PHILADELPHIA -- The stories, the rumors, the innuendo followed Derrick Coleman as if they had become part of him. He did not like them, did not appreciate them, denied many of them, insisted he did not know where they came from.
But, unmistakably, they were there, trailing down the New Jersey Turnpike behind him as he was traded from the New Jersey Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers. Out of the frying pan into the frying pan.
THE STORIES HAD REACHED almost legendary proportions:
In his brief time with the Sixers, he has been able to answer many of the questions, but a severe ankle sprain in just his third game has largely prevented him from answering his critics. Hurt Dec. 9, 10 days after the trade, he originally was expected to miss about 10 days. But it is more likely he will be out longer.
"Everything that was said about me was created by the media in New York," said Coleman, who recorded double-doubles in the two full games he played with the Sixers.
"I've said this before; it was character assassination. I'm not the type of person they say I am. I think what happened was, in the beginning of your career, when you go to your first team, you hope there's somebody there to show you the ropes.
"That didn't happen. Kenny Anderson and I basically got pushed out of there and had to feel our way. What they found out was, when something's not right, I voice my opinion. Maybe they took it personally.
"When Derrick screams and hollers, and sometimes I do, they took it the wrong way. I'm trying to win. If another guy thinks it'll help, he can do that, too. But when the game's over, it's over."
THE GAME CLEARLY WAS over between the Sixers and 7-foot-6 center Shawn Bradley. When Coleman's name came up in a conversation between Sixers owner Harold Katz and new Nets president Michael Rowe, both sides pursued it.
Eventually, the Sixers gave up Bradley, guard Greg Graham and forward Tim Perry to acquire Coleman, guard Rex Walters and guard-forward Sean Higgins. Both sides seemed ecstatic.
Still, Katz could not bring himself to admit choosing Bradley No. 2 in the 1993 NBA draft was a mistake. Even though he had given Bradley an eight-year contract worth $44.28 million. Even though he had invested more than $100,000 with bodybuilder Lee Haney in an attempt to develop the Leaning Tower. Even though he had spent another $30,000 on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a personal instructor.
"You take a chance," Katz said. "You win some, you lose some."
In essence, Katz gave up the No. 2 pick in '93 for the No. 1 choice in 1990. He sent away Bradley, who had played only one season at Brigham Young University, and obtained Coleman, '90-91 Rookie of the Year, a member of Dream Team II, a participant in the 1994 All-Star Game.
BUT KATZ AND COACH-GENERAL manager John Lucas knew they were taking on a whole lot more. Isn't Coleman the guy who once refused then-Nets coach Bill Fitch's instructions to enter a game? Isn't he the guy of whom Charles Barkley said: "I thought D.C. stood for Disturbed Child.'?"
Coleman made his Sixers debut Dec. 6 against Dallas, contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds to help end an 11-game losing streak. Two nights later, he had 27 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in a loss to Cleveland. In his third game, against Boston, he didn't get past the second period.
The day Coleman was traded, the league's frantic Rumor Central was rampant with reports he did not want to join the Sixers, that the deal was probably the forerunner of another. His attorney, Harold MacDonald, said it was likely Coleman wanted to be with a team closer to winning.
Coleman seemed startled by MacDonald's words.
"He doesn't speak for me," Coleman said. "He's my attorney, not my agent."
IF IT IS TRUE Bradley needed to be traded if he ever hoped to succeed in the league, it is equally true Coleman needed to be traded if he is ever to reshape his image. Or maybe you've forgotten he was a member of Sports Illustrated's infamous All-Crybaby Team.
"All the guys who were on that team were outspoken," Coleman said. "I'm definitely not a crybaby, although I might whine about a foul now and then."
Coleman and the since-acquired Scott Skiles and Mike Brown are Lucas' very own Rescue Rangers. And if Coleman prefers not wearing a jacket and tie when the team travels or when he is in street clothes on the bench?
"If you have a business, you want your top salesmen to dress right, to be on time, to act properly," Lucas said. "But you also want the sales."
Perhaps Bradley will someday blossom, but it would have been a huge risk to keep him, to wait, to hope. Lucas says Coleman hardly is in the same category.
"The only risk you take with people who speak their mind is if you get offended by what they say," Lucas said. "And I don't get offended."
Yes, Coleman is the guy who told the Nets he was with them "for the long haul." He also is the guy who told them after last season he wanted to be traded. And, yes, he did once refuse to enter a game.
"If I could correct something in my career, it would be that," he said.
BUT DIDN'T HE TELL then-Nets coach Chuck Daly he didn't want to practice? Didn't he offer current Nets coach Butch Beard a blank check, so Beard could fill in the appropriate fines when Coleman failed to honor the team's dress code?
"What I told Chuck was, I didn't want to practice the day after back-to-backs, after I had played a lot of minutes," Coleman said. "The stuff about a blank check, that's a bunch of bull. I value my money more than that.
"I did tell them after last season that I wanted to be traded, but they took it personally. We got permission to talk to other teams, but every time we thought we had something, they'd ask for the other team's stars and we couldn't get it done. It took from then till now. That's taking it personally."
Well, then, what about the rumors of his weight ballooning to 300, 40 pounds above his usual playing weight?
"When I had the irregular heartbeat and was on medication, I couldn't train and did gain some weight," he admitted. "I think the highest I got was 278."
Whatever, the rest of the Sixers seem happy to have him, despite a salary of nearly $5.5 million this season and a balloon payment of about $7.5 million for 1998-99.
"He showed me some stuff," said guard Vernon Maxwell after Coleman's first practice. "We were like an NBA team out there instead of a CBA team."
And isn't that the whole idea?
Cleveland guard Bobby Phills, after guarding Indiana's Reggie Miller and Chicago's Michael Jordan back-to-back: "Miller is more of a shooter. They set a lot of screens that you have to run through. That presents, in my opinion, more of a problem. You're getting banged up by running through four or five guys, and they have some pretty big guys. With M.J., most of his game is one-on-one. Don't get me wrong, both of them present a lot of problems, but with M.J., it's less physical." ...
Houston's Charles Jones, in his 13th season, specializes in defense, shot-blocking and rebounding and sometimes sits out shooting drills at the end of practice. "My body is like Duracell," he said. "It just keeps going and going and going." ... Guard-forward Willie Burton, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Heat and most of last season with the Sixers, is back from Italy and a stint with Ambrosiana Milano. His replacement in Italy was expected to be Sean Green, who logged time with Indiana, the Sixers and Utah ... Mike Brown's consecutive-game streak ended at 468 last season when he appeared in just 27 of 82 games with Minnesota. Said Brown: "I told them my streak was older than their franchise."
In addition to writing this exclusive column for SportsLine USA, Phil Jasner covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Daily News.
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