Kareem Abdul Jabbar

Former Laker Jamaal Wilkes received two doses of good news Monday. One involves the NBA's announcement that he will be inducted Sept. 8 in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The second involves how the Lakers will pay tribute to him. "We will retire his jersey at some point next season," Lakers spokesman John Black said. "We'll look to book a date after the schedule comes out at some point late in the summer. " Wilkes and his No. 52 jersey will join Wilt Chamberlain (No. 13)

Still a winner Re " Still hooked ," Opinion, March 24 Kudos to Patt Morrison. There is so much more about us than the tragedy of probable homicide or one more mentally troubled pop star. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a caring, thoughtful superstar with top-of-the-line mental and physical agility and ability; our renaissance man, promoting knowledge of ourselves. A true role model with unmanufactured celebrityhood. F. Daniel Gray Los Angeles I cheered after reading this interview.

-- ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports that the Hornets, Lakers and Rockets were still searching for a consensus on the last piece of the trade framework in the Chris Paul Deal to satisfy league salary-cap regulations. Part of the holdup apparently involves Jason Smith not accepting sign-and-trade terms that were presented when he was asked to be part of the deal. -- The Times' John Corrigan details Magic Johnson's recent panel discussion about how urban entrepreneurs can expand their businesses, land government contracts and tap into overseas markets.

Only his number is retired - 33, in the Lakers' purple and gold that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wore to glory on the basketball court. The rest of him is still working away, most recently on his latest book. At UCLA, in blue and gold, Abdul-Jabbar was a standout, an All American and player of the year - and a history major, which has served him well in his literary career. Some of his books have made it to the bestseller list, and this one, "What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors," is a children's volume with adult appeal.

John Wooden is dead. He hasn't coached in 37 years. He might be the finest man many have ever known next to their own fathers. And the memories remain wonderful. But like my own father, as much as I would like to go on and on about him to my children and grandchildren, they don't really care. Mention my grandparents, whom they never met, and well, forget it. Wooden is gone. But those who like to reflect on the past probably would be stunned to learn that the past doesn't mean as much to this generation as it does to them.

When Marques Johnson played basketball at UCLA, first for John Wooden and then for Gene Bartow, it was the mid-1970s and it was not unheard of for college students, athletes or not, to experiment with illegal substances and attend parties and grow long hair or big afros and wear outrageous clothes. Tattoos hadn't quite become the "in" thing. "You have to understand the times," Johnson said. And when asked if he had ever ingested anything not legal while he was at UCLA, Johnson paused before saying, "Probably, yes. " Johnson was quick to say he doesn't condone drug use. His point was that the UCLA Bruins recently portrayed as having used illegal substances aren't much different from athletes and students at any time at UCLA or probably at any other university.

SERIES The Vampire Diaries: Klaus (Joseph Morgan) sends out invitations to a formal ball at his newly renovated mansion. When Elena (Nina Dobrev) gets hers, Stefan and Damon (Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder) both insist on going with her in this new episode (8 p.m. KTLA). American Idol: In Hollywood, vocalists try to advance to the semifinals (8 p.m. Fox). Party Like: Through two parallel events, centuries apart, the new episode "The Queen of France" tells the story of masquerades, one of the world's most popular and enduring types of party (8 p.m. National Geographic)

Please, oh please, Bill Plaschke, convince the Lakers of your wisdom in hiring Jeff Van Gundy. It would be a blessing to those of us who are tired of hearing his sanctimonious, holier-than-thou comments delivered with disdain about the shortcomings of and mistakes made by players. It would also relieve us of hearing the same comment made three times over, as if we weren't savvy enough to have grasped the message the first time it was pronounced from the pulpit. I'd give a bundle to be present the first time he talked to Bryant in that tone of voice.

They can't erect a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar statue fast enough, a monument, if you will to every athlete who feels a sense of entitlement. It's not about a statue outside Staples Center, as Kareem was telling everyone Thursday. But of course it is, just like it's never about the money when an athlete asks for a new contract but wants only respect. "It's how I was treated during my stay with the Lakers," says Kareem, while blasting an organization that paid him millions as a player and hired him as a special assistant when no one else would.

The NBA's all-time leading scorer has been hard to track down. "How'd you find him?" said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's inquisitive publicist inside a Manhattan Beach shoe store. The former Lakers center has been incredibly busy. He's made promotional stops for his "On the Shoulders of Giants" documentary, appeared in a TV commercial as a spokesman for Skechers Shape-ups and, of great importance, stayed in remission for a rare form of leukemia, allowing him to crisscross the country in recent months.