KNICK NOTES
ATLANTA – Latrell’s Sprewell’s focus is clearly on the Hawks and the second round of the playoffs and that was evident by another big game last night in the Knicks’ 77-70 victory, but he also wants to make a stand for his fellow players.
And that’s why he is behind the Players Association’s grievance to fight his $25,000 fine imposed by Garden boss Dave Checketts against Sprewell for comments made by Sprewell’s agent Robert Gist to the Post several weeks ago. On Wednesday night the union filed the grievance.
Sprewell said yesterday that he does not want players to be fined in that manner. The Knicks took the money from Sprewell, but Sprewell was reimbursed by the sneaker company And 1.
As for the union filing a grievance, Sprewell said, “It’s something more or less that they are going to do. It affects other players. Right now I’m in a little different situation where I can say that I just want to focus on basketball but if it happens to somebody else, I’m sure they would come out and [fight it].”
“It was not unexpected,” Checketts said last night of the grievance. “I had been on a flight with Billy Hunter, going to Miami. So we had talked about it. I really didn’t know whether they would or not. I think they had to do it to protect their right to grieve it. They thought it needed to be explored. But I’m not sure what action they’ll take.”
Sprewell ignited the Knicks offense last night off the bench, scoring 31 points as Knicks took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. *In a statement released by Ted Turner’s people, it was decided to play the games in this city, despite yesterday’s shooting at a nearby suburban high school.
“Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Hawks share our community’s deep concern over today’s events at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga.,” the statement said. “After consultation with the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, we have decided to proceed with this evening’s previously scheduled Hawks and Braves games.”
After the murderous rampage in Littleton, Col., all the local games were postponed.
The latest shooting occurred when a 15-year-old boy, apparently troubled by a broken romance, opened fire. Witnesses said the boy shot randomly and fired at people below the waist, so as to injure but not kill. Six people were hit by the shots at Heritage High School, with none of the injuries being life-threatening. The student was carrying a .22-caliber rifle and a .22-caliber revolver. *Wookie Hooky: Chris Dudley got away from thinking about basketball for a few hours Wednesday night when he went to the opening here of “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.” Dudley just gave the film a thumb’s up. “The plot was a little slow and there were a couple of characters I didn’t particularly like, a character named Jar Jar didn’t do much for me. It’s worth seeing, though.”
