NO WINNER: Hornets, Bogues still at odds

Monday, October 6, 1997

By John Delong

CHARLOTTE -- It's tough to choose sides in this family feud between Muggsy Bogues and the Charlotte Hornets, no matter how hard you try.

Bogues is right, but he's wrong.

The Hornets are well within their bounds, but they've gone over the line.

Maybe that sounds too much like the lyrics of an Alanis Morissette song, but it's the only honest conclusion that can come out of the current standoff between the management and its popular 5-3 point guard.

Bogues missed his third straight day of training camp yesterday, boycotting or turned away -- depending on how you choose to define this -- in a squabble that will likely wind up in an arbitration hearing.

The Hornets say that Bogues can't participate in practice or games until he completes a physical, as required by the NBA. There's one catch. Because of his history of knee problems, they are stipulating that an MRI be taken as part of the physical, above and beyond the requirements of a standard exam.

Bogues continues to balk at taking another MRI, on the premise that it is not required under rules of the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players. No other player was required to take an MRI before camp, Bogues contends, and he has never been required to take one in his 10 previous seasons even though his knee problems go back several years.

He has superagent David Falk and the NBA Players Association's legal counsel in his corner, so odds are this will get nastier before it gets resolved.

But back to figuring who's right and who's wrong on this issue.

There's a problem, and the problem is: Both sides make valid points, but those points are tainted and even obscured in some instances because of the way they have chosen to handle the situation.

And beyond that, both sides have selfish, ulterior motives that are so obvious, so blatant, that they now have to hide behind the ever-popular ''no comment.''

First, examine the issue from the Hornets' perspective.

They have every right to want Bogues to take another MRI. Bogues has a degenerative condition in his left knee, meaning it's getting worse as time goes by, so it's only natural that the Hornets would want to know what the insides look like right now. They are set to pay him $1.8 million this season. It is called protecting your investment.

However . . .

The Hornets surprised Bogues by springing this MRI request on him the day before training camp opened, weeks after Bogues, Falk, owner George Shinn and executive vice president Bob Bass had seemingly settled on compromises for Bogues to play this season and eventually retire to a front-office job.

You don't have to be around Muggsy Bogues for 10 days, let alone 10 seasons, to know how he was going to react to such a bombshell. He immediately assumed that the Hornets were trying to railroad him into retirement by flunking him on the physical, and he reacted accordingly. He got ticked off, he called his superagent, and he's ready for a battle royale, over principle as much as anything.

However . . .

It's similar actions by Bogues that have put the Hornets in the position where they feel the need to put the squeeze on him. Bogues played 65 games last season, finding a comfort zone despite the knee problems, but often he didn't decide until shortly before gametime if he would suit up or not. That left Coach Dave Cowens in a lurch that he vowed never to get into again.

Worse, Bogues fell out of favor with Cowens and lost some respect from his teammates -- although they still marvel at his talent and heart -- when he tried to pull a power play midway through last season. He missed two games on a West Coast trip with what he called ''back spasms'' at the time, although he later admitted the back was fine.

Cowens wants a dependable point guard who won't play mind games with him, and now he has one in David Wesley. And while Cowens figures that Bogues might come off the bench to spark a win or two or even more this season, he's not sure he wants all the baggage that would go with the situation.

So there's little question that the Hornets are trying to run Bogues off, even if they make valid points about why they're demanding an MRI.

Now, from Bogues' perspective . . .

Bogues has every legal right to fight the Hornets on their MRI request. This is at least the third preseason that Bogues has had a bum knee, and an MRI has never before been required. It's also true that other players are not subject to similar exams. Anthony Mason had foot surgery over the summer but did not have an MRI-demand sprung on him the day before camp. Vlade Divac had wrist surgery but didn't have to take an MRI on Wednesday.

The Hornets allowed Bogues to play 65 games last season on the same bum knee as long as he could handle the pain, so he has every right to expect the same policy this season.

However . . .

There is some question about the ''second opinion'' Bogues got from Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., this summer, at least from the Hornets' side. Team officials say they haven't even seen the results of that MRI, and the implication is that Bogues hasn't made it available to them because it wasn't favorable.

Beyond that, one has to wonder why Bogues is so afraid to take another MRI. MRIs take about 30 minutes, so it's not like he'd be very inconvenienced if he really wanted to get back into camp and onto the court.

It's very possible that Bogues' real motive is to get the team to release him, pay him off the $2.6 million ($1.8 million this season, $800,000 guaranteed next season), and let him sign elsewhere. New York, which will be without Charlie Ward for the first month of the season, would be a logical destination.

Bogues fully understands that Wesley and Tony Delk are the point guards in Cowens' plans, and try as he might, there is little reason to believe he would ever fully accept a limited role off the bench. Especially now with the bitterness growing.

However . . .

The Hornets aren't about to release him and pay him off, because if he signs with another team, they would not be able to cash in on an insurance policy that would allow them to recoup about $2 million of the money still due him.

So where is this headed?

The sad reality for Bogues is that he loses even if he wins. He might be able to file a grievance and win, and he might be allowed to return to the team without taking an MRI -- but where will that get him when it comes time for Cowens to put in a sub for Wesley?

And the Hornets lose even if they win, too. They can get rid of Muggsy Bogues. They can portray him as a whiner and an egomaniac. They can sell the notion that they couldn't take the risk of playing him. But they will have created more ill feelings, which seems to happen every time they get rid of a veteran player.

However the final chapter plays out, there will be singe marks on the back pages.