Columnist Ron Kantowski: Use of Der Fuehrer creates an NBA furor

Tuesday, June 20, 2000 | 9:53 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at 259-4088 or ron@ lasvegassun.com

Maybe you had to be there. But several others weren't amused upon learning Lakers coach Phil Jackson juxtaposed the image of Sacramento coach Rick Adelman alongside one of Adolf Hitler on a tape that was shown to Lakers players prior to the deciding game of their first-round playoff series against the upstart Kings.

Adelman, who does have a thin mustache and is of German descent, did not see the humor.

"If he did that, that's crossing the line, I think," Adelman told the Sacramento Bee. "I don't think I have as much control as Hitler did. I've got my master's in history and Hitler did many things to which I would never want to be linked."

Adelman wasn't Jackson's only target in the videotape. Kings point guard Jason Williams was compared to actor Edward Norton's skinhead character from "American History X."

That one wasn't a total reach as even some of the Kings' players said Williams' shaved pate made him look like Norton in the movie.

Regardless, it wasn't exactly a Zen-like approach to the art of motivation. Yet at least one Laker said it worked.

"Yeah, you watch that and then you send 11 black guys out to try to beat the team led by the coach you saw on film," said the unnamed player.

No report on whether Jackson thought Larry Bird resembled Idi Amin in any way prior to Game 6 of the finals Monday night.

On Monday, Oscar was still telling me how MET-Rx was the dietary supplement of champions, etc. But I wanna know what Mosley was drinking prior to the fight. Put me down for a case of that stuff.

One of the biggest announcements of spring football practice is the identity of the starting quarterback for next fall. (Although UNLV's John Robinson sidestepped the issue here, we all know it is going to be highly touted Southern Cal transfer Jason Thomas.)

When was the last time a coach called a news conference to announce his starting offensive right guard?

They should have just filmed the real deal. Colorful Brazilian Helio Castroneves celebrated his first career victory by stopping his car during the victory lap and climbing a chain link fence to salute cheering fans. Then he gleefully ran across the track to do the same thing in front of the opposite grandstand.

It was a crazy, spontaneous scene that not even Stallone's scriptwriters could have envisioned.

But it was a tribute to Tiger Woods' total mastery of the Pebble Beach Golf Links and his competition that all he needed to do Sunday was continue breathing for 18 holes -- or not get run over by a Buick -- in order to win our national championship.