THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : It Was the Right Place but the Wrong Time for Magic

Who was it who said you can’t go home again, Chick Hearn?

No, Chickie said the icebox door was closed and the Jell-O was jiggling. But it’s true, you can put on your old uniform, as Magic Johnson did, but if you try to go home five years later, you’ll find someone else living there.

It wasn’t that Magic couldn’t play or can’t help a team. He wasn’t wrong about how things should be. He was just out of his time, and nothing--not the owner’s indulgence, the coach’s invitation or the players’ welcome--could change that.

In an ideal world, the Lakers would have sat at Magic’s feet and written down everything he said because, let’s face it, he has been there and they’ve only heard of it.

In the real world, young players have privileges unimaginable even five years ago and an accompanying fear of expectations that leads them to complain of being “dogged” by slights slighter than the things they suffered after Magic showed up and started telling it like it was.

Part of Johnson’s charm has always been his candor. He had long been the franchise’s loose cannon, but who could object? He was the franchise, so he was entitled.

In the ‘80s, his attitude determined everything. Pat Riley’s authority flowed from Johnson’s acceptance. Riley had arrived like a foundling on the doorstep, but even after becoming a colossus in his own right, governed through Magic. They were brothers in arms. Before resigning, Riley went to Johnson’s house to tell him. They sat on the porch and cried like babies.

In the ‘90s, everything was different.

Magic had been gone almost five years. None of the championship players remained. The Lakers had rebuilt as best they could, stealing ambitious, if prickly, Cedric Ceballos; taking Anthony Peeler after domestic incidents dropped him to them in the ’92 draft; discovering volatile Nick Van Exel in the ashes of the ’93 second round. This team wasn’t Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, A.C. Green and James Worthy, these were young guys trying to work things out.

When things began unraveling late in the season, Magic did what he always had--stood up and talked about it, suggesting his displeasure with Ceballos, criticizing Van Exel, finally excoriating himself (to Johnson’s credit, his rips were even-handed).

Something else, however, seemed to be seeping in: dismay.

Magic counted on a title run. He came back because the West looked weak and the way seemed open to a last rematch with Michael Jordan. The Lakers would be overmatched, but anything could happen in seven games, etc.

There are Laker insiders who insist Johnson forgot the things that made his comeback possible--Del Harris’ backing, Van Exel’s sacrifice--because he had to be the star. The feeling here is, Magic grew desperate as he sensed things slipping away and tried to take over, as he always had.

What began as a harmless-looking attempt to catch nostalgia in a bottle turned into a farce. Insiders are incensed that the heaviest load dropped on Van Exel, who, more than anyone else, tried to do the right thing. It was he who personally invited Magic back, often gave up the ball and answered the same questions repeatedly with more grace than he had ever shown.

It was also Van Exel who slumped, fretted and found himself in Ronnie Garretson’s chest. The next thing you knew, Sports Illustrated had an investigative team in the field detailing Van Exel’s even more troubled adolescence, painting him as an unreconstructed thug.

It won’t be a happy summer at the Forum, but thankfully for the Lakers, all things pass. Two years ago, after a 33-victory season and unflattering reviews from Coach Magic, they hired a new coach--Harris--and took off in a way nobody expected.

It was Thomas Wolfe who said you can’t go home again--he used it as a book title--but he never covered the Lakers. Johnson expects to buy back his 5%. It would be great if he could find a team he could run. He would bring an electricity you don’t usually get from an administrator, and he needs more of the action than consulting affords.

Indeed, he was casting around for a team to buy just before deciding to play. (Is anyone in the Sports Arena listening? Is anyone in the Sports Arena conscious?)

Happily, this postscript will be forgotten soon enough. What Magic accomplished over a decade couldn’t be tarnished in half a season, any easier than it could be relived.

EAST: WHICH PIPPEN IS GOING TO SHOW UP?

