ANYONE WHO REMEMBERS Abdul-Jabbar, Hazzard, Bibby and the other greats of UCLA's bygone years, has to be feeling a little older these days. That's because the famous Bruins now have children playing college basketball.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's son, known by the same name, is a forward for Valparaiso University in Indiana. (UCLA's football team had a Karim Abdul-Jabbar this year - no relation - which makes it three KAJ's and counting.) Rasheed Hazzard, son of Walt Hazzard, plays for George Washington. Mike Bibby, one of the top guard prospects in the country, recently announced he will sign with Arizona next season. He's the son of USC assistant coach and former Bruin Henry Bibby.The list continues: UCLA forward Kris Johnson, son of Marques Johnson; Adam Walton, a redshirt freshman at LSU and son of Bill Walton; Bakir Allen, a junior guard at UCSB and son of Lucius Allen. Then there's Alisha Nater, a freshman center for UCSB and daughter of Swen Nater.
All of which tends to point out that though hard work can make a great basketball player, having the right genes is the biggest factor.
RIPPLING THE (INTER) NET: NBA and computer fanatics can now get their daily fix. The NBA has joined the Internet's World Wide Web at the site NBA.com.
News, scores, statistics, interactive activities and official home pages for all teams are provided on a 24-hour direct link to the NBA from anywhere in the world. Fans will even be able to cast their All-Star votes on the Net.
To access the NBA's site, type http://www.nba.com.
A LITTLE OFF THE TOP: Karl Malone has his sports apparel store. Michael Jordan his restaurant. But Charlotte's Larry Johnson has something more unusual. He has opened a hair salon in that city.
Hoop magazine reports that Johnson always liked being at the barber's. "You have good fun, clean fun (there)," said Johnson. "Growing up, my mom would say, `Where are you going?' When I said the barber shop, she'd always say, `OK.' " Johnson has a staff of 13, which also does shoe shining and repairs, nail manicuring and, of course, the selling of LJ souvenirs.
NO BIGGIE: Count Ute sophomore Julie Krommenhoek among the star college athletes who doesn't consider herself anything special.
Krommenhoek, last year's WAC Freshman of the Year, was asked out last summer by someone who didn't know she was a star basketball player. When her date told his roommate, the roommate said, "Do you know who you asked out?" The date then phoned Krommenhoek to apologize for not knowing she was, you know, a star.
"It was funny to me," she said. "I don't expect people to know who I am. I don't just want to be known as a basketball player. I want to be known for things other than being a 3-point shooter."
BLASTS FROM THE PAST: Showing up on opening day CBA rosters were a number of players with Jazz connections. Among them was Justus Thigpen, who made it to the final cut with the 1993-94 Jazz during training camp, playing for the Connecuticut Pride. On the Sioux Falls Skyforce roster was ex-Jazz forward Henry James. Meanwhile, Howard Eisley, who was just signed by the Jazz to replace the injured Jamie Watson, was on the Rockford Lightning roster.
Also on the Lightning was center Chad Gallagher, who stuck with the Jazz for few days during the 1993-94 season. Gallagher probably ruined his chances of staying longer when he skipped an optional practice while on a 10-day contract. Though more established players such as John Crotty and David Benoit showed up to work out, Gallagher was nowhere to be seen.
When Gallagher's 10-day contract expired, so did he.
SWAN SHAWN: Columnists in Philadelphia roundly panned Shawn Bradley's two-year stay with the Sixers, saying he never developed into the star the team had hoped. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin observed, "There is no 12-step program to cure gutlessness."
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Timothy Dwyer considered the Bradley-for-Derrick Coleman trade was a standoff. "Because of Bradley's mega-salary," he wrote, "(the Sixers) were limited in who they would get. So they traded expensive headaches."
QUOTEFILE: Charles Barkley on the Suns' slow start: "We can't score and we can't stop anyone else from scoring. Those are the two little things stopping us from being the best team in the league."