Tom Heinsohn

Tim Leiweke, Anschutz Entertainment Group president and Staples Center boss, figures one of three is not bad. "Three things we really wanted for this building," he said at a news conference at Staples Center on Tuesday, "were an end to the NHL strike, a Beatles reunion and a relationship with Oscar De La Hoya." What Leiweke hopes will be a long relationship with De La Hoya was established with the announcement that Bernard Hopkins will fight Howard Eastman in a middleweight title fight Feb.

8-0: Laker record in road games in the playoffs, making them the first NBA championship team to go unbeaten on the road. 3-0: Laker record in the middle three games of the Finals, making them the third team to accomplish the feat in 2-3-2 format. The Detroit Pistons (1990) and Chicago Bulls (1991) also won three in a row on the road.

Some still can't believe the ease with which Loyola Marymount blew through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament's West Regional in Long Beach Arena. This was supposed to be a distraught team trying to overcome the death of center Hank Gathers. And those weren't patsies they were playing. It was New Mexico State, a team with 26 victories--including one over Nevada Las Vegas--that fell, 111-92, in a 45-point assault by Bo Kimble.

Wrote Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun after Larry Brown was named coach of the San Antonio Spurs: "Brown is not just any coach. He wins at all levels. We know that, because he's been at all levels. Constantly." Wrote Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post: "I'm betting within five years he wins the NBA title, which will make him the first coach ever to win the NCAA and NBA championships. "Sometime after that, another thing we know about Larry Brown will occur. "He'll leave."

The greatest center in NBA history? The Philadelphia Daily News polled 28 experts, mainly coaches, and the winner was Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain had 84 points, followed by Bill Russell with 78 1/2 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 72 1/2. The only other vote-getters were George Mikan and Bill Walton with three points each, and Moses Malone with one.

Some all-star games are merely exercises, a parade of name personalities in sports, if you will, going through the motions. Be careful not to get injured for the important league or conference games often seems to be the attitude. But that's not so with the NBA All-Star Game, coming up Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on CBS (Channels 2 and 8).

George Raveling has deserted the farm country for the big city, but the new USC basketball coach told Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post that he still keeps in touch. "I phoned back to Iowa City and was talking to my secretary," he said. "She said one of my assistant coaches had called and reported that the bathroom at their home had caught on fire. I was alarmed. "She said, 'Don't be. The bathroom was far enough away from the house that no damage was done.'

Pro golfer Tom Sieckmann, winner of the 1981 Philippine Open, later was invited to the Ferdinand Marcos Invitational, in which the president himself was a participant. "There were some other pros from the United States and Europe there, and we were worried about who was going to have to play with Marcos," Sieckmann told the New York Times. "For sure, you didn't want to be too close to him. You were afraid someone would come out of the trees with a machine gun."

Trevor Berbick, who will defend his World Boxing Council heavyweight title against Mike Tyson Saturday, bills himself as the Fighting Preacher and lately has been preaching at the Moment of Miracles Church in Las Vegas. Dennis Rappaport, co-manager of Gerry Cooney, told the New York Times that when he was dickering with Berbick last June about a possible bout with Cooney, Berbick's first words were: "I need money, a $100,000 deposit." Rappaport: "I said, 'What?'

There is a new movie out, starring Jack Nicholson, called: (a) "The Witches of the Eastern Conference." (b) "The Switches on Defense." (c) "The Fitches of Houston." (d) "Teams of Endearment." (e) "Red's." Greg Kite's ability to get a shot off reminds you of: (a) Brian Oldfield's. (b) Garo Yepremian's. (c) Barney Fife's. (d) Pele's. (e) A man loading a truck. Byron Scott has been about as successful in championship series games at Boston Garden as: (a) Puerto Rico has been in the Winter Olympics.