Stockton’s Reputation A Bit Painful

A sneaky elbow to the ribs. A sly slap to the groin. A furtive bump in the ribs.

John Stockton has been accused of such dirty tactics in the past, and the Chicago Bulls have added their horror stories to the ones told by Houston in the Western Conference finals.

Michael Jordan clashed with Stockton during a regular-season game this year in Chicago after the Utah guard set a screen on him “that was a little shaky, and I mentioned it to him.”

“I can’t say in the least I haven’t set a shaky screen either. I’m not here to discuss the credibility of John Stockton being dirty or clean. Believe me, I’ve got some little tricks, too, that I can get away with - and I do get away with them sometimes. He knows how to get around the angles.”

Jordan said his former Dream Team teammate is “a very physical player, very gutsy.”

Stockton’s take on his dirty reputation?

“There are a lot of parrots out there. They just repeat what they hear,” Stockton said.

Magic want Daly, Dr. J

The Orlando Magic are expected to announce the hiring of Chuck Daly as their new head coach today, after spending the better part of Monday working out the final details of the deal.

Sources say Daly, 66, is prepared to sign a 3-year deal worth $15 million. The contract will include an option that allows him to remain with the team in a front-office capacity once his coaching days are over.

Also, the team has approached Julius Erving, an NBA Hall of Famer and current NBC studio analyst, about taking an undefined consulting job with the Magic. General manager John Gabriel confirmed that there have been talks with Erving as well, though no specifics have been ironed out.

Ewing writes Stern

Patrick Ewing, who blames NBA commissioner David Stern for eliminating the Knicks, articulated those feelings in a letter he sent to Stern last week.

When asked if suspending Ewing for Game 6 of the KnicksHeat series was one of the more heartbreaking decisions he has ever had to make, Stern said: “I didn’t make the decision. The rule is clear. It says if you come off the bench you will be suspended.”

Rules may change

After a season where games in the 70s and the 80s became more and more common, the league will offer suggestions to the competition committee today that could result in moving the 3-point line back to its old distance of 23 feet, 9 inches, allowing zone defenses and reducing the 24-second clock.