Barkley Considers Quitting
Charles Barkley, saying his young daughter was being harassed by schoolmates over his arrest in Miami, told several Houston reporters Wednesday he is “leaning toward retirement” from basketball.
The Rockets forward, who has missed two consecutive practices, was in Phoenix Wednesday to mull over his future with his wife, Maureen, and daughter, Christiana, according to several reports.
Barkley contacted at least two television stations - KHOU and KTRK - and also called the Houston Chronicle.
KHOU said Barkley was upset by harassment his daughter faced at elementary school in Phoenix.
Barkley also said he was upset that the NBA did not rule out suspending him for the Sunday incident in which he was accused of throwing a bar patron through a plate-glass window.
Early last Sunday, Barkley was charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest after he allegedly threw a bar patron through a window. Barkley told police the 20-year-old man, Jorge Lugo, had thrown a glass of ice on the basketball star and three women sitting with him.
Stern, union trade blame
NBA commissioner David Stern said Wednesday that the players’ union is trying to trade economic concessions for a policy covering the use of marijuana. The union countered by accusing Stern of courting public opinion as talks near over a new collective bargaining agreement.
“Frankly we have been unable to get the players’ association to address the issue,” Stern said via teleconference, noting he thought there was a verbal agreement two years ago to reopen the league’s substance abuse policy, which has been in effect since 1984 and does not cover marijuana.
“What we’ve been hearing from them has been ‘What economic consideration would you pass to us in order for us to agree to this issue?’ This is such a complete perversion of our previous relationship on this subject, and our specific understanding, that we’re dumbfounded by the approach.”
In a statement, National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter said Stern “has misstated our discussions by claiming that we have insisted on economic concessions in return for altering the drug policy. The policy is one very important part of a broad collective bargaining agreement.”
The matter of the drug policy surfaced recently in a New York Times article in which the newspaper’s sources estimated marijuana and alcohol abuse could involve as much as 70 percent of the NBA’s players.
Around the league
The Washington Wizards placed starting center Gheorghe Muresan (right ankle) and reserve guard Tim Legler (hamstring) on the injured list… . Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal, still bothered by an abdominal strain, will miss Friday night’s season opener against Utah… . The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Wesley Person to a contract modification and extension. The Cavs acquired the 6-foot-6 guardforward along with Tony Dumas in a three-way trade with Phoenix and Denver.