Riley laughs off Owens rumors

[ducks]

Riley laughs off Terrell Owens rumors

By Ira Winderman
Staff Writer
Posted November 16 2005


MIAMI · This time Pat Riley laughed before issuing a denial, which made the process far more lighthearted than last week's denunciation of rumored interest in free-agent guard Latrell Sprewell.

No, the Heat president said, Terrell Owens is not coming here, despite ESPN.com's Mark Stein offering over the weekend, "It's just a rumor at this stage, but I hear the Heat are interested."

That's not to say the suspended Philadelphia Eagles receiver hasn't been here already.

Owens, in fact, worked out and played pickup games with Heat staffers last spring on the practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena as a guest of guard Damon Jones.

Among those on the court was Heat assistant coach Erik Spoelstra, who said, smiling, Tuesday, "I will not get into whether he can play with the pros or not."

Owens has long toyed with the idea of a side career. Last summer, Owens was denied permission from the Eagles to play for the Sacramento Kings' summer-league team in Las Vegas.

At 6 feet 3, Owens was a backup shooting guard at Tennessee-Chattanooga and played briefly for the minor-league USBL Adirondack Wildcats in the 2002 offseason while a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Heat has a history with NFL-to-NBA aspirants. During the 2002 offseason, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzalez participated in the team's summer league as an undersized power forward.

Spoelstra would not compare Owens to Gonzalez, "because Tony actually went through a camp with us."

Of Owens, Spoelstra said, "He's a heck of an athlete. He did have a big-time dunk at the end, tomahawked it from the [bottom of the foul circle]."

ROUGH SEASON

His New Orleans-area home damaged by Hurricane Katrina, with his family then forced to relocate a second time by Hurricane Rita, Hornets center P.J. Brown revealed further heartbreak Tuesday.

The former Heat power forward was notified Monday that his mother-in-law, Brenda Watson, 56, had passed away. Brown said she had been suffering from a long-term illness.

"It's been a tough year, man," he said, before stepping aside in tears.

RASUAL RETURNS

Former Heat forward Rasual Butler said it took him two days to get over the shock of last summer's trade to the Hornets.

But Butler said it also might have been for the best.

"I want to show people that I can do more than stay on the weak side of the floor and shoot the ball," he said.

STILL WAITING

Heat coach Stan Van Gundy warned about making too much of Shaquille O'Neal's shift from a cast to a walking boot with his sprained right ankle. "The swelling's starting to get out of the foot," Van Gundy said. "It's getting a little bit better, but we've got a long way to go."

[JMarkJohns]

He's still the dope who brought in every known NBA hot head not named Ron Artest to cons ute the core around Shaq and Wade this season, so rumors of Spree and/or Owens aren't that far fetched.