The Associated Press reports: New York Knicks forward Clarence Weatherspoon and San Antonio Spurs forward-center Kevin Willis were suspended for one game without pay by the NBA on Tuesday for fighting.

Weatherspoon also was fined $20,000 and will miss New York's game against Toronto on Wednesday. Willis will sit out the San Antonio's game Tuesday night at Washington.

In 1997 then-Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell attacked and attempted to choke then-Warriors head coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Golden State practice.  Sprewell was suspended for the remainder of the season, and Carlesimo was later fired.

The careers of both will forever be linked together as long as both are in the NBA, and Carlesimo's return to the NBA pine as the lead assistant coach in San Antonio is of no suprise to Sprewell.

"I figured somebody would pick him up sooner or later," said Sprewell, who has since made up with his former coach.

"I'm over it," Sprewell said of the incident. "I'm not surprised he's back. Not at all."

The New York Knicks have announced that the team will retire Patrick Ewing's famous #33 jersey at half time of a Feb. 28 game against the Orlando Magic.

"I am honored to have my jersey retired by this franchise," said Ewing, who is an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards. "I have spent the majority of my career in New York and I will always consider myself a Knick. I will always cherish the memories that I have made in New York."

ESPN.com reports that Ewing will join greats Walt Frazier, Dick Barnett, Earl Monroe, Dick McGuire, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley as the only Knick players to have their numbers retired.  Ewing played 15 seasons in New York, coming close to winning an elusive championship on various occasions but just fell short each time.

"Patrick was the symbol of all that was great about New York basketball over a 15-year span that includes two NBA Finals appearances and four division titles," said Knicks general manager Scott Layden. "We feel there is no finer honor to bestow upon him that to have his number take its rightful place in the rafters with other franchise greats."

After forcing a trade to Seattle in 2000 Ewing's production dropped dramatically.  At season's end he was not retained by the Supersonics and signed with the Orlando Magic for part of their mid-level exception, where he played sparingly off the bench - recording his career first DNP-CD (did not play, coaches decision) - then was again told his services were not required.  Rather than play on, Ewing decided to accept an assistant coaching job with nemesis Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards this season and there he remains.

Ewing ended his career with averages of 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.45 blocks per game in 1,183 games played.  Patrick Ewing, we salute you!

Jordan to the Wizards.  Bird to the Pacers.  West in Memphis. Isiah in Detroit and Indiana.  

While in most cases legacy's of certain individuals are tied to one particlar organization, the NBA is fast becoming a place where it is extremely rare if one's services do not span more than one team throughout their professional careers, both playing and non-playing.

Keeping this in mind, is it any real suprise that Magic Johnson has linked himself as possibly the next GM of the New York Knicks?

While Garden boss James Dolan has publicly been voicing his loyalty towards current GM Scott Layden, George Willis of the New York Post writes that Johnson would certainly listen if contacted about the position witht he Knicks.

"If they ever call, you would definitely listen to them because I love the city," Johnson said. "With the city and the crowds, they deserve to have a great team here."

Johnson has watched the Knicks turn from contenders into pretenders at a rapid rate, and if given the opportunity he knows he could make a difference.

"You have to take a different approach than you've been taking," he said. "It's going to take some creative thinking because of where they are salary-cap-wise. You have to ask people to take less money to believe in your goal. But people want to play here. It's New York. The history of basketball is in the Knicks, so you've got to sell that history. You've got to sell it to the players and to the people. But you've got to have a salesman."

Magic Johnson still owns a minority stake of the Los Angeles Lakers, and thinks he can strive in the position of being boss of an NBA team after watching every move made by ex-GM Jerry West while he was with the Lakers.  West was able to transform the Lakers from a lottery team into the three time champions they are today seemingly overnight via two swift moves, and Johnson believes he can combine this knowledge along with his business knowledge for the sake of his team.

"Being an owner, I know the business side, I know the sponsorship side, I know the marketing side, I know the TV side and most importantly, I know players and I know basketball," Johnson said. "People think I'm not interested in [being a GM] because I'm doing all this business stuff. But I'm waiting until the right situation comes. If the right opportunity came about, I would look at it and definitely be a part of it because this is the game I love."

Fred Kerber of the New York Post reports that the Nets? Richard Jefferson took a verbal jab at the Knicks after last night?s game in the garden. Before the game, some of the Nets were commenting that the Knicks weren?t good enough to be considered a rival. Some of the Knicks retaliated by commenting that the Knicks have a better fan base and a better arena.

Jefferson?s commented before the game by saying , "(The Knicks) might play in the Garden, but they don't win in the Garden. Right now, they're not doing it. So, if that's the thing they want to hold on to, the fact that they play in the Garden, let them do that. I'd rather win in the Meadowlands."

After the 101-99 win by the Knicks, Jefferson was at it again.

"If they look like that all year long, then they might make the playoffs but if they don't, then I guess we don't have to worry about them," Jefferson said. "They played great. Allan Houston caught fire and looked like the player I think they believe he can be. If he does that on a consistent basis, they'll be a tough team to beat."

Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News reports that Nets coach Byron Scott should avoid providing bulletin board material for his opponents. Scott inferred that the Nets/Knicks matchup is not a rivalry because his team is so much more talented than the Knicks.

According to Scott, the games are more of a formality than a rivalry.

Bondi writes, "Those weren't his words, exactly, but Scott discarded 25 years of Knick dominance when he said, ?Normally, the rivalry takes two strong teams. ... We've won the last six games against them.?"

Bondi reminds the Nets that this summer will decide whether they continue to be a top-tier team or not. With Jason Kidd becoming a free agent, there is a chance that he will fly the coop and leave the Nets to continue without him.

