Why Can't I Have a Team Full of Sprees? - Latrell Sprewell is emerging as a New York Knicks team leader

Basketball Digest, March, 2001 by Mitchell Lavnick

In his second full season in New York, Latrell Sprewell is forcing opposing coaches to ask a question once unthinkable

LATRELL SPREWELL IS THE NBA Dream. You can debate the validity of his "I Am the American Dream" ads that ran a couple years ago, but there's little doubt left that Sprewell has transformed himself from the biggest malcontent in a crowded field of NBA star pouters to a hero to New York fans and players alike.

Sprewell's popularity among Knicks fans is unmatched. Unlike any other New York player, Spree creates a buzz that fills Madison Square Garden, whether on a slashing drive to the hoop with his cornrows flying in every direction, a twisting off-balance jumper, a furious breakaway tomahawk jam punctuated by a trademark scowl, or a stellar defensive play leading to a teammate's easy bucket.

Of course, before you suggest we all hold hands and hum "Free to Be Spree and Me," remember that Sprewell's brand of buzz, has not always been positive. No matter what he does on the court, Sprewell will be scarred for the; rest of his NBA days, a lightning rod whose, legacy will always be associated with one incident: his attack on former Golden State coach P.J. Carlesimo.

You remember the story of December 1, 1997, of a Warriors practice gone awry, Sprewell lost his cool and choked Carlesimo, leading to a 68-game suspension, $6.4 million in lost salary, and a trade to New York on January 21, 199. Since then, Sprewell has worked with varying success to resurrect his image.

But Sprewell's image will never fully recover. Go to any opposing arena and you hear the taunts and jeers. Internet search engines will point you to Web pages such as www.jerkoftheweek.com, a site dedicated to roguish jocks, which, when not focusing on the John Rockers and Rae Carruths of the sporting world, has spent much of the last two years editorializing about all things Latrell.

"I never read stuff, so I never see it personally. That stuff is distracting to me," Sprewell says about the negative attention. "I just try to go out and play. I don't worry about what people are saying. I can only control what I do on the floor, and how I play, and that is what I try to focus in on."

Such a bland dismissal of his critics might smack of a disingenuous cliche, if not for the fact that during his time in New York Sprewell has maintained an uncanny focus and determination. In the post-Patrick Ewing era that: began this season, that focus has earned him the de facto title of--brace yourself--Knicks team leader.

You see, while Olympian Allan Houston may be New York's golden child, it's Sprewell's ferocious play that holds the best hope for a team desperately searching for passion. John Starks provided the pre-Spree spark, but when Starks was shipped to Golden State as part of the Sprewell trade, the torch ended up being passed precariously to Latrell.

"We all have our own personalities and things that we do, or try to do to get up for a game. I mean, it is just part of my nature. John had that similar attitude, a little fire in him," Sprewell explains. "And Allan is like the total opposite. He is real laid-back, quiet--doesn't say much. He can be having a monster game, and it is just like he is as cool as ice.

"For me, I am as hot as fire. I am all riled up, and doing what I can to get the crowd into the game. So everybody is just different, with different personalities. Mine is just a little aggressive."

That aggressiveness, coupled with his ability to stop on a dime and contort his lithe body in several directions at once makes Sprewell one of the most dangerous weapons in the league.

"You always have your hands full with a guy like that," says the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce. "He is so quick. He goes so hard all the time, and you always have to be wary of that pull-up jumper, because once he gets that going, he is a read streaky shooter So once he gets going, it is tough to stop him because you have got to be aware of that, or else he takes you all the way to the hole with his quickness."

Not that Sprewell's talents are a new revelation. Only a No. 24 pick out of Alabama in the 1992 draft, it quickly became apparent that Golden State had scored a coup when he averaged 15.4 points, 3.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.64 steals his rookie year, earning NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors. By his second season he was a 21.0 ppg scorer and earned spots on both the All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team.

But chronic losing seasons in Golden State brought out Sprewell's worst; the coach-choking episode was not his first show of violence. In a previous incident, he was said to have threatened former teammate Jerome Kersey with a two-by-four before being dragged away and threatening to return with a gun.

With such ugliness in his past, perhaps the naysayers have it right. Maybe Sprewell is incorrigible, a more polished J.R. Rider camouflaged in blue and orange. But as a Knick, Sprewell has more often than not shown a thoughtful, reflective side that affirms a seemingly genuine longing to put the past in the past.