Bogues, Hornets still feuding

Guard balks at MRI as part of preseason physical

Friday, October 3, 1997

By John Delong

JOURNAL REPORTER

CHARLOTTE

The Charlotte Hornets will open training camp today, and the soap opera surrounding guard Muggsy Bogues is already well into the opening act.

Bogues declined to take an MRI on his left knee yesterday as part of an annual pre-camp physical exam, and the Hornets said that he will not be cleared to begin practicing until he passes the exam.

Bogues tried to downplay the situation yesterday at the team's annual media-day gathering, but his version and the Hornets' version of recent events differed significantly.

''He has to complete the physical, and that's all I'm going to say about it,'' Bob Bass, the Hornets' executive vice president of basketball, said yesterday. ''This doesn't mean he's not going to take it, and I don't want to speculate on what might or might not be done. But he has to complete that physical before anything else happens.''

Bogues said it was possible that he would agree to take the MRI this morning before the Hornets begin the first of two-a-day practices at 9:30, but he said that he would follow the advice of his agent, David Falk, whatever it might be.

''They've got one (MRI) scheduled for 8:30, and if that's what I need to do, if that's what my representative tells me, then I will,'' Bogues said. ''I'm not opposed to taking one. I have nothing to hide. They know what it says, and that's not going to change. But I'm going with who's representing me. I figure he's the one with my best interests at heart.''

Falk could not be reached for comment last night.

Bogues, who will be entering his 11th NBA season and his 10th with the Hornets, played 65 games for the Hornets last season despite a degenerative condition in his left knee. He has little cartilage in the kneecap to cushion the grinding.

Hornets officials, including Coach Dave Cowens, have been urging Bogues to retire all summer, and he has continually balked.

Yesterday's developments were a curious twist after it appeared that Bogues, Falk, Bass and owner George Shinn had worked a compromise late in the summer for Bogues to try to win a job in camp.

Bass was emphatic that the Hornets would not allow Bogues to play without passing an MRI.

''We scheduled an MRI for 3:30 (Tuesday), and he missed it,'' Bass said. ''Then we scheduled it for 10:30 (yesterday) morning, and he missed it again.''

Bogues disputed Bass' claims.

''There wasn't any MRI scheduled,'' he said. ''They asked me to take one, and I said I'd get back to them.''

Bogues said he balked because he took an MRI administered by Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., in early August, and the Hornets were well aware of the results.

''It caught me completely off guard when they asked me to take it,'' he said. ''I didn't know that was part of the physical. I mean, I just took an MRI recently, so you wonder why you've got to take another one. I never took an MRI when I took physicals the first nine years I've been here, so you wonder why now.''

The implication: Bogues thinks the Hornets are trying to find a way to force him to retire, by finding something wrong in the MRI.

''It's business now,'' he said. ''You know, it's always been a business, but you had more trust in things that were happening in the past. So will I be in practice (today)? Depends on what their criteria is. Whatever that means. We'll have to see what happens.

''But I'll say this. The knee is fine. The knee hasn't changed from the time I played last year to now, it's no different. They let me play last year, so now you want to know why they're demanding this.''

Bogues was even a bit put off by the notion that he had to prove that his knee could hold up this preseason.

''I don't have to get nobody's confidence,'' he said. ''What do I have to prove? I'm healthy. I'm sure I'm healthy. And if I'm not healthy, that's going to prove itself.''

When and if he does begin practice, he says he'll have no problems accepting a backup role to David Wesley.

''I'm quite sure they've got their starter,'' he said. ''They brought in Wesley and gave him seven years, so you adjust to whatever is being dealt to you. I'm a player. I can't decide who plays. I just go out there and do my job well, whatever is asked of me.''

Monday, October 6, 1997