Players Not Merry About Holiday Play

Madison Majerle is like most 3-year-olds today, wide-eyed over Christmas, Santa Claus and presents under the tree.

The tree and presents are there, although her father, Miami Heat guard Dan Majerle, isn’t. He is 1,500 miles away in Chicago, preparing for an afternoon game against the two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls.

“I think it stinks,” said Majerle, whose wife, Tina, and 7-month-old daughter, McKenzie, will celebrate the holiday with Madison at home in Phoenix. “I’d rather stay home with my family.”

Instead, Majerle sat down with Madison and tried to explain why Daddy - like Santa - has to work.

“She’s starting to understand that,” he said. “Still, I’d like to be there for the gifts and tree and stuff. It’s more of the little things I’d miss more than anything.”

Majerle and his teammates also missed most of Christmas Eve. According to NBA rules, teams must arrive in their game city the day before they’re scheduled to play. The Miami-Chicago game is the first of a Christmas doubleheader, preceding the Houston Rockets at the Utah Jazz.

To comply with the league’s rule, the Heat boarded their charter flight Wednesday, leaving Majerle with an empty feeling inside, he said.

“It’s just not worth it,” said Majerle. “We shouldn’t be playing on Christmas.”

While Majerle may not enjoy working on Christmas just as much as police officers, firefighters and convenience store clerks, he’ll be better paid: He earns $34,146 for each game this season as part of his $2.8 million salary.

Money isn’t everything, said Bulls guard Steve Kerr. He agrees with Majerle, although playing on Christmas isn’t new to him and his teammates.

Not only is Chicago among the NBA’s best teams, its star player, Michael Jordan, is the league’s biggest attraction. Such drawing power translates into working most holidays, when potential television viewers are at home.

“People want to be entertained on Christmas Day,” said Bulls center Luc Longley. “It’s a shame, but that’s part of being in the NBA.” Not the National Hockey League. The NHL didn’t schedule games Christmas Eve or today.

Holiday play is common for the Bulls, winners of five of the past seven championships. The Bulls have played on all except one Christmas since 1990. Unlike the Heat, however, Chicago has played at home, allowing team members to spend some time with loved ones.

“They’ve been able to appease us a little bit by letting us enjoy Christmas at home,” said Jordan, a father of three. “It’s tough sometimes to focus when you know you have a game and you want to make sure your kids have a great morning.”

Bulls’ Jackson just can’t win

Five hundred regular-season victories. Five NBA titles. Tremendous rapport with his players. Outstanding loyalty to the organization in the face of more lucrative opportunities elsewhere.

And for all that, when the season ends the Chicago Bulls likely will tell Phil Jackson: Don’t leave anything behind when you clean out your office.

“It baffles me to understand that he’s not welcome,” Michael Jordan said of the Bulls’ coach, who on Tuesday reached the 500-victory plateau faster than any coach in NBA history. “He certainly still knows how to coach the game.”

Nevertheless, Jackson has agreed to step aside after this season at the behest of owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause, who seem overly anxious to begin rebuilding an aging - but still championship-caliber - team.

Calipari suit dismissed

A judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a sportswriter against New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari and the Nets organization.

Dan Garcia of the Star-Ledger of Newark claimed in his lawsuit that he suffered “extreme humiliation and emotional distress” because Calipari called him “a Mexican idiot” after a team practice on March 20.

The lawsuit accused Calipari of inflicting emotional distress and assault, among other things.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Scancarella granted the team’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed because it did not have any legal merit, said Andrew P. Napolitano, attorney for both Calipari and the Nets.

Nets, Nash near pact

The New Jersey Nets and general manager John Nash are close to agreement on a contract extension that will keep him with the club at least through the 2000-2001 season.

Nash, who joined the Nets in June 1996 after serving as the Washington Bullets’ general manager, said the new accord likely will be completed in January.

“Ownership has made a very generous offer,” said Nash, whose contract expires after next season. He wouldn’t comment on financial terms.

Nets back to the Island?

The New Jersey Nets are considering a move back to Long Island where they played in the 1970s, a newspaper reported.

The NBA team began informal discussions with Nassau (N.Y.) County officials more than a year ago to move the team to Nassau Coliseum, while a new arena is built in Uniondale, N.J.

Sources said the Nets have become more interested in the Long Island proposal, since New Jersey Devils owner John McMullen announced he would try to move his team from the Continental Airlines Arena to a new arena in Hoboken, N.J.