After missing 19 of 29 shots in Game 3 of the Chicago Bulls’ series against the New York Knicks, Scottie Pippen settled back and waited for the game to come to him.

By series’ end, the game still hadn’t arrived.

With Good Scottie the Bulls are dominating, but if Timid Scottie shows up against the Orlando Magic, Jordan is in for a long two weeks.

Does this sound familiar? Fragile as his career developed by fits and starts in Jordan’s commanding presence, Pippen was thought to be beyond this stuff. But here it is again.

In the ’90 Eastern finals against Detroit’s Bad Boys, Pippen suffered migraines. Then-Piston Dennis Rodman suggested it was really a fear of him, which might not have been far wrong.

In the ’92 second round, the Knicks head-hunted Pippen in a series of attacks that triggered new anti-thuggery rules, lowlighted by John Starks’ Game 6 mid-air tackle as Pippen went in for a layup. The series went seven and only Jordan’s most brilliant brilliance carried the day for Chicago.

In ‘93, the Knicks targeted Pippen again, but Xavier McDaniel was gone and the best they could manage was Anthony Mason. With everyone watching to see if he would play or run, Scottie had a fine series.

In ‘94, with Jordan gone, Pippen became a full-fledged star. The Bulls took the favored Knicks seven games, despite Pippen’s famous Game 3 walkout.

Pippen started this season phenomenally--in December Jordan called him the best Bull--but slumped late, admitting he had aggravated a sore ankle and back pursuing 70 wins. He then came to another screeching halt in the Knick series.

Actually, Jordan, Pippen and Toni Kukoc all had bad backs. Jordan played through his, Pippen’s was used as an excuse for his slump, as in ‘92, and Kukoc went out, with skeptics suggesting he would stay out until the last Knick left town.

Form suggests that Pippen will rebound. In 1992, after the Knicks had whittled him to 16 points and 40%, he averaged 20 and 48% against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers as the Bulls won their second title.

Unlike most teams, Orlando has a good defensive match in Penny Hardaway, who’s no thug but is as long and quick as Pippen. If the Bulls have a vulnerability, it’s Mr. Pip, and if the Magic has an opportunity, it starts with Big Penny.

WEST: TIME TO JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON

If you didn’t know the Seattle SuperSonics were different, you might have wondered why Coach George Karl’s name was on coaches-to-hire lists in Charlotte and Dallas, even as his team rolled through the West.

After tabling contract talks until the season was over, the SuperSonics announced they were picking up their option for next season and fully guaranteeing it.

The SuperSonics are volatility itself, from dread owner Barry Ackerley, whose late-night fuming sent team architect Bob Whitsitt fleeing to Portland; to Karl, talented and strung tight as a violin string; to the young stars, trash-spouting Gary Payton and mood-surfing Shawn Kemp.

In the old days, like last spring--or two weeks ago in the opening round against the Sacramento Kings--opponents had only to put pressure on them and stand aside while they blew themselves up.

But something happened against Sacramento, after the Kings had won Game 2 in Seattle and taken an eight-point lead with 5:49 left in Game 3. Old pros Sam Perkins and Frank Brickowski led a rally. The SuperSonics won and haven’t lost since.

The old orthodoxy--two weeks ago--said they died in the playoffs because they couldn’t play a half-court game. They then averaged 111 points against Houston in half-court games.

For all its vaunted defense, there is nothing more important to any team than its ability to shoot. Suddenly the SuperSonics are world-class.

“Everybody talks about their defense, and it has been a factor,” Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said a week ago in mid-sweep. “But we haven’t been able to stop them.”

No one has come as far as fast as Payton. A gifted athlete, he arrived with shooting range of about five feet.

This season, he shot a career-high 32% on three-pointers--the league average is 36%--but in the playoffs, he’s scorching along at 44%.

As a team, the SuperSonics are at 43% on three-pointers, including a 10-for-20 effort in their Game 1 rout of Utah. If this keeps up, someone is in trouble, or everyone is.