Nike ready to sue NBA over clients' marketing

Don't be surprised if Nike, in the next few months, sues NBAProperties for illegal use of marketing rights of Michael Jordan andother players contracted to Nike.

"It's definitely an option that we are considering," Nikepresident Phil Knight said recently.

Nike's 80 players always had the option, under the league'scollective bargaining agreement, not to participate in the NBA'slicensing program. Knight says the league never had the right tomarket merchandise featuring likenesses of these players.

"Those rights were and still are the properties of Nike," Knightsaid.

But since the league was supportive of Jordan and did notdiscipline him for his recent associations with professional gamblersand a convicted drug dealer, one wonders if Jordan, out of gratitude,might ask Nike to leave him out of any such lawsuit.

TOP JOB: Bring up NBA Coach of The Year and the candidates mostfrequently mentioned are Phil Jackson, Don Nelson, Jerry Sloan, KevinLoughery, Lenny Wilkens, Bill Fitch and Rick Adelman.

But what about the Lakers' Mike Dunleavy?

Despite losing Magic Johnson (AIDS virus) for the whole season,starting center Vlade Divac (back) for most of the season, startingforward James Worthy (knee) for the last third of the season andstarting center-forward Sam Perkins (shoulder) for more than a dozengames, Dunleavy has kept the Lakers in playoff contention.

When the Lakers opened the season with Magic out, followedquickly by Divac's injury, the Lakers won nine in a row.

When they lost Worthy for the season last month, they respondedwith a four-game winning streak. When they lost Perkins later in themonth, they responded with a five-game streak.

"We started with Earvin," Dunleavy said. "We lost James. Welost Sam. If we lose any more games, we'll get rid of somebodyelse."

SCHEDULE EDGE: With less than two weeks left in the season,three games separate No. 6 Indiana from No. 9 Miami in the battle forthe Eastern Conference's eight playoff spots.

It figures to go down to the wire with the schedule favoring theNo. 7 New Jersey Nets and the Heat.

The Nets split their last eight games between home and the roadwith seven games against losing teams.

The Heat plays four of its last six games at home and five gamesare against losing teams.

No. 8 Atlanta plays only three of its last seven games at homeand only three are against losing teams.

POOR BIANCHI: The last three New York Knicks coaches under firedgeneral manager Al Bianchi have rebounded in other jobs. Rick Pitino (Knicks record of 90-74) became coach at Kentucky, andled that team out of NCAA probation. This year the Wildcats narrowlymissed the Final Four, losing in the quarterfinals on abuzzer-beating turnaround jumper by Duke's Christian Laettner. Stu Jackson (52-45) went through a job in the NBA headquarters intothe coaching job at Wisconsin. John MacLeod (32-35) became coach at rebuilding Notre Dame and ledhis team into the NIT finals, where it lost to Virginia. In addition, playmaking guard Mark Jackson, whom Bianchi hadbenched, became a starter under new coach Pat Riley and has helpedthe Knicks to the top of the Atlantic Division.

NOTES The injury sidelining Denver's talented rookie centerDikembe Mutombo has been diagnosed as "Gamekeeper's Thumb," whichfrequently occurs to skiers falling against poles. Magic Johnson is currently talking with the new owners of theSacramento Kings, who would like for him to invest and help run theteam. Magic had expressed interest in the franchise earlier butcould not organize a sufficient investment team.