Wednesday, October 13, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 7
Suns guard retires after long career
Johnson led team despite injuries
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — Kevin Johnson, one of the NBA's most prolific point guards, retired yesterday after an 11-year career.
Johnson, who sat out last season, revealed his decision in a news release from the Phoenix Suns, the team he led for 10 1/2 seasons before leaving as a free agent in 1998.
"I thank the Phoenix Suns for
making my playing experience memorable and for helping me accomplish everything I could have dreamed of, with the exception of an NBA championship," said the 33-year-old Johnson, who had struggled with injuries late in his career.
Last April, when he came back to Phoenix for the ceremony honoring former teammate Tom Chambers, Johnson said he was probably through with basketball. He said he had turned down several offers from other teams.
Johnson had spent more time on the bench and as a shooting guard after the Suns brought in Jason
Kidd as the floor leader in December 1996.
In Flagstaff, where the Suns wrapped up their training camp yesterday, coach Danny Ainge said he was a little surprised but not shocked.
"KJ had an unbelievable career." Ainge said. "Had he not been hurt, I think he would have been up there with some of the best point guards who ever played the game, in everybody's eyes."
Johnson was traded to the Suns from Cleveland midway through his rookie season. He is the team's career assist leader with 6,494 and No. 3 in scoring with 12,707 points.
trails only John Stockton, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas. His 6.687 assists rank 10th on the NBA career list.
Johnson, who averaged 18 points a game, was a three-time all-star and only the sixth player with 11,500 points. 6,000 assists, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 steals.
"When I think of Kevin Johnson, I think of a young man who represented this franchise as well as anyone who has worn a Suns uniform," said Jerry Colangelo, the team's chief executive officer. "Kevin will go down as one of the most popular players to play for the Suns but also had as big an impact as anyone who has ever played for us."
Four jump into Track and Field Hall of Fame
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Bill Rodgers, a four-time winner of both the Boston and New York City marathons, will join three others to be inducted to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame
Rodgers; former world triple jump record-holder Willie Banks; former NCAA and Olympic hurdles champion Charles Moore; and former Princeton track coach Larry Ellis will be inducted in Los Angeles on Dec. 2.
The 51-year-old Rodgers, who competed at Wesleyan University, finished third in the world cross country championships in 1975 and won his first Boston Marathon a month later.
He later won four U.S. distance titles and set two American marathon records. His time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 28 seconds in winning the 1979 Boston Marathon still is fifth-best among all U.S. runners.
Banks, 43, a two-time NCAA runner-up at UCLA, set his first American record in 1981 and set a world record of 58 feet, 11 1/2 inches at the national championships in Indianapolis in 1985, when he was named U.S. Olympic Committee athlete of the year. Banks was a member of the 1980, 1984 and 1988 Olympic teams.
Moore, 70, never lost a 400-meter hurdles race. He broke the intermediate hurdles world record three times and won two Olympic
"Larry Ellis was an inspiration to me as my college coach, and Willie Banks and Bill Rodgers were my contemporaries."
Craig Masback
Head of USA Track and Field
medals in 1952. He was also the NCAA 220-yard hurdles champion in 1951. Recently retired as athletic director at Cornell, Moore now is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee board of directors.
middle distance runner at New York University. He coached 13 years at Jamaica High School in New York before going to Princeton in 1970, where he coached Bob Beamon, former world record holder in the long jump, and Craig Masback, now the head of USA Track & Field.
Ellis, who died last year, was a
Ellis was U.S. men's coach of the 1984 Olympic and 1998 World Cup teams and was president of USATF from 1992-96.
"This induction ceremony will have a special meaning for me," Masback said. "Larry Ellis was an inspiration to me as my college coach, and Willie Banks and Bill Rodgers were my contemporaries. Charlie Moore remains one of our legendary performers."
Spurs travel to Italy for international play
The Associated Press
MILAN, Italy — The San Antonio Spurs at least will make sure they break a sweat in Italy.
While no NBA team has lost in the 12-year history of the McDonald's Championship, the Spurs say they'll take opponents seriously.
Well, seriously enough to get a good workout.
"We're going to use these games over here to get better," said Tim Duncan, who arrived yesterday in Milan with the rest of the NBA champs. "These are like preseason games for us. We have to use them to get ready for the real season."
The New York Knicks were taken to overtime by Italy's Scavolini Pesaro in 1990, and Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers edged a Spanish team by 2 points in the title game the following year.
There have been some close calls, though.
The six-tteam tournament, held every two years since 1991, includes the European, South American, Asian and Australian champions, plus an Italian team.
"We don't know anything about the other teams here, and this is huge for them," said Avery Johnson.
"We shouldn't take this lightly, because the track record shows that other teams took it lightly, and games went down to the last minute or last 30 seconds." Johnson said. "We want to take things seriously from the first
San Antonio has a bye into Friday's semifinals, where it will meet the winner of tomorrow's game between Brazil's Vasco da Gama and Australia's Adelaide 36ers. The other teams are European champions Zalgiris Kaunas, Lebanon's C.S. Sagsesse, and Italian League champ Varese Roosters. The final will be Saturday.
In Italy, basketball is second in popularity to soccer, and as of yesterday, there still were hundreds of tickets left for Thursday's first-round games at the 10,122-capacity FilaForum on the outskirts of Milan. Organizers said they expected to sell out the arena for Friday and Saturday.
minute out there and play like the NBA champs."
The Spurs, who opened their exhibition season Sunday with a 98-97 win against the Philadelphia 76ers, make their regular-season debut Nov. 3.
Robinson missed the Philadelphia game with a stiff lower back but should play this week.
The team is scheduled to make a series of public appearances, ranging from a McDonald's restaurant to the city's 14th-century Gothic cathedral.
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