foot-10, 230 pound center from Kennewick, Wash., gave a verbal commitment to attend Kansas shortly before the "Late Night with Roy Williams" scrimmage began and is expected to sign a national letter of intent when the early signing period begins Nov. 11.
Pollard said that Kansas coach Roy Williams had made an impression on him throughout the recruiting process.
"I can handle being in Lawrence," he said. "It is a small town, but Kansas City is nearby, and it shouldn't be a
"I knew pretty much before I made the visit that I was going to commit."
Pollard, who chose Kansas instead of Arizona, said he wanted to see Lawrence and some of his future teammates before he made a definite decision.
"He's a class act all the way," Pollard said. "He really helped with my decision. I knew pretty much before I made the visit that I was going to commit. I just had a few unanswered questions that were answered after I met the team and saw the town."
Scot Pollard high school basketball standout
problem. As for meeting the team, I wasn't worried because I know Coach Williams is not going to go out and recruit a bunch of bad people. I liked the people on the team, and they seemed like the kind of people I'd like to be around."
Pollard moved from the San Diego area to Kennewick about a year ago to be with his mother. His father died last October, and his mother had been in poor health, confined to a wheel chair.
"Emotionally and physically, she was not very well," Pollard said. "I thought it would be good for my mom to be with me where she wanted to live. Now she's doing about 100 times better."
Pollard said he averaged about 19 points and 12 rebounds a game during his junior season at Torrey Pines High in San Diego, Calif. He also averaged 5.5 blocks a game.
Bob Gibbons, national recruiting analyst, ranks Pollard as one of the top 40 high school centers in the nation.
Although he is a good shot-blocker, Pollard said that he did not enjoy posting up as much as he preferred the transition game.
I like to run," he said. "They know I like to fast break, and Coach Williams said that the team would begin to play more un-tempo."
Pollard will fill the last of the four scholarships available for next season. Nick Proud, a 6-10 forward from Sandy, Utah, 6-7 B.J. Williams from Wichita and 5-11 Jacque Vaughn of Pasadena, Calif., are the three other high school seniors that have verbally committed and are expected to sign letters of intent during the early signing period.
Roy Williams is unable to comment on next season's recruiting class until the signing period begins, but Gibbs will begin group as one of the hirst in the nation.
"Pollard and Proud should be able to complement one another," Gibbons said. "Both are athletic big-men."
Royals owner apologizes to Brett welcomes him back for next year
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — George Brett is welcome to return for another season with the Kansas City Royals, team owner Ewing Kauffman said yesterday.
Brett said last week that someone in the Kansas City Royals organization was pressuring him to retire, and Kauffman acknowledged that Brett had gotten that impression from him during a meeting last week.
"I want to publicly apologize to George Brett and the thousands and thousands of baseball fans throughout the country who love to see him play," Kauffman said at a stadium news conference. "I didn't realize he was that upset. It's human nature to be wanted, and I can see George's viewpoint.
"The Royals want him to play. George has earned the right to do what he wants to do. If he wants to play, the Royals are happy to have him."
Kauffman said he called Brett's wife yesterday to tell her he was sorry. Brett was out of town and reportedly played golf in Arizona.
The Royals announced Friday that they had exercised their option on Brett's contract, clearing the way for him to return for a 20th season at $2.5 million. But Brett, who has said he would decide during the off-season if he will return, said later he was privately urged to retire.
The team's public relations office did not have a phone number where Brett could be reached, a spokesperson said.
Brett, 39, who reached the 3,000-hit milestone in the last week of the season, was quoted in an interview last week as saying people he had talked with in the Royals' organization said "they thought it would be better to
"I'd bring out that he could retire in a blaze of glory with a season like he had," Kauffman said. "Only a small number of baseball players have accomplished what he has."
open up a roster spot for someone younger and more deserving. They didn't want me back, Younger, and more deserving? "That blew me away."
In an interview, Brett said, "I thought for someone in my position, that was an insult. ... It hurt. I just thought it was a strange thing to say. I didn't really know how to react. My jaw hit the floor. I didn't say anything."
"I did not talk about opening up a roster spot. No player who is 25th on our club could give us as much help as Brett," Kauffman said.
He refused to name the person who was pressuring him to retire.
