Larry Bird said last week that expansion has diluted the NBA, and he used the Utah Jazz as an example.
"Just look at how things are now," the former Celtic great said. "The team we played last night (the Jazz) had two all-stars. Their other players are good, but they're not all-stars. And they're going to win 55 or 60 games. They have a good team, but the league is a little watered-down."When it was mentioned that the NBA is considering further expansion, possibly to Mexico City, Bird said, "Then if you have one great player and four mediocre players, you might be able to make it to the finals."
Asked what the second units of the great Celtic and Laker teams of the mid-'80s might do now, Bird said, "Our second team with (Bill) Walton could win 50 games. Look at who we had - Scotty Wedman, Walton, Jerry Sichting, Rick Carlisle. If they could stay healthy, they'd win 50 games."
Ex-Jazzman Tom Chambers is playing for Maccabi of Tel Aviv in Israel this season, where he got a first-hand view of Israelis' reaction to the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.
"I was in the supermarket with a friend," he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "All of a sudden this guy comes over the public-address system. His voice is rambling and I can't understand anything. Everybody just stood there in shock. I asked my friend, "What's he saying? What's he saying?" He said, "The prime minister has been assassinated."
Chambers went to the square where the murder took place. The team's practice was canceled for a few days, and when it resumed the mood was extremely somber. One guy just stopped playing. He said to the coach, "My heart hurts too much. I can't do it." So they sent him home.
Jeff Hornacek was drafted by the Suns in 1986 and played there six seasons before being traded to Philly in 1992 in the deal for Charles Barkley. Hornacek has maintained a home in Phoenix and lived there in the offseason, but that's going to change now.
"It (Phoenix) has gotten too big and the traffic is too bad," he said after the game against the Suns. "It took me about 45 minutes to drive to the game tonight. We like Salt Lake City. It's like Phoenix used to be when I first moved here. We like a little smaller town, so we're going to make our home there."
Felton Spencer says he's experienced no problems from his rebuilt Achilles tendon, but hasn't caught up mentally yet. "A lot of the mistakes I make out on the floor are just mental things," he said after a four-minute outing against the Suns. "It's just going to take time. Everybody tells me to be patient, but I don't like the fact it's going to take time."
There's a whole team's worth of former Jazzmen playing in European leagues this season. Thurl Bailey is playing for Polti Cantu in the Italian A2 League, averaging 20.6 points and almost 11 rebounds a game. Mike Brown is also in Italy, playing for Teamsystem Bologna, averaging 12 points a game.
Ex-Jazzmen in the Spanish League: Corey Crowder, C.B.Murcia, 14.5 ppg; Jim Les, Baloncesto Salamanca, 12.7 ppg, seven assists; Dan O'Sullivan, Taugres, 8.1 ppg; Darren Morningstar, TDK Manresa, 8.5 ppg.
And in the French League: Larry Krystkowiak, Levallois, 11 ppg; Stephen Howard, Paris, 20 ppg, 9.5 rpg; and Delaney Rudd, Villeurbanne, 18.3 ppg, 9 assists.
By the way, the leading scorer in the French League is former Ogden prep star Tanoka Beard. He's averaging 27 points, 15 rebounds a game.
SHORT STUFF: Karl Malone passed up Hal Greer on the all-time NBA scoring list during Monday's victory over the Suns. With 187 more points, which the Mailman should get in another eight games or so, he'll pass Bird.
Asked about his 11-rebound effort against the Suns, David Benoit said, "I wouldn't mind becoming David Rodman. I can't paint my bald head green or nothing like that, though. I'm still trying to keep my good-boy image up."
Adam Keefe needed five stitches to close up a gash in his face caused by an unknown assailant in the Suns game. That gives him a total, in three separate incidents this season, of 12 stitches - probably a league-high.
Who's hot: John Stockton, 24-of-35 shots (67 percent) in last three games. Who's not: Chris Morris, 16 of 43, 37.2 percent, four games; David Benoit, 5 of 16, 31.3, three games; Antoine Carr, 6 of 20, 30 percent, three games.