THE NBA : Teammates Snap Back at Barkley

Marked down after Christmas, along with the unsold sweaters, is Philadelphia’s Charles Barkley.

The 76ers have been calling around to see what teams will offer for him.

“It used to be, if there were conversations like that, nobody ever knew about it,” 76er General Manager Gene Shue said. “Now I guess there’s a lot of people in the league who just like to talk.”

Author, pugilist and eye of an endless maelstrom, Barkley may have worn down volatile 76er owner Harold Katz, whose team would miss the playoffs if the season ended today.

The latest:

Dec. 27--Barkley says his teammates are “lazy,” adding: “In the past, I would get on guys’ rear ends and ride them like horses, but I quit doing that because all the guys complained. Well, you can’t worry about feelings when you’re below .500.”

Dec. 28--After losing to the Clippers to drop another game below .500, Barkley’s teammates complain that he’s holding the ball too long, waiting for opponents to double-team him. Opponents, knowing Barkley often delays before making a move, wait until he dribbles before sending a second defender at him, running the 76ers out of time to reverse the ball.

Says Ron Anderson: “Charles is holding the ball too long.”

Says Hersey Hawkins: “Charles gets it and just takes his time. Well, don’t wait for the double-team. Just blow by somebody.”

Dec. 30--Whenever Barkley gets the ball in the low post, he passes it out immediately, and the Denver Nuggets romp.

“I’ll make them happy,” Barkley says afterward. “I’ll just pass it every time.”

Stay tuned.

EXPANSION POLITICS

The league’s attendance leader is:

(a) Chicago?

(b) Boston?

(c) New York?

(d) the Lakers?

(e) None of the above?

Forget about it, big guys. The NBA’s top draw is Charlotte, N.C., a city of 417,620 with a team so far below .500 it gets its mail by gopher.

In the modern NBA, the expansion teams, which had to guarantee new buildings and season ticket sales, set the attendance pace. The Minnesota Timberwolves, the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat rank fourth, 10th and 11th, respectively.

Once, expansion teams could grow up amid low expectations. But when fans pay to come out, even as part of a civic booster movement, they expect things, resulting in pressure, impatience and turnover.

Here’s how the toddlers have handled it:

CHARLOTTE--Four seasons, three coaches.

The Hornets have sold out their 23,698-seat building 127 times in a row. However, they botched their early personnel calls, drafting Rex Chapman over Rony Seikaly, drafting J.R. Reid over anyone. Owner George Shinn has a weakness for Atlantic Coast Conference players. He ordered Reid’s selection, traded for 32-year-old Mike Gminski and had to be talked out of taking Ralph Sampson. The last two big draft picks, Kendall Gill and Larry Johnson, were great, but two players aren’t much to show for four years.

ORLANDO--In its third season, still has Coach Matt Guokas but also has a 15-game losing streak, so watch out.

Guokas’ worst mistake was to win 31 games last season, high in this expansion class so far, and to open 4-2 this season.

Were they excited? Magic management blocked off six weeks of playoff dates in its arena.

The original owner, William DuPont III, took a $40-million profit and sold out to Rich DeVos, who seems typical of the entrepreneurs buying into the NBA, who regard franchises as their favorite toy since that train they got when they were 6. DeVos tried to join the team’s huddle at his first game, a violation of league rules. The Magic publicist had to swallow hard and ask his boss to take a seat.

General Manager Pat Williams is working without a contract.

Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott were solid draft choices. This year’s picks, Brian Williams and Stanley Roberts, are question marks.

MINNESOTA--Three seasons, two coaches, and the Timberwolves still are at square one.

The best young player, Pooh Richardson, is seeking a trade under his second coach, Jimmie Rodgers. The Timberwolves overachieved under Bill Musselman, who packed the team with his Albany Patroons on the assumption that winning games was important, or that he was going after a Continental Basketball Assn. championship. Now Musselman is gone, and the Timberwolves have an aging expansion team.

MIAMI--Finally, someone who did it right.

The Heat spurned immediate gratification while dismaying local fans with a 15-67 start. Sharp-eyed co-owner Billy Cunningham tabbed one prospect after another: No. 1 picks Seikaly, Glenn Rice, Willie Burton and Steve Smith, plus No. 2 finds Sherman Douglas and Bimbo Coles.

Uptight coach Ron Rothstein was a mistake, but he’s gone, replaced by easygoing Kevin Loughery. The Heat is still erratic, but if the season ended today, it would be in the playoffs.