Kauffman addressed that saying he was the one who had given Brett the wrong impression.
He said that he was not feeling well at the time of his meeting with Brett because he had hurt his eye in a fall.
"My mental faculties may not have been 100 percent," he said.
BRIEFS
Cyclone back, Nebraska tackle earn honors
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Hallback James McMillion of Iowa State and defensive tackle John Parrella of Nebraska were named players of the week yesterday in the Big Eight Conference.
atMcMillion, a junior from Bellevue, Neb., set an Iowa state season record when he gained 118 yards in punt returns in a 28-14 victory against Missouri. That gave him 419 yards, beating the old record of 382 yards in 1947 by Dong Ferguson. McMillion returned one punt for 78 yards and a touchdown. Parrella, a senior from Grand Island, Neb., was credited with taking two backs in Nebraska in a 52-7 victory against Colorado. He also broke up one pass and hung the quarterback five times.
Kansan staff report
Kansas-Colorado football game to be televised on ABC
The Kansas-Colorado football game on Nov. 14 will be televised regionally by ABC-TV at 2:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. The contest will mark the third time this season that the Jayhawks, 7-1, will have appeared on national television. Kansas' game at Nebraska on Saturday will be covered by ESPN and will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Jayhawks lost to California earlier in the season, 27-23, on ESPN.
Patrick Tompkins / KANSAN
newcomer Calvin Rayford, a sophomore guard, attempts a shot despite being guarded by junior forward Darrin Hancock (left) and senior guard Adonis Jordan (right) at "Late Night with Roy Williams."
Sophomore guards bring different styles to 'Hawks
By David Dorsey
Kansan sportswriter
Calvin Rayford and Sean Pearson have a lot in common. Both are sophomore guards, both sat out last season for not meeting NCAA eligibility requirements and both scored nine points during their first "Late Night" scrimmage in front of a capacity crowd.
But the similarities end when the two step on the basketball court, Kansas coach Roy Williams said.
"They're totally different players." Williams said. "Calvin is very, very quick. He's also good at penetrating the ball to the basket. He's very good at creating some havoc and turnoff defensively, which means the other team is always looking around for where he's coming from next.
Sean Pearson
"Sean is just the opposite. He's a very smooth player that could develop into a great shooter. He's just a little slower right now than where I want him to be."
Rayford, from Milwaukee, was one of the top-ranked point
At 5-foot-6, Rayford is the shortest basketball player ever at Kansas, but he still can leap high enough to grab and hang on the rim. He also took gymnastics lessons, which explains how he learned to cartwheel and flip as he did during the "Late Night" festivities.
guards
seeming
out of
h i g h
school.
He averaged
10 points
and seven
assists a game
during his
senior season
and led
Last season, Rayford and Pearson played on an intranural team they called "Guts."
Washington High School to a 261 record that included the Wisconsin state high school championship.
Rayford was known for his flashy passing during last season's pickup games, but Rayford said he knew that behind-the-back passes were not always the best option.
hay caesar
The team went on to win last year's intramural basketball championship, and "Guts" won each game by more than twenty points.
"I like to think of myself as a very unselfish player. I like to get my teammates the ball before I get involved."
"Not all the time," Rayford said.
"Just when it's there. I know when it's time to do that and when it's time not to do that.
Rayford said that he and Pearson had another thing in common, the desire to win.
"On the court, he likes to win like i do," Rayford said. "I can see that by playing with him. Off the court, he's a nice guy. He treats everybody nice."
Pearson, at 6 foot-4, is listed at 195 pounds, but Williams said he needed to lose a little weight. But even at his current weight, Pearson's standing vertical leap, at 33 inches, is second only to senior Rox Walters'.
Pearson, who shot a perfect three-for-three from the 3-point line during the "Late Night" scrimmage, led his Nazareth Academy High School in LaGrange, Ill., to a 28-1 record his senior season. He averaged 24 points and 9 rebounds a game as a senior.
Pearson's statement about Rayford was short and quick.
"Off the court he is quiet," Pearson said. "On the court he's very quick."
Although the two could not practice with the Jayhawks last season, they were allowed to watch one practice a week, which gave them the knowledge to expect this season, Williams said.
Rayford said. "We had to sit out a whole year, and we've adjusted to college. We're ready."