Clipper President Alan Rothenberg said that he...

Clipper President Alan Rothenberg said that he was surprised that injured forward-guard Marques Johnson has decided to postpone neck surgery so that he can testify at an arbitration hearing to settle a contract dispute with the team.

Johnson, who was scheduled to undergo surgery to fuse two vertebrae last Friday, postponed the surgery indefinitely on the advice of Larry Fleisher, head of the NBA Players Assn., and Sam Meyerhoff, his attorney.

Rothenberg, who was vacationing last week, said he’s confident that the Clippers and Johnson can settle the dispute before it is submitted to arbitration. “We’ll work it out,� Rothenberg said.