Your guide to the league's strained relationships

Sporting News, The, Oct 23, 1995 by Shaun Powell

Now that the most spirited offseason feud - union dissidents vs. supporters - is history, it's time to turn our attention to a few others.

A handful of acrimonious relationships carried over from last season and remained in question when training camp began. Some will eventually heal, some may never repair, others will exist peacefully on the surface and smolder underneath.

Here's an update on a few family feuds, with a prognosis for complete reconciliation following each:

Latrell Sprewell-Tim Hardaway. Sprewell developed a distaste for Hardaway, whom he considered a Don Nelson sympathizer. Hardaway thought Sprewell should have carried himself more professionally last season. Feelings aside, they also had on-court problems: Both needed to control the ball to be effective. Rather than solve the issue through a trade, the Warriors decided to keep both. Hardaway then initiated a peace settlement. "Somebody had to be a man and step up," Hardaway says. "I said, `Let's clear this thing out and go from there.' We're supporting each other." Sprewell adds: "We don't have to be friends and eat dinner every night." Prognosis: Fair.

Larry Johnson-Kendall Gill. Their feud began when Grandmama arrived and stole Gill's shots and spotlight When Gill returned to Charlotte as a Sonic for a game two years ago, Johnson tried to clobber him. In a bizarre trade this summer, Gill returned to the Hornets. Johnson hated the trade be. cause the Hornets lost Hersey Hawkins and then Kenny Gattison to expansion, and those two played more favorably to team chemistry than Gill. "It's not a situation where I have a personal grudge against this man," Johnson says. We had a scuffle on the court, but that happens in competition." Prognosis: Fair.

Don Nelson-Chris Webber. Their highly publicized ego-standoff ended in predictable disaster. Webber left the Warriors for Washington and signed for the highest per-season average ($9.6 million) in league history. Nelson resigned and then resurfaced in New York, where he finally found a legitimate center. Nelson accepted the heat for the Webber Affair, saying, "I was the adult in that situation." On October 12 before the Bullets-Knicks exhibition game, Nellie phoned Webber and the two talked for five minutes. Then they embraced before tipoff. "If we had that kind of conversation a long time ago," Webber says, "I'd still be a Warrior. I'll say that we would've won a championship, and he would have made me one of the greatest players in the game." Prognosis: Good.

P.J. Carlesimo-Rod Strickland. Coach and point guard became estranged at midseason when, after a frustrating loss, Strickland said he no longer wanted to play for Carlesimo. The Blazers did not shop Strickland heavily this summer but did listen to offers. Strickland has since told friends that, although he and Carlesimo will never mesh, he's willing to be a professional. Carlesimo says the two have an understanding, but he admits they're not exactly cozy. "It was just a thing that snowballed and we're still dealing with it," Carlesimo says. "I hope not for the whole year, but we're still dealing with it." Prognosis: Fair.

Patrick Ewing-Charles Smith. Ewing was a vocal critic of the players' union and especially its leaders, who included Knicks teammate Smith, the union vice president. After the union won the election and ratified the new labor contract, Ewing said union executive director Simon Gourdine "ought to be fired" but did not wish any such ill will on Smith. Ifs a good thing, too, because Smith has moved from forward to Ewing's new backup. Prognosis: Excellent.

Around the league

When the Nets signed Vern Fleming, it signaled a milestone. Fleming had spent his entire 11-year career with the Pacers and was fifth among active players in games played for one team, at 816 games. The top five, entering this season, are the Jazz's John Stockton (898 games), Jerome Kersey, formerly with the Trailblazers (831), the Rockets' Hakeem Olajuwon (828) and the Jazz's Karl Malone (816). ... Knicks center Patrick Ewing responded "not really" when asked if the thought of being a point-center in Coach Don Nelson's scheme appealed to him. "I'm a center," Ewing says. "We're not going to go back into that again, are we? Remember when they tried to make me a power forward?" Hubie Brown used Ewing at power forward with Bill Cartwright at center. When Ewing howled, the experiment ended, and not long thereafter, so did Brown's tenure with the Knicks. ... When the Spurs opened practice, Coach Bob Hill noticed a change. "Everyone was on the bus, everyone was at the meeting on time, everyone was cooperative," he says. Suffice to say, this team will not miss Dennis Rodman. "This year, we've got guys who want to be part of the team," David Robinson says. "Being a team means being on time, being part of what everyone else is doing. It was a zoo last year. We're a basketball team again.' ... Pistons forward Grant Hill may play some point guard this season.