Trouble Spots

When a coach talks about a tough road trip, he's not always thinking about the vicissitudes of visiting hostile arenas. Sometimes the players' after-hours schedule drains more energy than the games do. Here are some of the nightspots in which coaches worry that their players might have too much fun.

MAGIC CITY, Atlanta. A little club on the south side that specializes in nude dancers and has been called the Hawks' secret weapon. When an elite team loses in Atlanta, it's often whispered that "the players must have been to Magic City." The last time one Eastern Conference team visited Atlanta, the coach told his guys, "I know you guys are going to want to go to Magic City, but try to get your rest, too."

SCORES, New York. A topless dance club on Manhattan's East Side particularly popular among athletes and entertainers. It would probably take less time to list the players who haven't been there than the ones who have. A visit by an athlete often finds its way into the New York tabloids the next day, as Kenny Anderson (then of the Nets) discovered in 1994, when he missed a morning practice after being spotted at Scores the previous night.

THE FLATS, Cleveland. A section of the city known for its nightspots, including The Basement, where Dream Team III members Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller were when Barkley got into a scuffle with a fan in July 1996. (The fan later sued Barkley unsuccessfully.)

THE MEN'S CLUB, Houston. Another upscale topless establishment, basically the Southwest version of Scores. "I once had a player tell me the guys on the team were going to hold a postgame team meeting at TMC," says an Eastern Conference coach. "I said, 'Having postgame meetings there is fine. It's the pregame meetings I'm worried about.'"

—Phil Taylor