About 7,500 people attended a fund raiser for
Democratic presidential candidate BILL BRADLEY yesterday at
MSG, which featured "two dozen NBA greats and stars" from
the '70 and '73 Knicks championships teams, according to
William Goldschlag of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. Many members of
the crowd paid between $100 and $1,000 for a ticket, and the
event raised $1.5M (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/15). Earlier in the
day, Bradley's former NBA colleagues appeared on the early
morning talk shows to explain their political support of the
former Knick. NBC's "Meet The Press," ABC's "This Week,"
and CBS' "Face The Nation" all featured former players who
attended yesterday's fund raiser. In Chicago, Elliott
Harris writes that seeing the players discuss politics "was
tough to take," as networks "have a responsibility to avoid
the trivialization of candidates and the oversimplification
of complex issues" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/15). USA TODAY's
Tom Weir reports that the event at MSG "might have broken
ground in getting athletes to put aside fears of hurting
endorsement deals by becoming involved in politics." The
event was hosted by ESPN's ROBIN ROBERTS, who said the event
would not be a "stuffy black-tie" affair. Roberts: "We're
going to have some fun" (USA TODAY, 11/15). In Atlanta, Ken
Foskett reports that Roberts "shed her journalistic sense of
impartiality to serve as master of ceremonies" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 11/15). The event was produced by NBA
Entertainment, which gave it "the feel of a slick" pro
sports production (STAR-LEDGER, 11/15). Spokespeople for
the league and MSG said the Bradley campaign had paid
"standard rental and service fees" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/15).
MONEY MATTERS: ABC's GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS examined
Bradley's use of basketball contacts for fundraising.
Bradley has collected "about" $70,000 directly from
"basketball friends," which "is a fraction of the millions
his all-stars have raised by headlining fundraisers from
coast to coast." Campaign Study Group's Dwight Morris, on
utilizing former NBA greats: "It brings in hundreds if not
thousands of people who are willing to write those thousand
dollar checks simply because they can also get an autograph
from KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR or they can shoot hoops with DR.
J." While Stephanopoulos noted "there's a danger in playing
the basketball card too hard," he added that Bradley's first
campaign ads, due out around Thanksgiving, are "almost
certain to show the Presidential candidate as a young champ
in satin shorts" ("World News Sunday," ABC, 11/14).
ROBIN'S HOOD: Longtime NBA "heckler" ROBIN FICKER (R-
MD) announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat
held by U.S. Senator PAUL SARBANES (D-MD). Ficker, a
Montgomery County attorney, is "well-known" for
"relentlessly" taunting NBA players (WASH. POST, 11/12).
