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NBA Finals Notbook
Rodman doesn't want to go back to Utah
Posted: Wednesday June 10, 1998 09:21 PM
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Rodman was fined $50,000 for his derogatory comments about Mormons during the NBA Finals last year (Matthew Stockman/Allsport) |
CHICAGO (AP) -- Leave it to Dennis Rodman
to worry about his social life should the NBA Finals return to Utah.
"I don't want to go back," Rodman said.
"My life just goes to complete hell when I go to Utah. That means I have
to revert to going back to Las Vegas or going somewhere to get some
excitement, to keep my mind rolling."
After the Bulls lost Game 1, Rodman hopped on a plane and went to Las
Vegas for an early morning of gambling. This week he skipped practice and
ended up in Detroit at a wrestling show.
The Worm does get around.
"We need to concentrate and not fly there," Rodman said of Utah. Last
year, he was fined $50,000 for his derogatory comments about Mormons during
the NBA Finals.
Bulls coach Phil Jackson doesn't want to go back, either. But for more
logical reasons.
"I'm a Westerner and I happen to love the West and I would love to be out
there. What do they call them, the Wasatch Mountains?" Jackson asked.
"The prospect of going back and playing in front of those fans in the
Delta Center is not what we want to do. It's tough to win in there and what
we want to do is eliminate the possibility of making it harder on
ourselves." Too late
Steve Kerr,
like most of his Bulls teammates, says he's not bothered by Dennis Rodman's
work habits, which include being late and skipping practices.
No one is going to change Rodman.
"We're not in junior high and we're not trying to teach him life's
lessons," Kerr said.
"What is he 37? It's a little late to be learning life's lessons."
Hands down
John
Stockton, the NBA career leader in assists and steals, was asked how
important it is to have big hands.
"It is basketball, it isn't soccer," Stockton said. "It plays a larger
role in this game than it does in soccer. Karl [Malone] has great hands, no
question about it." Ready to party
The city of Chicago has already scheduled its championship rally should
the Bulls win their sixth title.
Win the next two games and the Bulls would appear at downtown Grant Park
on Monday. If the Bulls clinch in Sunday's sixth game, the rally would be
Tuesday. If it goes seven and the Bulls win, the rally is set for Friday,
June 19. Open your wallet
Ticket brokers say prices for Wednesday night's Game 4 were ranging from
$350 to $550 for cheap seats to $9,000 for courtside. Pushing the prices up
is the possibility Michael Jordan
is playing his final games in Chicago.
That's why seats are projected to cost even more for Friday's Game 5.
Daddy's little girl
Bulls reserve Jud Buechler and
his wife, Lindsey, are the proud parents of another girl.
Brynn Christy was born Tuesday, weighing in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Mother
and daughter are doing fine, Buechler said.
"She feels good. It was the limbo. The limbo started the process. It
started the whole thing off," Buechler said. Lindsey Buechler was shown on
the United Center's oversized scoreboard screen doing the fan limbo during
Game 3 on Sunday night.
Buechler skipped practice Tuesday to be with his wife, the second Bulls
player to miss practice this week. Dennis Rodman was fined $10,000 by the
NBA for blowing off Monday's mandatory media session. He also skipped the
team's film session. Rodman was later seen at a pro wrestling event in
Detroit.
"Joe Kleine has been trying to get me fined all day," Buechler said.
"Having a baby, wrestling. They're about the same."
Buechler and his wife have another daughter, Riley Sue.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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