He's Got Game

Diamonds in the (Very) Rough Like Michael Finley , these players sparkle though their teams are at the bottom of the standings. (Statistics through Sunday.)
PLAYER, TEAM	AVERAGES	CITATION FORVALOR
Shareef Abdur-Rahim , F, Grizzlies	22.0 pts., 7.1 rebs.	Silky moves have made him 10th-leading scorer in the NBA
Doug Christie (below, left), G, Raptors	16.3 pts., 2.4 steals	Third in NBA in steals and has blossomed amid chaos
LaPhonso Ellis , F, Nuggets	13.8 pts., 6.9 rebs.	Team leader has refused to pack it in despite the Denver debacle
Donyell Marshall (below, right), F, Warriors	15.4 pts., 8.6 rebs.	A bust till this season, he's now a most improved player candidate
Rodney Rogers , F, Clippers	15.2 pts., 5.7 rebs.	Club still flounders, but Rogers has had his most solid season

It was a simple game of H-O-R-S-E, arranged by a Chicago TV station, but the 18-year-old Michael Finley 's heart was pounding and his palms were sweating as if he were about to play in Game 7 of the NBA Finals . "Let's see how nervous you are," Michael Jordan said to him with a grin before making a layup to start the game.

As a small crowd looked on at the Chicago Bulls ' practice facility in Deerfield , Ill., the teenager, a standout senior forward at Proviso East High in nearby May-wood, took a deep breath and matched his opponent's layup and several other harder shots that followed. When at last it was his turn to take the first shot, he wasted no time showing what he could do. Rising from the floor like a bird, the long, lean youth cradled the ball in his right hand and slammed home a dunk that left the backboard shaking. "Hey, you're stealing my stuff, man," Jordan said with a laugh.

Seven years later Finley still cherishes the memory of that encounter with his idol. Although he lost—Jordan had a couple of letters at the finish, as best Finley can remember—Finley at least had shown that he wasn't afraid to compete with a legend.

These days Finley , a swingman for the Dallas Mavericks , shares more with His Airness than that game of H-O-R-S-E. Like Jordan in his early years with the Bulls—and like a few other stalwarts on the NBA 's sad-sack clubs (chart, page 40)—Finley is emerging as one of the game's best young talents while toiling for one of the league's less-than-championship-caliber teams. At week's end, with Dallas standing 19-57 and fifth in the Midwest Division, Finley was leading the Mavericks in scoring (21.4 points per game), assists (4.8), steals (1.6) and minutes (41.3). The only other players leading their teams in all four categories were Houston Rockets guard Clyde Drexler , Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway , Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill and Philadelphia Sixers guard Allen Iverson . "He's our centerpiece," says Dallas general manager and coach Don Nelson . "He's made a major breakthrough as a player this year."

Like Jordan , albeit to a lesser extent, the 6'7", 215-pound Finley can create off the dribble, post up smaller players and play defense. His outside shooting, once suspect, has improved. "He's got a good jab step, and he can score in a lot of ways," Nets forward Kendall Gill says. "He's also playing with a lot of confidence."

Finley 's emergence isn't surprising. A three-time honorable-mention All-America forward at Wisconsin from 1993-95, he was the 21st player selected in the '95 draft, by the Phoenix Suns . As a rookie he appeared in all 82 regular season games, averaging 15.0 points and 4.6 rebounds. He played solid defense, threw down tomahawk dunks and showed flashes of open-court brilliance. The Suns loved his potential, but when the opportunity arose midway through last season to acquire All-Star point guard Jason Kidd from the Mavericks, Phoenix reluctantly shipped Finley , guard Sam Cassell , forward A.C. Green and a second-round pick to Dallas for Kidd , guard Tony Dumas and center-forward Loren Meyer. "We hated to give him up," says Suns general manager Bryan Colangelo . "We felt Michael Finley was going to be one of the bright young stars of this league."

Recognizing Finley's emerging stardom, Dallas signed him to a five-year, $42 million contract extension last summer and designated him as the go-to guy this season. "I've been given an opportunity, and I'm trying to make the most of it," Finley says. "My rookie year I was lucky enough to be around guys like Charles Barkley , Kevin Johnson and Danny Manning . I learned a lot from them. I saw how they wanted the ball in crunch time and how guys respected them for that. That's what I'm trying to do here."

That's what he did on March 12, when he scored a game-high 32 points in Dallas 's stunning 104-97 overtime defeat of the Bulls at Reunion Arena . He also had eight rebounds and five assists while holding Jordan to 26 points on 10-of-24 shooting. Afterward, Nelson praised Finley for "standing up" to Jordan and the Bulls .

With his steely eyes and goatee, Finley has something of a sinister look about him. But only this season has he made his game equally daunting by forcefully taking the ball to the hole. "He's not settling for the pull-up jumper as much," says Phoenix guard Rex Chapman . "Last year when you stopped his first move, he'd basically concede. Now he'll give you a spin move or maybe an up-and-under and take the ball strong to the hoop."

Finley has also assumed a bigger leadership role in the locker room. Once a remote figure who cracked jokes with teammates but rarely criticized them, Finley has become more vocal about his feelings. After the Mavs lost 110-98 to the woeful Denver Nuggets in January, he called his team's level of play "an embarrassment" and said his teammates needed to play harder. "He used to be a good player, but a quiet player," Nelson says. "Now he's embracing the leadership role."