A delayed return to NBA for Abdul-Jabbar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe they didn't think he was serious. Maybe they didn't think the NBA's career scoring leader would be willing to sit on the sidelines as an assistant coach. Maybe he intimidated

Tuesday, February 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe they didn't think he was serious. Maybe they didn't think the NBA's career scoring leader would be willing to sit on the sidelines as an assistant coach. Maybe he intimidated them. Whatever the reason, nobody seemed to believe Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when he said he wanted to coach.

There were cursory conversations, almost courtesies for one of the cornerstone players in NBA history, but nothing more than that. "I can't attribute motives," Abdul-Jabbar said Monday, as he prepared for his second game as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers. "I don't know if I was black-balled. I was taken a back when I couldn't get any interviews. That bothered me. It was frustrating."

Finally, the Clippers, reconstructing their bench staff, decided Abdul-Jabbar could help new head coach Jim Todd. "Friday at 10, I was retired in my house," he said. "Friday at noon, I had a job."

Abdul-Jabbar has wanted this chance for a long time. He said there were conversations with GMs Al Attles at Golden State and Wayne Embry at Cleveland and formal interviews with Wes Unseld at Washington and Ernie Grunfeld when he was with the Knicks.

There were, however, no offers. "The chancellor at UCLA talked to me when Jim Harrick got in a bind there," Abdul-Jabbar said. Nothing came of that conversation, either. "When I retired, I was very burned out," he said. "It took three or four years to get my equilibrium back. I wrote three books. I did family stuff, made up time with my kids. It took three or four years before I wanted to get back in."

The itch to coach became even more intense last year when Abdul-Jabbar worked with the basketball team at White Mountain Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, Ariz.

The Clippers, equipped with the youngest team and the worst record in the NBA, decided to give him a chance. "This is the best situation for me," he said. "They need help. San Antonio with David Robinson and Tim Duncan? They don't need a whole lot of help. "A whole lot of about the game is not being translated. Stuff I learned in grade school. People mastering the fundamentals of the game, learning how to play as a team, how to help teammates on defense. "You've got kids with size and agility but they don't know how to get it done with four others."

With the Clippers, the most productive big man in basketball history will work on the inside game. He calls himself a troubleshooter. "My job is to tell the coach what's happening up front," he said. "I want to do a good job. I want to do this well. I think I can bring something to it. "I've got carte blanche with the big guys. They believe I know something. They don't doubt that I might know some things."

Carrying a clipboard, glasses hanging around his neck, Abdul-Jabbar looked professorial as he watched the Clippers lose their 11th straight game Monday against the Knicks. He said all the right things, shouting out defensive assignments, encouraging his No. 1 project, Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers' 7-foot center. "Stay home! Stay home, Michael," he shouted on one play. Then, "Come to the ball, Michael!" on another.

On one sequence under the basket, Olowokandi collided with the Knicks' Patrick Ewing and came out second best. Abdul-Jabbar jumped to his feet and screamed at referee Tony Brothers. "Foul! That's a foul! There was contact, dummy!" Brothers glared for a moment and headed up the floor. Just another coach, yelling about a call.