ERVING SAYS NO DEAL: RDV Sports VP Julius Erving
"denied a report Tuesday that he is close to accepting a
position" as Dir of Basketball Operations with the Nets.
Erving: "I have not had any discussions with the Nets. I
don't really understand the basis for that story (in the New
York Post). I think there's better than a 50-50 chance
(he'll be back with the Magic)" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 4/26).
YankeeNets spokesperson Howard Rubenstein called the N.Y.
Post report "not accurate. They have not offered him that
job. [Nets co-Owner] Lewis Katz told me [Erving] has not
been offered that job" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/26).
HORNETS BUZZ? In Winston-Salem, Lenox Rawlings notes
the low playoff attendance for the Hornets at the Charlotte
Coliseum. Hornets co-Owner Ray Wooldridge "blamed sagging
attendance on residual animosity caused" by last season's
lockout, and said, "I don't think our problem's any
different than any other team's." Rawlings: "Evidence
suggests that the Hornets' problems run much deeper"
(WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 4/26). In Charlotte, Tom Sorensen
writes, "In the glory days, most of the people who filled
the coliseum filled it because a ticket to a Hornets' game
conferred status and because there was no more prestigious
place in town to be seen. These people have gone on to the
next thing, and only the basketball fans have remained"
(CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/26).
POLICY WATCH: In Boston, Will McDonough wrote that
"there was a tough debate between" NFL owners and players
last week about what to do with the 49ers and several top
agents, "who the league feels worked in concert to
circumvent the NFL salary cap." McDonough noted that some
owners want Browns President Carmen Policy "to be suspended
for a year" for his role in the deals when he was with the
49ers, but the NFLPA feels that Policy "should not be
suspended for the year because Eddie DeBartolo Jr. was the
owner of the club at the time" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/23).
