BASKETBALL: TALL MEN BEHAVING BADLY

Put a little mustard on it? Put a little mustard on it? Who does he think he is? Why I oughta...

With thoughts like that, Latrell Sprewell, the Golden State Warriors' leading scorer and biggest hothead, took a short break during practice last Monday to throttle coach P.J. Carlesimo, who had just told him to "put a little mustard on the passes" during a shooting drill. After the two were separated, Sprewell took a 15-minute cooldown in the locker room before heading back to fight through teammates to get to Carlesimo again and yell "I'm going to kill you! You better get me off this team, or that's what I'm going to do." It was the most dramatic moment of the Warriors' inept season and landed Latrell not only a canceled contract, a shredded endorsement deal with Converse and a yearlong ban from the NBA, but also the finger wagging of every sports pundit in the country.

Yes, what Spree did was bad, and, no, you really shouldn't choke your boss, especially in front of your co-workers. But how bad was it? Sprewell's contract was the first ever terminated through paragraph 16A1 of the uniform player contract, which prohibits "acts of moral turpitude." And the yearlong ban was, by 10 months, the longest in NBA history. Was what Sprewell did that much worse than Charles Barkley's throwing a guy through a plate-glass window? Worse than Barkley's spitting on a fan? Worse than Barkley's punching a guy in a bar? In a world in which players are richer, more popular and much bigger than their bosses, the NBA thinks attacking a coach is more egregious than hitting umpires, cameramen or fans. And so do most fans. The few who didn't cheer Carlesimo had their pro-Spree signs confiscated by officials at the Oakland Arena last Thursday. Even some of Spree's teammates agree with the league's decision. "I hope this sets an example for young players," says center Todd Fuller. As a talk-radio villain, Spree has virtually replaced Saddam.

That's because this is an issue of authority and respect, and most people see Sprewell--with his history of bad behavior and flashiness--as an extreme case to be made an example of. When other coaches were interviewed about the problems in the league, the older, whiter group repeatedly used the terms "respect for authority" and "lack of discipline." With their power eroding, coaches like Carlesimo and Don Nelson--who have a history of losing records and losing personalities--can't think of any way to earn respect other than yelling louder.

Carlesimo has had trouble with his players at every stop in his coaching path, and is infamous for his profanity-strewn screaming sessions. Sprewell dated his conflict with Carlesimo to a Nov. 9 blow-up during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He told the San Francisco Chronicle, "The first time we got into it, I said, 'Don't talk to me like that. If you have to talk to me, talk to me like a man." No doubt Spree for Three complained of a lack of respect from Carlesimo partly because the stuffy white guy and corn-rowed punk have no common language. Put some mustard on the pass? Who talks like that? Red Holzman?