Sonics Exec A Candidate
Candidates for the Philadelphia 76ers general manager position include Seattle SuperSonics vice president of basketball operations Billy McKinney, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Yet 76ers president-to-be Pat Croce has yet to ask Sonics president Wally Walker for permission talk to McKinney, who was hired by the Sonics last July.
Even if Walker gives McKinney the go-ahead, it’s doubtful McKinney will be available until after the June 26 draft.
The Sonics won’t part with his six months of research, particularly in a season in which seven players will become free agents and swingman Vincent Askew can become a free agent.
Since October, McKinney has criss-crossed the country evaluating college talent and has traveled overseas to scout the European professional leagues.
Kendall Gill, sidelined since Feb. 14 with a broken left hand, will sit out the final two weeks of the season even though the New Jersey Nets shooting guard is close to being ready to play.
“The doctors have advised me it’s not worth the risk coming back with a couple of games to play and possibly breaking it again,” Gill said.
Washington Bullets rookie forward Rasheed Wallace, charged over the weekend with misdemeanor assault, did not violate a restraining order, his attorney said. Wallace was arrested Sunday in Durham, N.C. in an incident involving his former girlfriend.
“Contrary to earlier reports, the incident did not involve a violation of a restraining order in that no such order exists,” Mike Grace, Wallace’s North Carolina-based attorney, said.
Dallas Comegys, the former NBA player who was shot outside a Turkish nightclub, was transferred by helicopter to an Istanbul hospital to continue his recovery from lung surgery.
“I am fine,” he said from his bed, declining to speak further.
Comegys, 31, was leading the Turkish League in rebounding, averaging 12.3 per game for Istanbul’s Fenerbahce club.
Another American who plays in Turkey, Larry Spriggs, was wounded in the back and a Turkish businessman killed in the incident. Spriggs, 36, is still in the state-owned Uludag University Medical School Hospital in Bursa and reportedly was in good condition.