Columnist Dean Juipe: Trial proves Atlanta is no Las Vegas

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, July 24, 2001 | 10:42 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

If it had happened in Las Vegas, no one would have given it a second thought.

Strips clubs, athletes, sexual favors -- heck, we've got that going every night. It's part of our glittering landscape and heritage.

But in Atlanta they're a bit more puritanical, or so they think, and the potent mix of celebrities, sex, underworld figures and allegations of money laundering have led to a trial that has already delivered sensationalistic headlines.

It's a ribald tale so laden with exclamation points that the tabloids won't even have to embellish it.

Monday it was NBA center Patrick Ewing of the Orlando Magic on the stand, and he apparently handled the squeamish situation fairly well. Asked about his experiences at the Gold Club strip joint in Atlanta, Ewing used a monotone voice to describe being attended to by a couple of girls in the back room during two of his 10 visits.

In an effort to attract attention (and more customers), the club had a simple modus operandi. It welcomed famous athletes and rewarded them with sex, sometimes in group situations and sometimes with an audience.

Aside from Ewing, also scheduled to testify in the prosecution's case is fellow NBA center Dikembe Mutombo of the Philadelphia 76ers and former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis. Mentioned by name but not likely to be called to the stand are at least three other NBA players, including John Starks, Charles Oakley and former UNLV star Larry Johnson.

Among the differences between Las Vegas and Atlanta is the fact these and similarly famous men could traipse in and out of topless and nude joints all night in Las Vegas without turning a head. Our quotient of celebrities is sufficient to assure a certain anonymity, if not discretion.

But in Atlanta, especially in a situation in which the club owner was seeking attention (and allegedly involved in racketeering), the athletes in question were fairly conspicuous beyond their physical size. But they're paying for that notoriety now.

Whether the prosecution can prove the athletes were at least indirectly involved in a prostitution network that operated within the strip club remains to be seen. That charge is significant, although it is one of the lesser ones leveled against club owner Steve Kaplan.

The athletes figure to have immunity, although their wives or significant others have yet to be heard from. (Imagine the wrath of a Mrs. Patrick Ewing, if there is one.)

If nothing else, these athletes are guilty of the kind of horrendously bad judgment they were warned about as susceptible rookies. Each of the major sports now holds classes for its first-year players and among the subjects addressed is recognizing -- and avoiding -- someone who is out to exploit them.

Somehow they failed to recognize this huckster and would-be mob underling, Kaplan.

The lessons here are significant and noteworthy and extend beyond the obvious, which is that the athletes should have known better. It's that you shouldn't be promiscuous in a city that frowns on promiscuity.

They will do well to remember that next time, if there is one, they should play it safe. They should fly to Las Vegas.