Letters

The bottom line is everything in America cannot have a racial overtone.
DOC WHITE, Eatonville, Fla.

Latrell Sprewell
commend NBA commissioner David Stern for suspending Golden State Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell—for saying enough is enough (Center of the Storm, Dec. 15). The many good guys among the league's players are being maligned because of the actions of a few bad apples.
CATHY COURTAD, Bucyrus, Ohio

I am tired of pampered athletes thinking they can do what they want and then whining and crying when they get in trouble for doing it. Part of the problem is a culture that sets them on a pedestal from the time they show promise in high school. When they reach the pros, they begin to believe that they are above the rest of us.
DENNIS MILLER, Ozark, Mo.

I find it amazing that P.J. Carlesimo didn't attack Sprewell. The respect given to coaches in pro sports is diminishing, and only hefty punishments by the leagues can restore that respect. Well done, Mr. Stern.
GREG LANGLEY, Bryantown, Md.

Sprewell's agent says that the suspension handed down by the NBA was too harsh, that if Sprewell were in any other job, he would be allowed to seek further employment. I agree. Sprewell would be allowed to seek further employment right after he got out of jail for assault.
CHAD WHITEAKER, Jackson, Miss.

Sprewell's comment that he never wanted to be famous brought to mind Charles Barkley's disclaimer that he isn't a role model. Like it or not, when an ' athlete signs on the dotted line, he or I she is asking for fame and to become a role model. It is up to that individual to decide what kind of role model he or she will be. Fame goes with the territory, Latrell, but infamy doesn't have to.
MARY ANN RAY, Temple, Texas

You should do a follow-up article, this time centered around P.J. Carlesimo and his attitude toward the players he coaches. It's relevant to point out that Sprewell isn't the only player to feud with Carlesimo. There are always two participants in a dispute. And two sides to every story.
DARRYL L. LYNCH, San Leandro, Calif

Phil Taylor's article on the race problems in the NBA {The Race Card, Dec. 15) was a gratuitous attempt to inject race into the foreground, when, in fact, the Sprewell incident was not racial.
MICHAEL B. TITOWSKY, New York City

Jesse Jackson's POINT AFTER (Dec. 22) said what needed to be said about Sprewell's attack on Carlesimo, that it was a man assaulting another man. It deserved punishment, and a fair one was handed down. There is no race issue, simply a moral issue. Jackson is right: Until we stop treating athletes as people above the law, we will have to put up with this problem.
CHRIS TOLSDORF, West Chester, Pa.

Fresh Frosh
Among the freshmen making a mark in college basketball this season (Sudden Impact, Dec. 15), you omitted Marcus Moody at Memphis, who, through Jan. 8, is second on the Tigers in scoring (12.6 points a game) and hit the game-winning shot against Oklahoma to cap off a 39-point performance on Dec. 13.
RUSTY SHAPPLEY, Durham, N.C.