Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.
One class act
Clyde "The Glide" Drexler stands in a marble-floored hall on the periphery of the Mandalay Bay casino in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
The 10-time NBA All-Star is conducting a phone conversation when a couple approaches him. The man asks for a photograph. Drexler, smiling, accommodates him. The wife takes the picture.
A minute later, Drexler returns to his phone chat when another woman approaches him.
"Do you work here?" she says.
Drexler smiles, then shakes his head.
"That was hysterical," he says moments later. About the couple who obviously had interrupted him, Drexler says it's his pleasure to be as warm to his legion of fans as they were to him throughout his Hall of Fame career.
"It's OK," he says. "I do it every day, everywhere I go."
It was one of the classier scenes in an NBA All-Star weekend filled with dicey situations and fringe characters.
Too bad Russell Barnes Jr., wearing Drexler's No. 22 jersey from the University of Houston, didn't cross paths with Drexler. When Drexler was a Cougar 25 years ago, he was part of a high-flying cast nicknamed Phi Slamma Jamma.
Junior proudly wore the jersey, a gift from Senior, at Monday's closing session of the All-Star Jam Session at Mandalay Bay.
"I like Clyde Drexler and I like to play basketball," Junior, 13, says.
"The whole weekend was great," says Senior, a retired police officer from Westbury, N.Y. "Las Vegas did a great job."
Leave it to Oscar
The greatest city in the world, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman says at an introductory press conference at the start of the Jam Session.
Las Vegas has game, says Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, and we'll prove it in the next few days. (Look for Reid to launch a new career as rapper R-Squared soon.)
An Adidas executive presents one limited-edition red All-Star shoe to Goodman and one to NBA Commissioner David Stern, to which Goodman says to Stern, "We may need each other, commissioner."
Never mind the fact that both are right shoes. As for Goodman and Stern, the relationship appears to be more important to one than the other.
After the media gathering, Goodman, gushing, approaches Stern, who says little. Goodman tries making small talk, eventually walking away. Stern looked like Wally Cleaver whenever Eddie Haskell, always up to something, gets close.
Told that he has a new best friend, Stern rolls his eyes ever so slightly and smirks a bit.
Later, a well-connected sports executive, who requested anonymity, describes Goodman's efforts to get an NBA team for Las Vegas: "Stern is workin' Oscar. Does Las Vegas need the NBA? No."
Falling flat
TV personality and Las Vegas resident Robin Leach nudges his way toward Stern and gets a moment to ask a question, and Leach broaches the gambling issue by including Atlantic City in the subject.
Uh, sports gambling is illegal in New Jersey, Stern informs Leach, who says something about New Orleans. The whole thing goes south from there.
Homework, Robin. Gotta do your homework.
Raymond who?
It is just a tad disturbing to find that the Jam Session line for an autograph from Charlotte Bobcats guard Raymond Felton is longer than the one for Hall of Famer David Thompson.
Fan unfriendly
The Palms is the players' headquarters for the weekend, and not just basketball. NFLers Joey Porter, Champ Bailey and Terrell Owens, and home-run hitter Barry Bonds are all spotted by fans.
Owens, with bodyguards at his sides, seems miffed that nobody calls out to him or pays attention to him.
Manute Bol. the rail-thin 7-foot-7 former center, walks out of the hotel and returns an hour later. He will be spotted at various spots throughout the weekend. He graciously signs autographs for anyone who asks.
Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix and Rasheed Wallace of Detroit, however, do not give fans even the slightest bit of recognition when they are asked for autographs or photographs.
"But I don't blame them," says 54-year-old Tommie Smith, an ardent Dwyane Wade fan. "There are so many people here."
The inside scoop
A chance meeting with the aforementioned sports executive at a bar leads to an invitation to an exclusive nightclub, which leads to the inner sanctum of a very private bash with executives of an NBA club.
They, too, will remain anonymous. Skepticism reigned. The detailed conversation about how Las Vegas might fit with the NBA produced mostly questionable opinions.
The growing population and massive tourism industry are both impressive, but can they sustain attendance?
Goodman appears poised to offer downtown land at no cost to an arena builder, but expect conflict. "Who controls the building?" one of the high-ranking officials says. "That's major, with parking and concessions. There are always problems."
The owners, indeed, run the league. Without their charge, the executives say, Stern doesn't acquiesce on gambling.
The size of the Las Vegas television market, comparable to Milwaukee, is a big negative.
Corporate sponsorship, a major source of revenue in advertising, and suites and luxury seats, will be a major challenge. Don't count on casinos, the city's major players, to promote something that will take even one customer away from the craps tables.
"It's something," one of the executives says, "that isn't in their best interests."
Oz applause
Craig Hains and John Tickle, 22-year-old students from Adelaide University in Australia, saved for a year to visit Las Vegas. They spent $1,500 apiece on tickets to the rookie-sophomore game, where they saw fellow Aussie Andrew Bogut of the Milwaukee Bucks, and $1,000 each for tickets to Sunday's game.
"We always wanted to come over for an NBA game, and this one had all the stars," Hains says. "So, to see Andrew, too ... this was a one-off."
A big deal
We spot Tommie Smith, the aforementioned Dwyane Wade fan who once lived in Englewood, Ill., where Wade was raised. Smith is leaving the Jam Session with a smile. He has gotten a picture with Steve Kerr, a former Chicago Bull who played at Arizona.
Smith watched Kerr play in Tucson, where a sister lives. Smith also reveals he has stage-four prostate cancer. Two years ago, doctors gave him 24 months to live.
"I wanted to see Steve Kerr," Smith says. "This event has been fun. Living here, I've been getting to do stuff I usually wouldn't get to do."
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