Williams Getting a Knee-Jerk Reaction

Born to be wild (cont.): Free agents are recruited like royalty, flown around the country, greeted with limousines loaded with starlets (we’re using the Lakers’ 1995 pursuit of Horace Grant as a model), etc.

Then, there was Brian Williams’ tour.

Now on his second agent but still in search of his next team, Williams and his new representative, Dwight Manley, embarked last week on a trip to Toronto and Dallas, where the Raptors and Mavericks were wild for the big guy.

In Toronto, a Brian kind of town, Williams said he liked hockey and would fit right in.

In Dallas, things were so far along, Jim Jackson went to the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, convinced he was about to be traded.

Indeed, sources say, he was. Jackson was going to Cleveland, which was involved because the Cavaliers have room under the salary cap; Eric Montross and two No. 2 draft picks were going to the Clippers, and Williams to Dallas. Then the Mavericks asked for an MRI exam of Williams’ right knee. Someone--a disgruntled former business partner?--said he had undergone surgery in September in Tucson.

Perhaps Manley, who also represents Dennis Rodman, likes to live on the edge. Perhaps he was misled as to the severity of Williams’ problem.

Williams took the test. The Mavericks looked at the results and gagged. Already taking a pounding in the local press for trading Jason Kidd, they feared if they traded Jackson and Montross for a guy who limped into the news conference, they might be tarred and feathered.

The Clippers had heard about Tucson months ago, which was why they announced they were no longer pursuing Williams. Their four-year, $16.8-million offer came off the table and it isn’t expected to go back on.

How Williams hurt his knee is a mystery. He sat out the last 11 games last season because of tendinitis, but the Clippers insist there was nothing wrong structurally. They’re intrigued by reports that he took up a new hobby over the summer . . .

Sky diving.

Yes, the man who bicycled across the Utah desert, ran with the bulls at Pamplona and took flying lessons, might have discovered the ultimate rush of all. . . .

Jumping out of a plane with a parachute . . . as an NBA free agent . . . risking millions of dollars in earning power, as well as life and limb.

Manley says it was really “para-gliding or something like that, four or five years ago,” but concedes Williams won’t play this season. They have consulted a prominent Orange County orthopedist, Frank Drucker, who says Brian will be ready to go, in about eight weeks.

Manley says all medical records will be made available to interested teams, that Williams will play this summer so they can check him out.

“My understanding with Brian is the doctor in Tucson told him it would be a three-month recovery period,” Manley says. “It turned out, to do it right, it’ll take a little longer.

“We’ve reevaluated. Rather than have a two-team auction, we’ll have a 29-team auction July 1 [when the salary cap goes up]. That will open up all his options. Why rush it?

“Jerry Krause [general manager of the Chicago Bulls] has told me Brian will be the No. 1 free agent next summer.”

The bottom line is, Williams is still 6 feet 10 and, though he might be zanier than the average center (or the average circus clown), he’s also better than the average center. If he heals, he can still become a multimillionaire. In the meantime, we have a couple of suggestions.

If someone asks if you’d be interested for $35 million, as the Seattle SuperSonics did, say yes.

If you ride in airplanes, don’t jump out.

BLAZERMANIA, THE WAR YEARS

It was another stormy game in Portland, fights breaking out all over. Of course, the fights were all among Portland players, coaches and reporters.

The Trail Blazers had won five in a row and led the Miami Heat by 10 points in the third quarter. Teammates Cliff Robinson and Aaron McKie got a rebound but lost it out of bounds. Robinson started yelling at McKie. McKie yelled back.

So it went for three trips up and down the floor until Coach P.J. Carlesimo took Robinson out. Within earshot of the press table, Robinson yelled:

“Why are you taking me out of the game for, you stupid . . . ?”

Calling P.J. names is a Trail Blazer ritual. In a recent game at Houston, Kenny Anderson, Arvydas Sabonis and Isaiah Rider all cursed at him. Rider is the local enfant terrible, but the two others are OK. Besides, Sabonis barely speaks English.

The Trail Blazers were on their way to a victory. Presumably, if they’d been on a five-game losing streak, someone would have tried to choke Carlesimo by now.

Anyway, the Trail Blazers came apart against the Heat, losing their lead and the game. Reporters asked about Robinson’s outburst. Rider decided the time was right to end his press boycott, interjecting himself into the interview, telling the Oregonian’s Dwight Jaynes he was “the devil.”

Carlesimo backpedals a lot, but he just finished a two-year feud with his point guard, Rod Strickland. Besides, normal sanctions--P.J. has a rule that players missing shoot-arounds won’t start; so far he has had to bench four of the five--are like throwing a grape at a getaway car.

There’s also a question of who’s watching his back. General Manager Bob Whitsitt, who assembled these rogues, is thought to frown on more meaningful measures, like clapping them all in chains.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Anthony Mason, formerly of New York, thinks nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina. “I don’t miss the Knicks,” he says. “I don’t miss all the jealousy and undermining that went on there. They had their quote-unquote star and they totally relied on him. But they must be blind to the situation. You would think they would get it if they haven’t won a championship in 10 years with him.” . . . Update on the trade: Mason is averaging 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Larry Johnson 12-5-2 for the Knicks. Mason’s contract has three more years at $18 million, Johnson’s seven more at $71 million. . . . Quick, get Mr. Checketts a drink: The New York Post reported that quote-unquote star Patrick Ewing wants $60 million over four years to stay. In four years, he’ll be 38.

Maybe his shoulder’s tired: The Toronto Raptors are concerned about Damon Stoudamire’s 37.9% shooting, but the little guy is still winging away, taking 18 shots a game. “What did Damon shoot last year, 42.6%?” Coach Darrell Walker asked. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s not exactly lighting it up, either.” Said Stoudamire: “I’ll be very honest with you. Considering what I have to deal with, I think I’m doing a good job. I don’t think there’s another player in the league who’s receiving the individual attention from opposing defenses that I’m receiving.” Huh?

Charles Barkley, the leading Western all-star vote-getter, faced with losing his Phoenix golf outing, insisted to Cleveland writers he doesn’t really despise their city. “Cleveland is a beautiful city,” he said. “And if I have to come to Cleveland for the All-Star game, my only goal is to bring my whole coaching staff with me. Fair is fair.”