NBA RAISING ISIAH? NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik
reiterated that CBA Owner Isiah Thomas "must divest himself"
of the CBA before accepting a possible coaching position in
the NBA. Granik said that Thomas "cannot turn the operation
over to a third party to run." Thomas' agent, Lonnie
Cooper, said that Thomas "will deal with the CBA issue only
after he has received an offer to coach that is acceptable
to him" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/26). Thomas, asked how the
NBA's proposed developmental league in 2001 could impact the
CBA: "I would hope that we can continue to find ways to work
together. But I'm a fighter; I'm a competitor. I'm not
just going to walk away" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 4/23).
NOTES: In Chicago, Len Ziehm reported that the USSF
"has granted" MLS a ten-day extension to "submit its bid"
for a women's pro league. The deadline was May 1 (CHICAGO
SUN-TIMES, 4/25). In Boston, Susan Bickelhaupt reports that
Boston investor Amos Hostetter "is expected to announce"
former MLS Revolution Assistant GM Joe Cummings as GM of
Boston's WUSA franchise. Hostetter, on if the USSF does not
sanction the WUSA: "If we're not sanctioned, we'd go ahead.
But that produces a lot of problems because the women
wouldn't be eligible for world competition. I hope cooler
heads will prevail and realize that we'd rather be
cooperating than competing on this" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/26).
....USA TODAY's Oscar Dixon writes that former ABL player
and coach Teresa Edwards decided "not to join" the WNBA
because "it came down to the league not being able to pay
her what she thought she was worth" (USA TODAY, 4/26)....The
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE's Christopher Clarey wrote on
the Tennis Masters Series under the header, "ATP Tour Still
Struggling To Make Its Way To The Center Court" (IHT, 4/25).
ARE PLAYERS PREPARING ESTATE PROPERLY? ESPN's Lisa
Salters reported on athletes' lack of estate planning for
their families, an issue brought to the forefront by the
death of Chiefs LB Derrick Thomas. Agent Leigh Steinberg,
on Thomas' failure to execute a will: "They urged Derrick
constantly, in a variety of ways, being as persuasive as
they could, to execute a will. For some reason, he was
absolutely, implacably opposed to it." Salters: "The result
[was] a complicated web of finances and difficult decisions
to be made about who gets what -- an undesirable task left
in the lap of Edith Morgan, Thomas' mother. ... Morgan is
now responsible for dividing her son's nearly $3 million
worth of assets, as well as running the roofing company
[Thomas] recently bought." Salters reported that "several
sports agents estimate 25-50% of NFL players do not have
wills" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 4/25).
