The Nba

Thanks, Charles

The irony was not lost on commissioner David Stern as he presented Philadelphia's Charles Barkley with the All-Star Game MVP award Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Coliseum. "Charles," said Stern, "we're really thrilled that you volunteered to be here."

Barkley never formally asked for permission to skip Sunday's game because of the injury to his left ankle that had forced him to miss seven 76er games between Jan. 12 and Feb. 1. But Barkley raised the issue publicly a few times in recent weeks, wondering to reporters if the league would look kindly enough upon his aching ankle to give him a pass.

Well, in a phone call from a league executive to Philadelphia general manager Gene Shue last week, the NBA made its position clear with words to this effect: Charles, don't bother to ask—you have to play.

Meanwhile, the Celtics' Larry Bird, who was chosen along with Barkley to start at forward for the East team, was permitted to miss the All-Star Game because of his bad back. Bird had missed 14 Celtics games, the first on Jan. 8, but had returned to play Feb. 6 against the Hornets in Boston Garden. However, the Celtics told the league that Bird would not be playing the following night in New York, and asked that Bird be excused from the festivities in Charlotte. The league said O.K.

The Celtics were aware of one of the NBA's unwritten but strictly observed rules: If a player competes in the regular-season game immediately preceding the All-Star Game, then he must also play in the All-Star Game. Bird did not play in the preceding game, Barkley did.

Which raises two questions:

First, is Barkley's injury any less genuine than Bird's just because Barkley played in the game closest to the All-Star Game? Second, did Bird know before Feb. 6 that he was not going to play in the All-Star Game?

There's no easy answer to the first question. Both injuries are serious, and obviously both players could use some rest. But the NBA's position is that if a player is healthy enough to help his team, he is healthy enough to help his league. And if that player chooses to use the All-Star break to recover from an injury, he will have to pay the penalty by missing one regular-season game. That certainly deters management from encouraging a player to forgo the All-Star Game.

As for the second question, Bird never spoke publicly about his injury or his availability for the All-Star Game. But Celtics teammates and coaches say that he truly wanted to play in Charlotte and expected to do so. It was the Celtics' medical staff that concluded Bird should not play in back-to-back games or travel to Charlotte.