Meanwhile, Frank Isola of the Daily News agrees that there is no rivalry between the Nets and Knicks. He believes that there is no rivalry until the fans care. He points out that the Knicks continue to beat the Nets attendance numbers.

Isola writes, "Despite their respective records and entertainment value, more people still pay to watch the Knicks lose than pay to see the Nets win. So Byron Scott is right about one thing: Knicks-Nets is not a rivalry."

"The Knicks are still New York's team," Allan Houston said yesterday. "It's always been like that. One or two years isn't going to change that. It will always be that way. It's New York."

Said Latrell Sprewell: "No matter what they say, we play in the Garden. That's the place to play. I know a lot of players who would love to play for our organization. We have a lot of history here. It's one of the reasons I love being a part of this team. You guys always ask me the question, 'Do I want to leave?' No. Because being a Knick is special. The fan support we have here and being able to play in the Garden every night is special."

Frank Hughes of the News Tribune reports that Seattle forward Vladimir Radmanovic had a few words about the officiating in last night?s game against the Cavaliers. Radmanovic was ejected after elbowing Cleveland?s Carlos Boozer with 24 seconds left in the Soncis 111-98 win.

Radmanovic didn?t dispute the elbow, but explained that it was the culmination of several minutes of dirty play by Boozer.

"I just want the (league) to see the ... tape .. and then see what happens," Radmanovic said after the game. "This is crazy. Guys are hitting me with like three minutes left in the game and the referees don't call nothing. I hit the guy and he calls a technical foul. Yes, I hit him, but they have to call something under the basket. The last three minutes, I took 10 elbows from him and I didn't say anything. That referee, I don't know how he saw that hit that I threw at that guy. If he was expecting that, that was the only way to (see) that because I am not hitting the guy for no reason."

Radmanovic was involved in a confrontation last week in New York with the Knicks? Kurt Thomas. The two were shoving each other. Thomas ended up being fines $5,000 for shoving Radmanovic in the back after the game.

Radmanovic has no problem with rough play, but he believes that dirty play should not be tolerated by the officials. "If a guy plays hard with me, I am going to play hard with him. But don't play dirty because that is not basketball," he said. "I don't care who is testing me and who is not. If a guy hits me, that's a foul. That's what they should call. There is no other thing to say about that."

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that the league is lining up to make offers for Alonzo Mourning. According to Heat coach Pat Riley, everyone, including the Knicks, wants Mourning because he is in the last year of his contract.

Even though Mourning is likely out for the year recovering from a kidney illness, Riley won?t trade him. They can purge his $20.6 million dollar salary from their cap next summer when his contract expires. Riley indicated that a trade with the Knicks wouldn?t work because virtually all their players have long-term deals.

"The most valuable thing out there is trying to get space, getting contracts with no years left on it," said Riley, whose Heat host the Knicks tonight. "They're caught a little bit but I know Scott will keep working at it. I know he's on the phone all the time. He's really working at it trying to make something happen, but everybody's saying no right now."

The only way a Knicks deal for Mourning could work is if either Latrell Sprewell or Allan Houston is included. Sprewell has three years and $41M left on his pact. Houston has five years and $87M left. Teams aren't willing to take on their long-term salaries.

"You can't believe some of the offers that we get," Riley added. "You take on 180 million dollars over the next three years, we've been through that. There's really [been a] change in the philosophy in taking on long-term money," Riley said. "You just have to do it the old-fashioned way of waiting or getting lucky."

Chris Broussard of the New York Times reports that Antonio McDyess is feeling good about his broken kneecap. He said the injury is healing well and that he hopes to return before the seasons end.

"I'm healing pretty fast," McDyess said. "I'm not going to try to get my hopes up, but my goal is to play, if it is this year or next year. Hopefully, it is this year. I'm not going to rush anything, but when I'm 100 percent, I'm looking to play."

Even though the Knicks are only 6-13, they are not getting their hopes up either. They still expect McDyess to miss the entire season.

McDyess is ahead of schedule, though. He was supposed to be in a cast for four to six weeks after surgery. He said the cast was removed after only two weeks. He does wear a brace on the knee but he says he can walk fine without it. "For precautionary reasons, they want me to keep it on, to walk with it on, until the bone really heals," he said.

McDyess is going through flexibility exercises and will be x-rayed again on January 1st. He says he should be able to begin full rehab workouts with weights in mid-January.

The Knicks may want McDyess to take his time for a couple of reasons. First of all, they want to make sure he is fully healed. This is the third injury and second surgery on that knee in less than two years. Also, if the Knicks are out of the playoff hunt, letting McDyess rest could help add a higher draft pick next summer.

McDyess wants to return if he?s able, whether the Knicks are in the playoffs or not, "Just for myself, just to give myself the peace of mind and build my confidence up and help the team and give them somebody to look forward to next year."

Steve Popper of the New York Times reports that there is more turmoil in the Knicks? camp. After complaining about the direction the team was going offensively, Latrell Sprewell and Alan Houston were called into coach Don Chaney?s office.

The two players questioned Chaney?s offensive philosophy when they said that the ball should be in their hands more often, letting the team win or lose with its best players controlling the ball.

Chaney expressed his disappointment that they would talk to the press instead of talking to him. He also indicated that he was afraid the team might splinter if Houston and Sprewell shouldered the load. The motion offense that has been installed by Chaney encourages all players to shoot.

"I'm their coach," Chaney said. "I'm going to try to work this thing the best that I can in terms of getting this team to win and I want to keep them together. I want to play to everybody's strengths. The bottom line is to win. But I do know that you win as a team."

"We talked this morning and told Don we probably used bad judgment saying things in the media first," Houston said,  "Spree and I just want to be in places we think we can be effective and help the team."