Asked what he'd do this offseason to improve the Lakers, Chucky Atkins said, "I ain't the GM of this team. Kobe's the GM of this team. Ask Kobe."
A day later Atkins vehemently accused two reporters who used the same quote of taking his comments out of context. "The beat writers around here . . . want to use myself and Caron Butler and Lamar Odom to be a scapegoat for what they want to say about Kobe Bryant," Atkins said. "Guys have been taking shots at Kobe Bryant all year. He hasn't broken, and he ain't going to be broken."
Asked if former Heat teammates Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, now with the Lakers, have ever mentioned in phone calls that they're frustrated playing with the ball-hogging Bryant, Dwyane Wade laughed and said, "It may have come up."
Laker management may not be excited that interim coach Frank Hamblen says making the playoffs seems unrealistic. "This franchise has had a lot of success for a long time, and they're redoing it," he said. "Sometimes you have to pay the piper, and we're going to have to pay the piper for a while."
Atkins thinks if Rudy Tomjanovich had remained as coach instead of turning the reins over to Hamblen, "We'd be a playoff team, without question."
After Pacers' imminent retiree Reggie Miller scored 39 against the Lakers, Hamblen said, "When you can score your age in this league, it's not time to quit."
Ex-King Chris Webber got a standing ovation from fans when he made his first visit to Sacramento since the trade, causing one NBA scout to say, "I wonder if they're applauding that he's gone."
Webber totaled 20 points and 10 rebounds in that game, but two of the guys he was traded for, Brian Skinner and Kenny Thomas, combined for 33 points and 34 rebounds.
Asked which of the several coaches he's played for he liked best, Thomas said, "I liked Larry Brown the best because he helped me develop my game the most . . . He made you play defense. Chris Ford let me play, too. (Jim) O'Brien, no comment."
An NBA executive offered this assessment of the Webber-to-Philly deal: "Do I think it will work eventually? If he's not really hurt, yeah. But $60 million, you can't make that kind of mistake. If his knee's OK, it's a good trade. If it isn't, it's a horror show."
Knicks GM Isiah Thomas wants to add experience, quickness and ball handling to his backcourt, and Damon Stoudamire says he can do that. The Blazer guard will listen to all offers, however. "I'm just looking forward to free agency," he said. "I haven't been free for a long time."
Danny Fortson has been grumpy in Seattle but says he's not the problem. "Everything was working so well and now it's not," he said. "It's not me. Everything I'm doing now, I've always done."
"I don't know what Danny's issues are," said Sonics' Ray Allen. "He seems as if he's been angry the last couple of days, and . . . there's no reason to be angry when we're having the kind of season that we're having."
Allen, though, got a little peeved (again) at the tactics of Spurs' pest Bruce Bowen. "He doesn't play basketball," Allen said. "They put him out there to throw punches and throw elbows."
Portland's Shareef Abdur-Rahim is tired of losing. "I'm frustrated, and I'm probably at my end with it," he said. "My tolerance level is probably at its low point. At this point in my career, I really want to feel like I can win or have a chance to win for the next six, seven or eight years."
Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy doesn't want to see any more stories about him and his brother, Miami coach Stan Van Gundy. "If I see one more story about us I'm going to puke," he said. "Who cares? . . . It's not a novelty anymore. You guys just won't let it go."
What would Yao Ming most like to learn from Shaquille O'Neal? "What I really want to know is when he's going to retire."
O'Neal got a laugh by putting a tube of Boudreaux's Butt Paste — an actual product — in Alonzo Mourning's locker. "Hey, 'Zo, I can get you this commercial," O'Neal said. " 'I'm Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat. I . . . use this butt paste every day. It's what makes me strong.' "
Knicks' Tim Thomas, after victory over Boston and smack-talking Paul Pierce: "It's not even MTV, and he got punk'd."
Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale, on superstitions: "I'm real superstitious. If you go out and outwork the other team, you have a good chance of beating them."
Ex-player Charles Oakley on why Vince Carter is more productive in New Jersey: "He knows Jason Kidd will put his foot up his (rear) if he doesn't play like he is capable."
Suns owner Robert Sarver, who earlier this season made "chicken" gestures at Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, had three Colorado Rockies players ejected from the arena in Phoenix after arguing with them. Another Colorado player who wasn't ejected, Matt Holliday, said Sarver was at fault. "He was the one who cursed twice and was saying, 'This is my house and I can have you kicked out,' " Holliday said.
When Knicks' Jamal Crawford admitted being confused about whether to pass or shoot in given situations, teammate Stephon Marbury advised, "When in doubt, shoot."
Atlanta's Dan Dickau is the latest free-agent-to-be to say he'd be interested in playing with LeBron James. "Of course I would," he said. "They're an up-and-coming team and they have the best young player in the league."
Nets' GM Rod Thorn says coach Lawrence Frank isn't on the hot seat. "The players believe in him," Thorn said. "He's done a heckuva job."