The N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE profiled the businesses of
former Lakers G MAGIC JOHNSON, who is "overseeing a business
empire" that includes more than $500M of property in
"depressed inner-city areas" in the U.S. While MICHAEL
JORDAN built his business by selling his name, Johnson is an
entrepreneur who wants to do "what no black man has ever
done" in an attempt to "become a post-civil rights-era role
model for a hip-hop jocks who reject the Jordan example"
(N.Y. TIMES MAGAZINE, 12/10)....Mavericks coach DON NELSON
will miss an indefinite number of games to "explore options"
in the treatment of his prostate cancer. Nelson is leaning
toward surgery to remove the cancerous prostate, a procedure
that could "sideline him for about two months" (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 12/9)....In Dallas, Victor Godinez profiled
some of the Dallas area's top sports execs, including
Mavericks VP/Marketing & Communications MATT FITZGERALD,
Southwest Sports Group Exec VP/Marketing & Communications
JEFF COGEN and Cowboys VP/Marketing GEORGE HAYS (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 12/10)....Angels VP/ Communications TIM MEAD
was named the '00 winner of the ROBERT O. FISHEL AWARD FOR
PR EXCELLENCE (MLB)....Univ. of FL football coach STEVE
SPURRIER signed a four-year contract extension that will now
pay him $2.1M per year from '01-06, up from $1.9M on his
current deal, which was set to expire in '02. He will
receive about half his salary from Univ. of FL's NIKE deal
(GAINESVILLE SUN, 12/11)....DENNIS MILLER hosted the "5th
ANNUAL GQ MAN OF THE YEAR AWARDS" on Saturday, where PETE
SAMPRAS was named "GQ'S MAN OF THE YEAR: INDIVIDUAL
ATHLETE." Magic coach DOC RIVERS was named "GQ'S MAN OF THE
YEAR: COACH." Rivers: "What in the hell am I doing up here
is the biggest question. Thank you to all the GQ readers
for making this mistake." Lakers C SHAQUILLE O'NEAL was
named "GQ'S MAN OF THE YEAR: TEAM ATHLETE" (Fox, 12/9).
