Power of Caring
  presented by CIGNA

Posted: Tue December 2, 1997 at 4:10 PM ET

Latrell Sprewell's mindless assault on head coach P.J. Carlesimo has unfairly left Golden State in an awful position as it tries to rid itself of Spree, who is now damaged goods on the trade market.

It was hard enough trying to deal Spree before this attack, how much value does he have now?

Sprewell has been at odds with P.J. since training camp, but this incident was unprovoked, according to eyewitnesses.

As the team went through a passing and shooting drill, P.J. shouted at Sprewell "put some more mustard on that pass!" Sprewell flipped out, the two then began arguing. P.J. then told Spree to leave practice, he refused, and the next thing anyone knew, Sprewell was choking Carlesimo. The red bruise around P.J.'s neck proves it.

Twenty minutes later, Spree came back to practice, and tried swinging on P.J., but the two were separated before any blows landed. To make matters even worse, Sprewell allegedly threatened to kill Carlesimo.

Coaching hot seats

The season is barely one month old and already two coaches -- Dallas' Jim Cleamons and Detroit's Doug Collins -- are in danger of losing their jobs.

The rumors have been swirling around Cleamons for quite a while as the Mavericks offense -- the second lowest in the league -- continues to struggle. Now it appears the Mavericks will replace Cleamons within the next week.

In Detroit, the end is also drawing near for Collins, whose combative personality has turned the players against him.

The Pistons are the lowest-scoring team in the league and struggling to win games. If Detroit continues to lose on this lengthy December homestand, I've been told Collins might not make it to Christmas.

Shaq back within 10 days

I had a conversation with Shaquille O'Neal's agent Leonard Armato Tuesday. He says reports that O'Neal might have surgery to repair his strained stomach muscles are inaccurate, and that the big fella could be back in action within the next 10 days.

While we're talking about the Lakers, the Chicago Bulls have been doing a lot of scouting in L.A. lately and it's not for advanced scouting, since the two don't play until a December 17 game on TBS.

So what are they doing? Maybe window-shopping.

The Bulls are eyeing Eddie Jones in case they decide to trade Scottie Pippen. Jerry Krause really wants Kobe Bryant, but Jerry Wes t has already let the world know Kobe's untouchable.