European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 22, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 21 basketball Johnson becomes hornets sting Larry Johnson shown Here applying pressure to Larry Bird has ignited Charlotte. By Paul Nowell Charlotte. . A the destinies of rookies Dike be Mutombo and Larry Johnson have changed considerably since Mutombo s Early season burst. A month ago the Charlotte observer polled sportswriters in every Aba City about their pick As the leagues top Rookie. The vote was overwhelmingly Mutombo with 21 of 2" voting for the Denver Nugget Center. Recently the 7-foot-1 Georgetown product has struggled while Johnson the Charlotte hornets no. 1 draft pick is playing his Best of the season. With Mutombo slumping the nuggets lost 20 of 25 games dropping to 22-44. Utah held Mutombo to live Points and Defeated the nuggets 115-100 on thursday night. Since feb. 2, Johnson has helped turn the hornets around. Their 14-6 record since then ranks behind Only Chicago and Detroit. There a a Chance the hornets could make the playoffs for the first time. They Are four games behind the 76ers in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern conference. Led by Johnson and second year guard Kendall Gill the hornets have won nine of their last 11 games improving to 26-38 after defeating Philadelphia 123-116 in overtime on a thursday night. Johnson scored eight of his 34 Points in overtime. Johnson a 6-foot-5 /2 Power Forward from univ said the Rookie of the year Honor Isnit hanging Over him. A i try not to worry about it a he said. A fall it does is create extra pressure. If i get it i get it. A it would be a great  Johnson a Laid Back approach off the court belies his aggressive style on the court. Recently the 250-Pounder has been the dominant Force he was expected to be when the hornets made him the no. 1 pick in the draft. Johnson was named the Rookie of the month for february after averaging 20.6 Points 9.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists leading the hornets to a 9-4 record a their Best month in franchise history. A the fans expect a lot out of their no. 1 pick Quot he said. Johnson has won the award two of the past three months. Mutombo also has won the monthly Honor twice. In their last head to head meeting in february Johnson had a career High 34 Points eight rebounds and three steals in a 106-104 Charlotte Victory. Mutombo scored 16 Points. Johnson scored 28 Points and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 12b-109 Triumph Over Miami in february and scored 2/ Points including the game winning Basket As time expired in a 121-119 win Over Indiana. Tie has continued to play Well this month. In tuesday nights Victory Over san Antonio he grabbed 10 rebounds breaking Kurt Rambish club record for most rebounds in a season. He has 713, with 19 games to play. In successive games against Minnesota and Dallas last week Johnson grabbed 23 and 18 rebounds respectively. Johnson who was not used to losing at univ gets excited when he talks about the hornets recent wins. And he does no to mind who does the scoring and rebounding. A i Learned a Long time ago not to even look at individual statistics a he said. A the Only thing that counts is  Jordan saves face in joining olympic team by Mike littwin the Baltimore Sun Landover my. A Michael Jordan says he a going to play on the olympic team. I know you re As relieved As i am. You were already upset about this recession and the Check kiting and then the Fergy Prince Andrew news hit but now be like Mike Jordan has made it of. That a because what a Good for Jordan is Good for America. It was a near thing though. He almost had to pull out of the Barcelona olympics As a matter of principle. Apparently from what i understand somebody other than Jordan was going to make Money from his appearance on the olympic team and How could that be right he a Michael Jordan after All a his highness the Prince of midair the Guy who thinks All the atm sought to be 10 feet High. It was Jordan remember who told the Aba that it could no longer use his likeness because Nike owned the rights to him. And i swore i saw him last night scissors in hand looking for to shirts with his face on them. Maybe he was just cutting tape from his Ankles. In a not sure. What in a pretty sure is however the uniform reads Jordan works for Nike. He works for Nike and he works for Jordan. I stopped by just to see if Nike would let him play. Of he played All right. He was routinely Brilliant leading the Chicago bulls from 12 Points Down at the half to beat the poor poor Washington bullets. All he scored was 51, the record for a player whose likeness belongs exclusively to a shoe company. As usual there was a sellout crowd to see Jordan. You watch him and you can to help but be captivated. Afterwards Jordan talked about Freedom. When he was asked a Are you concerned that with this Nike business you re being perceived As. A a greedy a Jordan wondered. Yeah. A i done to think so a Jordan said. A i have certain rights. You have Freedom of speech. You have Freedom to write what you want. I have the Freedom of my own likeness. I have the right to control my likeness. A the Aba has made a lot of Money from using that likeness. Done to Call me greedy. Its  so Jordan says he a not greedy. And hey the Story a out that he allegedly wrote checks Worth $108,000 to cover gambling debts. Apparently he a very generous at least a commentary the poker table. What Jordan says is that he just wants to do what a right. You decide Aba properties is almost As hot As Jordan. In fact the Aba grosses More Money licensing products than it does at the Gate and that includes the $300 court Side seats at the fabulous forum. 1 know in be always dreamed of owning a Ledell Eackles key Chain. A few years Back before the Aba merchandise explosion the players negotiated a not very wonderful Deal for themselves on licensing but there was a loophole. A player if he could make More Money somewhere else could opt out. Magic Johnson did no to opt out and Larry Bird did no to opt out a maybe because they understood that the players and the league were getting Rich together. Jordan opted out. Maybe he wanted to get Rich by himself. It is his likeness As he Points out and the licensing agreement is in place until 1997. And then along came the olympic games to complicate matters. The secret is that Jordan does no to want to play in the olympics. Done to Tell anyone. Jordan does no to. But Jordan has to play. He has to play because he a got this image to protect. How would it be if 250 million Flag waving americans were watching the Usa team play say the Trinidad team in a tense matchup while Jordan was Home playing Golf the next thing Jordan knows he a either up before the House in american affairs committee or gatorade is asking people to be Clyde Drexler. The problem is that the Aba is involved in the packaging of the olympic team. In the Deal made with the olympics the 10 to 12 Aba players share a third of the profits from the licensing. Jordan has said he will give his part to Usa basketball a but that there can be no apparel with his face on it. And that a that. But there a More. There was the Best Selling Book a the Jordan rules a which basically said that there was one set of rules for Jordan and another for his teammates whom he generously Calls his supporting cast. He blew off the president in what amounted to a photo of after the bulls won the title. He blew off the Aba in favor of Nike. And now we have the gambling allegation. How Many More hits can Jordan a image take Are you kidding he a Michael Jordan. He a too big for a few minor problems to take him Down. He a going to the olympics and All America breathes a sigh of Relief. Michael Jordan will soar in Barcelona in july