Amid all of the attention given to whether Karl Malone would ever have a call go against him in the final seconds of a playoff game in Salt Lake City, there is this to consider:
Will Nick Van Exel ever have a big call go his way anywhere, anytime?
"I can't address that," Laker Coach Del Harris said.
Had the thought popped into his head?
"You're asking me to address that," Harris said.
Only because it seems natural. Van Exel, fined and suspended last season for going Roller Derby on an official; fined and nearly suspended this season for postgame comments in jest that referees that night were on the take; getting hit on the arm by Malone in the final seconds of Game 2, but getting no call that would have meant three free throws and the chance for a Laker win.
"I don't look at it as being like that," Van Exel said Thursday. "But if it is, that's not fair."
*
About three years after his coaching run ended in frustration, Magic Johnson said that close friend, and former rival, Larry Bird will be a success in coaching the Indiana Pacers, pointing out that their situations are different.
