Karl Has Press Behind Him, Ready to Push Him Off a Cliff

Coach George Karl’s future may be uncertain with Seattle SuperSonic management after Thursday’s playoff ouster by the Lakers, but the city’s newspaper columnists were swift and decisive in their verdict after the team’s second consecutive first-round exit.

Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley: “The loss should cost Karl his job. How can the Sonics move into their new arena with the same old coach and the same old festering problems? They should be ashamed. . . . The Sonics have collapsed and this time George Karl won’t be able to put them back together again.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Art Thiel was even more succinct, responding to Shawn Kemp’s emphatic statement on Wednesday that “there’s no question who’s the better team. No question.” To which Thiel said, “Yes, there is. Again.” He went on to say that “the notion of team is elusive and ephemeral for these players and Karl.”

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Trivia time: What was all-time home run leader Hank Aaron’s best season total?

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Wheels and fortune: Mike Tyson is giving new meaning to the term expensive wheels .

Tyson, the former heavyweight champion released from prison in March after serving three years for rape, bought four of the new $319,000 Bentley Azure convertibles recently in Las Vegas.

Tyson reportedly had asked to buy two of the cars before settling on four.

“We had a reception here that Friday night and Mr. Tyson and his entourage decided to stop in and buy some really beautiful new cars,” says Jim Chaisson of Chaisson Motor Cars.

Rolls-Royce rolled out the new Bentley Azure convertible April 16. Only 30 will be sold in the United States, and all of them have been bought.

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A class act: Washington Bullet rookie forward Juwan Howard recently scored a slam dunk off the court.

Howard, who bypassed his senior year at Michigan to join the NBA, where he averaged 17 points and 8.3 rebounds this season, graduated with his class last week with a degree in radio-television communication by completing correspondence and independent-study courses while playing his rookie season.

Howard, fulfilling a promise to his late grandmother by becoming the first in his family with a college degree, also said he hopes “it sends the message to kids that they need education to get to the next level.”

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The new math: Phoenix Sun guard Kevin Johnson has his own educational approach by sometimes refusing to give kids’ autographs unless they answer a math problem first.

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Trivia answer: Aaron hit 47 homers in 1971.

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Quotebook: Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Sun: “Of course, Mike Tyson was bad as a commentator on Showtime. You were expecting maybe Sir Laurence Olivier?”