Letters

NBA Preview
Rick Telander's straight-forward story about Dennis Rodman (Demolition Man, Nov. 8) was terrific. To know Dennis, as Detroit did for seven years, is to love Dennis. It's just too bad that some people cannot understand what emotions can do to a person. Thank you for portraying Dennis as you did.
MARY-ELLEN BENNETT
Bay City, Mich.

If Dennis Rodman thinks he would feel more normal without a lot of money, then I volunteer to be a little more abnormal.

I have enclosed my address for the next time that he feels like dropping $35,000. Please pass it along to the Worm. I have been feeling a little too normal lately.
JOHN R. KNAUF
Denver

Has anyone ever considered the idea that Rodman is just plain nuts?
BRUCE A. BERGQUIST
Scottsdale, Ariz.

In Phil Taylor's article :24 Questions, No. 12 upset me greatly. You asked who, other than Chris Webber, Shawn Bradley and Anfernee Hardaway, might gain Rookie of the Year honors. You mentioned Isaiah Rider and, as a sleeper, Lindsey Hunter. Please! Ever heard of a man named Jamal Mashburn? Mashburn has the skills and heart to become a superstar. The Monster Mash is already flourishing in Dallas.
BRAD ROWE
College Station, Texas

I really enjoyed your Nov. 8 POINT AFTER by Kevin McHale. Besides being a great player, he is a class individual, something of a rarity in sports these days. Thanks for the memories, Kevin. You will not be forgotten.
JAMES W. LYNES JR.
Plainfield, Iowa

Although it's nice that Kevin McHale, now retired after 13 magnificent seasons, has more time for his children and for pheasant hunting, he already sounds more like the bitter old man he claims he will never become than the contented retiree he claims to be. His attempts to degrade Michael Jordan and today's new breed of superstars convey the petty jealousies of a man who spent a career playing second fiddle on his own team. Jordan, at the time of his retirement, was the best player in the NBA and a member of the best team in the NBA. His departure affects the whole league, not just the Chicago Bulls.

Yes, Kevin, some people do believe Jordan's Bulls could have beaten Bird's Celtics and Magic's Lakers. But while the greatest team and player of this era will always be a matter of some conjecture, shouldn't the fact that Jordan led his supposedly inferior team to three consecutive NBA titles—a feat that neither Bird nor Magic accomplished—say something about his place among the game's greats?
BRAD MCDERMOTT
St. Paul

To the Reader
Julia M. Weaver of Hampton, Va., has sued SPORTS ILLUSTRATED over a statement that appeared in our Oct. 25, 1993, story Southern Discomfort on the jail sentence given to Allen Iverson, a Hampton star athlete, after his conviction on charges arising out of a brawl at a Hampton bowling alley. The part of our story Weaver complains about said:

The woman at the counter sent them to the end of the alley, to a lane against the wall. To Michael Simmons, the tight end who has been a pal of Iverson's since grade school, that always seemed to happen. You boys, over there. By the time they got their shoes and balls, it was 10:30. The place was rocking.