http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1083490632105300.xml NBA isn't doing Hornets any favors Sunday, May 02, 2004 Jimmy Smith If the NBA was really concerned about the attendance at Hornets games this season, it would have stepped into the scheduling process for today's Game 6 against the Miami Heat and pressured the networks into a nighttime tip off. The league has done New Orleans absolutely no favors in starting the game at noon, given the entertainment competition the game will face. It makes you wonder if the NBA really wants the franchise to succeed in the Crescent City, or whether it's punishing George Shinn for moving to a town that embraced his team and its needs for a modern, state-of-the-art arena, which the city of Charlotte, N.C., refused to build for Shinn, but will erect for Bob Johnson, owner of the city's new expansion team. In a story in The San Antonio Express-News earlier this week, it was speculated that the Lakers might have pushed for a 7 p.m. start time for their deciding game against the Houston Rockets in Los Angeles so that it would be easier for Kobe Bryant to make it back to Los Angeles from a Colorado courtroom appearance earlier that afternoon. A 7 p.m. local time start meant a 10 p.m. East Coast beginning. The Lakers-Rockets game was the only one being contested that night. The story reported that someone at the league office said the home team had some input into the start-time scenarios, and that the Lakers wanted the 7 p.m. start because of Los Angles traffic. Certainly the Hornets would have liked a night-time game today instead of having to compete against Jazzfest -- for the second weekend in a row -- and the HP Classic of New Orleans at English Turn Golf & Country Club. Had the NBA helped out, locals could have had their choice of afternoon events, then made it to the New Orleans Arena for Game 6. The league also could have cajoled TNT into broadcasting the game tonight, following what's sure to be a solid lead-in from ABC's afternoon showing of the first game of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. "It drops where it drops," Commissioner David Stern said of the scheduling Friday night in Miami. "There are always issues. We're comfortable." The NBA, however, knows that the battle for the entertainment dollar in a culturally diverse city such as New Orleans is extreme, and today will be no exception. It seems as though the NBA could have done something to see that today's game was instead tonight's. WHO'S HE KIDDING? Media reports that Hornets co-owner Ray Wooldridge wanted Coach Tim Floyd fired before the start of the recent five-game West-Coast trip are laughable. You might remember the cloutless Wooldridge wanted Coach Paul Silas fired last season during the All-Star break when the Hornets were two games above .500, to be replaced by Wooldridge's Atlanta neighbor, Mike Fratello. That's not to say a change ultimately won't be made, regardless of the outcome of this first-round series. Suffice to say, however, Wooldridge won't be the one manipulating the strings. NOT-SO DREAM TEAM? Add Minnesota's Kevin Garnett to the growing list of NBA superstars who are apparently pulling out of the Summer Olympic Games for a variety of reasons. ESPN.com reports this week that Garnett, citing family concerns, won't accept an invitation from USA Basketball to compete for his country in Athens, Greece, this summer. Garnett is engaged and plans to marry in the offseason. The U.S. team will begin training camp July 26 in Jacksonville, Fla., then play exhibitions throughout Europe before the Games begin Aug. 13. They end Aug. 29. Garnett will join Toronto's Vince Carter (wedding) and Seattle's Ray Allen (birth of a child) as pull-outs. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who was extended a late invitation to the Games, hasn't decided whether he'll accept. His teammate, Karl Malone, is pondering withdrawal because of the knee injury he suffered during the season. WHERE NEXT? The agent for Detroit forward Rasheed Wallace, a free agent July 1, tells The New York Daily News his client wouldn't rule out playing for the Knicks. "But it has been a welcome change for him," agent William Strickland said of Detroit. "He's very happy there." The Knicks could offer Wallace the mid-level exception of $5 million per season, while the Pistons could offer a contract of $15 million per season. "I've been very straightforward with him," Strickland said, "and he knows every one of his options. But right now, it's too premature to discuss free agency." ANOTHER MOVE: Utah center Greg Ostertag tells The Deseret News he's prepared to possibly switch teams this offseason. The native of Texas said he'd "love" to play in Dallas, close to his offseason home in Duncanville, Texas. Ostertag also is said to be considering returning for a 10th season in Utah. SURGERY SET: Marcus Fizer might have been a free-agent commodity this summer, but it appears that he is headed toward offseason knee surgery, the Chicago Sun-Times reported this week. Fizer will travel to Birmingham, Ala., to see orthopedist Dr. James Andrews after he reinjured the knee in the Bulls' season-finale April 14. "It's disappointing," said Fizer's agent, Henry Thomas, "but he's doing good, and he's anxious to get done whatever has to get done, so he can start rehabbing before reporting to somebody's training camp." Fizer will be an unrestricted free agent July 1. . . . . . . . Jimmy Smith can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3814. --

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