In quest of the championship ring he craves, Patrick Ewing, who will become a free agent after next season, will leave the New York Knicks to become the big man in the middle for the Bulls.
There. I just started a rumor, and I feel better already.
Of course, it has no basis, because I have no idea what Ewing wants to do. But it sounds every bit as plausible as Michael Jordan, who will become a free agent after this season, leaving the Bulls for New York.
The only problem with my rumor is when you consider the unreliable source–me. But I can’t think of a better way to reduce the local panic about Jordan’s supposedly imminent departure than to ask that you do the same.
Consider the source. Where did all these rumors start about Jordan going to New York? Naturally, in New York, the city that never sweeps.
Peter Vecsey got the ball rolling. He writes for a newspaper there and he also provides scoops on NBC and unless I’m seeing things, he’s also acquired some instant hair lately so as to become more cosmetically correct for his TV studio duties.
Being forehead-challenged myself, I can understand all that. I can understand, too, why Vecsey and the rest of the New York media would like the idea of Jordan finishing his career there. It’s for the same reason that Chicago wants Jordan to stay with the Bulls, because he’s the best basketball player ever, and maybe the most genial too.
No harm, no foul. Just consider the source. There is this mind-set in New York that for any athlete’s greatness to be validated, he or she has to play in New York for New York. Before Wayne Gretzky was traded from Los Angeles to St. Louis, Peter’s brother George, a wonderful writer for the New York Times, suggested that New York “deserved” Gretzky.
Now, that might be true too. Then again, to us farmers out here in the boondocks, riding around from the silo to the general store in our tractors, there’s the flip side. Maybe New York isn’t quite the happening sports place it used to be or thinks it still is. Maybe New Yorkers can’t come to grips with the fact that the best baseball team plays in Atlanta and the best football team plays in Dallas.
Granted, provincialism in New York isn’t confined to sports. Why, just the other day, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani proclaimed that New York City is the “capital of the world.” But New York City isn’t even the capital of New York. Albany is.
Whatever. Jerry Reinsdorf can probably figure this out too. He’s the chairman of the Bulls. He’s also a recovering New Yorker. He still hasn’t forgiven the Dodgers for leaving Brooklyn, and it’s not likely he’ll want to be remembered as the owner who let Jordan leave Chicago.
That’s why the smart money in this taffy pull would be bet on Reinsdorf, who has plenty of both, smarts and money. He might not pay until he absolutely has to, as is the wont of the best dealmakers, but he’ll pay if it’s good business. He didn’t raise ticket prices because he wants to be popular. He wants to keep Jordan.
Besides, given the parameters of the NBA salary cap, the Bulls can pay more to retain Jordan than any other franchise can pay to steal him. That’s no small detail, but why let it interfere with a nice juicy rumor?
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Of course, anything can happen in sports nowadays, even my rumor. It’s certainly a more convenient rumor. New York wants Jordan, Phil Jackson, perhaps Dennis Rodman and his billboard too. Throw in the statue and the United Center.
But it would be a lot easier for Ewing just to come here to win. The Knicks aren’t going anywhere, so why should Jordan? That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. We’ll call Peter Vecsey’s fluff on this one.
I don’t want to know where he’s getting his information, because that’s none of my business. But I sure would like to know where he’s getting his hair.