Lockout Limbo: The Star
by Jackie MacMullan and Phil Taylor
Posted: Wed July 14, 1998
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Gugliotta must wait for the big
bucks.
(V.J. Lovero)
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 For six years Tom Gugliotta played where he was told to play,
whether he liked it or not. In 1992 he was drafted by a lousy
team, the Washington Bullets. In his third season he had to pack
up at a moment's notice and move twice in three months be cause
of trades that sent him first to the Golden State Warriors and
then to the Minnesota Timberwolves, both of which also were
horrible clubs when he joined them. Sure, the paycheck (a
reported $5.5 million last season) was no small consolation, as
Gugliotta is the first to admit. Still, he waited a long time
for this summer, for free agency, for the chance to choose
instead of being chosen. Now all he can do is wait some more.
Gugliotta, 28, is a 6'10" All-Star forward who averaged 20.1
points for Minnesota last year and has fully recovered from the
bone spurs in his right ankle that forced him to miss the final
41 games of last season. His youth, productivity and
professionalism make him arguably the most attractive forward on
the free-agent market. The Detroit Pistons and the Houston
Rockets are expected to be among Minnesota's strongest
competitors for his services, and when the lockout ends, more
teams will no doubt come calling. But for now, Gugliotta's phone
might as well be disconnected.
"It's a little bit frustrating, not knowing when it's all going
to happen," he says. "I want to be excited about being a free
agent, because I know there's a lot of interest and I'm going to
have some options. But you have to put the excitement on hold.
You just have to put everything on hold."
It could have been a breakthrough summer for Gugliotta, not just
because of the riches that await him on the free-agent market
but also because he was a member of the team of NBA stars that
almost certainly would have won a gold medal at the World
Championships in Athens in August. In June, when the lockout was
imminent, every player chosen for the team elected not to
compete. "It's a big disappointment for all the players,"
Gugliotta says. "We had three or four conference calls to talk
about it and maybe figure out a way to make it work. But in the
end we all agreed that it wasn't right to represent the league
and the owners when they were locking us out."
Gugliotta fills his days at his off-season home in Boulder,
Colo., discovering the wonders of his 16-month-old daughter,
Greer, and occasionally trying to keep up with his wife, Nikki,
a competitive cyclist, on bike rides through the mountains. He's
also trying to whittle down his 14 handicap on the golf course,
but he's hoping the owners and the union settle matters before
he can get down to scratch. Every now and then he calls his
Atlanta-based agent, Richard Howell, just to keep in touch.
"What do we talk about?" Gugliotta says. "Not much, really." You
work for six years to get to the place you've dreamed of, and
once you reach the front door—wouldn't you know it?—you're
locked out.
Issue date: July 20, 1998
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