Letters

In your article on Garnett's joining Ray Allen and Paul Pierce on the Celtics, you pointed out that no team with three players averaging 20 points each has ever won an NBA title, but three such teams did make it to the NBA Finals. Here's a closer call in my book: the 1982-83 Sixers, who won an NBA title with Moses Malone averaging 24.5 points, Julius Erving averaging 21.4 points and Andrew Toney averaging 19.7 points-missing your benchmark by a mere .3 of a point.

Jeff Hawkins, Proctor, Vt.

Montana State

Let me assure your national audience that "many in Bozeman" do not share resident Ashley Kroon's xenophobic message expressed in George Dohrmann's story about out-of-state athletes who have committed crimes since coming to Montana State (Trouble in Paradise, Aug. 13). Though the crimes and the graduation rates among MSU's athletes are deplorable, these kinds of problems are shared by many athletic departments (rural or otherwise) throughout the nation. I hope that we can keep MSU's problems from degrading solely into a matter of race, and use this story as a wake-up call to restore accountability in college athletics.

Daniel Muth, Bozeman, Mont.

To clarify my views: The recent rash of crime in Bozeman linked to MSU athletes is not a problem of race. This is about how crime has increased as a result of recruitment practices. I never said that Bozeman would be better off without black, urban athletes. I said Bozeman would be better off without criminals with prior histories who came to MSU on full-ride scholarships.

Ashley N. Kroon, Bozeman, Mont.

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