Ennis Whatley

"When Ennis Whatley came into the league, he was tougher for me to play than Isiah Thomas. Isiah could embarrass you, but only if you got him mad. Ennis, though, was always attacking, always coming right at you." The identity of the speaker, who currently plays guard in the NBA, isn't important. What is important is that someone would include Ennis Whatley and Isiah Thomas in the same breath.

"When Ennis Whatley came into the league, he was tougher for me to play than Isiah Thomas. Isiah could embarrass you, but only if you got him mad. Ennis, though, was always attacking, always coming right at you." The identity of the speaker, who currently plays guard in the NBA, isn't important. What is important is that someone would include Ennis Whatley and Isiah Thomas in the same breath.

"When Ennis Whatley came into the league he was tougher for me to play than Isiah Thomas. Isiah could embarrass you, but only if you got him mad. Ennis, though, was always attacking, always coming right at you." The identity of the speaker, who currently plays guard in the NBA, isn't important. What is important is that someone would include Ennis Whatley and Isiah Thomas in the same breath.

Miami teammates Keith Askins and Grant Long, Atlanta's Douglas Edwards and San Antonio's Dennis Rodman were suspended and fined by the NBA on Monday after fights and rough play in games during the weekend. Askins was suspended for three games and fined $15,000 for coming off the bench in a third-quarter fight between Atlanta and the Heat during Saturday's 104-86 Hawk victory that tied the best-of-five playoff series, 1-1.

Dale Ellis scored 10 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead layin with 41 seconds left, as the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Clippers, 115-112, Thursday night. Ellis, who scored 31 points in the SuperSonics' 101-96 win over Utah Tuesday night, broke a 109-109 tie with his layup on a feed from Nate McMillan. Xavier McDaniel's dunk with 21 seconds remaining put Seattle ahead, 113-109.

Stacey Augmon scored a season-high 26 points and the Atlanta Hawks made 64% of their shots and had their highest-scoring game of the season in a 141-97 rout of the Detroit Pistons on Monday night at Atlanta. "Everybody came in, played hard and just took the game away from them," said Coach Lenny Wilkens after the Hawks recorded their largest victory margin since moving to Atlanta. "I was very happy with that. When you get a chance to put a team out of the game, you want to.

A year ago, owner Bruce McNall of the Toronto Argonauts was being called the savior of the Canadian Football League after signing receiver Raghib (Rocket) Ismail. Earlier this week, McNall told the Toronto Sun that he is "peeved and hurt" at the treatment he has received from both the CFL and the Skydome, home of the Argonauts. McNall's complaints concern television rights, money from the live gate and advertising within the Skydome.

"When Ennis Whatley came into the league he was tougher for me to play than Isiah Thomas. Isiah could embarrass you, but only if you got him mad. Ennis, though, was always attacking, always coming right at you." The identity of the speaker, who currently plays guard in the NBA, isn't important. What is important is that someone would include Ennis Whatley and Isiah Thomas in the same breath.

A night of close shaves for the Clippers began before Wednesday night's game at the Sports Arena, when Eric White played barber and gave teammate Ken Norman a haircut. Then the real cutting began, and the Clippers took a little off the bottom. Namely, they chopped away at Sacramento's big first-half lead and won, 114-108, to slice the Kings' hold on sixth place in the Pacific Division to four games with 13 remaining.

It wasn't only the number of losses, it was the way the Vancouver Grizzlies were losing that cost Brian Winters his coaching job Friday. "It's not a matter of wins and losses as much as our attitude," said Grizzly President and General Manager Stu Jackson, who will take over the coaching duties until the end of the season. Vancouver has the worst record in the league at 8-35. The team has had several one-sided losses at home, including a 19-point defeat against Minnesota on Thursday.