STORMS IN THE ATLANTIC

Knick Coach Pat Riley is simmering after a New York reporter called the NBA office to ask if Riley’s New Year’s Day practice was legal. It wasn’t, even though the players approved it beforehand. The Knicks were fined $10,000. Worse, Riley was ordered not to practice Friday, before consecutive games Saturday and Sunday. . . . The Boston Celtics, self-styled keepers of the flame, like to consider a bad performance not just a personal setback for them, but an affront to the game. Last week in Denver, Coach Chris Ford termed their loss “an absolute disgrace to the game of basketball. Guys wearing Celtic uniforms, going out there and playing like that. No effort, no nothing.” . . . Said winning Coach Paul Westhead: “This is not diving. They don’t give points for style.” . . . Larry Bird, practicing against Clipper broadcaster Bill Walton, asked Walton to say something good about him on the air. Replied Walton: “What I will say is you can’t score on a cripple.”

STORMS IN THE PACIFIC

Phoenix Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, rejoicing in his climb from a 3-8 start: “We aren’t like Portland who can just go out and overwhelm you with talent. We’re a bunch of (Jeff) Hornaceks. We have to overachieve to win.” . . . Replied the Trail Blazers’ Rick Adelman: “He’s just blowing smoke. I don’t know what he’s talking about. That’s a way of saying if they win, it’s because of hard work. If we win, it’s because we have so much talent. He’s always saying that, and I don’t know why, because we work as hard as any team in this league.” . . . Last days of Dick Motta: After a loss at Dallas, the former Sacramento coach called a voluntary practice. Only one player, rookie Pete Chilcutt, showed up. . . . The Kings averaged 101 points with Motta’s pattern offense, 113 under Rex Hughes. Said Mitch Richmond: “In (Motta’s) offense, it was so compact, you really didn’t have to play great defense to stop what we were doing.” . . . Parting words from a man whose time had passed 10 years ago: “My son Kip works for Seattle,” Motta said, “and he says he has three players come up to him every day, griping about K.C. (Jones) and (not getting) playing time. If it keeps going like this, authority is going to mean nothing in this league.” . . . Jones, the former Celtic star, is 0-4 against Boston as coach of the SuperSonics, losing by an average of 19.5 points, including last week’s 110-87 blowout before 37,175 at the Kingdome. Mild-mannered Jones drew two technicals and was ejected in the fourth quarter. Said Shawn Kemp: “I don’t blame him.” . . . Ho, ho, ho and a Merry Christmas to you, too: Sonic owner Barry Ackerley, recuperating from heart bypass surgery, sent holiday cards to employees, thanking them for expressions of concern. He also said there would be no bonuses or raises this year. . . . The Hayward Review reported that teams shooting at one goal in Oakland Coliseum Arena were averaging 127 points, 107 at the other goal. Warrior Coach Don Nelson pooh-poohed it but took several shots at each and found the rim on the south goal was too loose. He had it tightened.

FACES AND FIGURES

The day that Indiana Pacer Coach Bob Hill asked him to be more of a leader, Chuck Person punctuated a late rout at the hands of the Bulls by throwing an elbow that hit Chicago’s John Paxson in the face. Person was ejected, fined $7,500 and declared: “If I had to do it over again, I would. I’m not going to apologize to anyone.” Suggestion for Hill: Get someone else. . . . The Houston Rockets, who ascribed their bad home record to insufficient cheering, lost four of five on the road, including a blowout by the Nets in New Jersey that had Coach Don Chaney fuming. “I don’t have any excuses,” Chaney said. “It’s time to put away excuses and play basketball.” . . . Before putting away their excuses, however, the Rockets were forced to take a commuter flight from Milwaukee to Cleveland, which is against the rules of the collective bargaining contract. After scrunching into little seats, they deplaned and were beaten by the Cavaliers, 121-89. Said Hakeem Olajuwon: “We should have just mailed this game in. This is a major league. Our bodies are very important.” . . . The Rockets are hoping to persuade management to charter again. The last time they did was 1989-90, when they went 10-31 on the road. . . . Chaney, gently trying to rein in Vernon Maxwell: “He plays so hard and with so much energy and wants to win so badly that he forgets he’s out of control.” Hint to Chaney: You’re getting warmer, but Maxwell’s problem isn’t his memory.