Barkley Knee Surgery Today, And Future Depends On Rehab
Charles Barkley will have knee surgery today and probably won’t decide until after a six-week rehabilitation whether to return to the Phoenix Suns.
After the final team meeting of the season, Barkley sounded far less serious about retirement than he did on Saturday, when his 18 points and 23 rebounds couldn’t keep Houston from eliminating the Suns in the second round.
“This is a perfect environment for basketball,” he said Wednesday. “You’ve got great fans, you’ve got great guys on our team. But I’ll tell you what - I ain’t into this working-out-during-the-summer stuff. I think you all know me.
“My summer’s supposed to be vacation; I’m supposed to play 32 holes (of golf) a day and relax.”
The Suns said team physician Richard Emerson will repair the loose cartilage in Barkley’s left knee. The doctor found no apparent ligament or tendon damage, or any indication of torn cartilage.
Emerson will operate with an arthroscope, the least intrusive form of surgery, and Barkley’s recovery is expected to be rapid.
“I hope everybody knows I don’t want to rehab my knee all summer, get through the regular season and then break down in the playoffs again,” Barkley said. “That’s the worst thing about this. I go through all that back rehab last summer, everything goes good during the season, and then when my team needs me in the playoffs, I can’t make a big play.”
Barkley was the fourth-leading scorer in the playoffs, averaging 25.7 and 13.4 rebounds.
Center Joe Kleine is one of Barkley’s closest friends on the team. He joked that he didn’t want him to retire because it would cost him so much money on the golf course.
Cover boy
Dennis Rodman spent the early part of Wednesday afternoon contemplating a new color scheme for his hair while clearing the air on his sexual orientation.
Professional sports’ most celebrated shock jock chuckled when he caught a glimpse of himself gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated, wearing a short leather one-piece that only Madonna could love.
Like his Spurs teammates, Rodman found the story itself even more amusing. It was D-Rod just being D-Rod, they claimed, talking crazy and acting irrational for anyone armed with a pen and pad or aiming a camera.
“David (Robinson) wins the MVP, and Dennis is on the cover of Sports Illustrated in hot pants,” Doc Rivers said. “I think it’s pretty funny. Dennis is different. But different isn’t bad. Different is different.”
“That’s him,” Avery Johnson said. “That’s something I wouldn’t do. I would want to be on the cover with a Bible in my hands telling kids to stay in school.”
Instead, it was the world according to Worm. In the article, Rodman reiterates some of his most outrageous fantasies: of killing himself, of grabbing every rebound and gay man available and, of course, the one of him fathering Madonna’s love child.
“I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Rodman said, clutching a copy as he made his way from the locker room to his pink and white pick-up truck. “The outfit is great. People should rush out to buy it.”
Coach Bob Hill and Spurs management were not as enthusiastic and decided not to comment.
Brown bad-mouths refs
Losing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals didn’t bother Indiana coach Larry Brown as much as something else he saw when he watched the game film.
Brown believes Magic center Shaquille O’Neal was given an unfair advantage over Indiana center Rik Smits, who was saddled by foul trouble throughout the second half Tuesday night.
“The only thing I want is for the officials to call it the same for both players, and I don’t think they’re doing that,” Brown said before the Pacers practiced Wednesday. “That’s the tragedy of it. That’s the sad thing. It isn’t right.”
O’Neal had 32 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Magic to a 105-101 victory. He played only 5 minutes in the first quarter because of two personal fouls, but he dominated the final three periods.
Smits struggled throughout the evening, getting 17 points, five rebounds and five personal fouls. He played 32 minutes, getting his fourth foul early in the second half.
Although Smits downplayed the controversy, his teammates were not so understanding.
“Other top centers get the benefit of the doubt, but Rik never gets any respect from the officials,” said Pacers guard Reggie Miller. “And that’s not fair. I have no idea why it happens. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t start fights, or because he doesn’t do music videos.”
Stern words
NBA commissioner David Stern took his strongest public stand yet in the labor talks with the league’s players association.
He said the sides are far apart with no sign that an agreement is near as the no-strike, no-lockout moratorium agreed upon last year nears an end.
Asked what the main issues were that separate the sides, Stern said, “There’s really only one. The last proposal by the players reflected the belief that the owners should not make any money.”