Late last summer, Terry Stotts wasn't even sure if he would be coaching the Atlanta Hawks when training camp began. The pending sale of the team pretty much saved his job.

A few months later, Stotts has the most tenure of any coach in the Eastern Conference.

Last week's firing of Byron Scott in New Jersey and the resignation of Jim O'Brien in Boston increased the number of coaching changes to 14 in the 15-team East since the end of last season.

``Honestly, it's a crazy set of circumstances. I'm not sure what it says about our coaching profession,'' said Stotts, who was hired to replace Lon Kruger on Dec. 26, 2002. ``It's a reality of our profession, and you never like seeing it happen.''

Stotts remains somewhat in limbo himself as the sale of the Hawks drags on, with an investment group headed by Steve Belkin working to finalize its purchase of the franchise from AOL Time Warner. An NBA spokesman had no estimate Friday on when the sale will be finalized.

When the deal closes, Stotts _ along with a few of Hawks players, most notably Shareef Abdur-Rahim _ could be on their way out of Atlanta. The Hawks entered the weekend with a record of 14-33, just a half-game ahead of the last-place Chicago Bulls in the Central Division.

The turnover in the East has been so sweeping that Bernie Bickerstaff, who was hired Oct. 16 as coach of the expansion Charlotte Bobcats for next season, technically has more tenure than six of the conference's coaches: Stan Van Gundy of Miami, Johnny Davis of Orlando, Scott Skiles of Chicago, Lenny Wilkens of New York, Lawrence Frank of New Jersey and John Carroll of Boston.

Warriors coach Eric Musselman's late father, Bill, was a coach, so Musselman understands the way the business works _ though he believes stability breeds success.

``I thought my dad did pretty well in Minnesota (22-60 as an expansion team, 29-53 in 1990-91) and he was only there two years. It took them seven years to equal that many wins,'' Musselman said.

The NBA coach with the most tenure is Jerry Sloan of the Jazz, now in his 16th season. Second is Flip Saunders of the Timberwolves, in his ninth season.

There have been 161 head coaching changes in the NBA since Sloan took over for Frank Layden as coach of the Jazz on Dec. 9, 1988, and the latest batch of firings and resignations has created quite a pool of candidates for whichever team is the next to make a change.

``You look at the guys that are available right now, there's some big names out there. You talk about Pat Riley, George Karl, Byron Scott, Jim O'Brien and there's probably a couple more I'm not mentioning,'' said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle, who was fired last summer in Detroit despite leading the Pistons to consecutive 50-win seasons.

Also unemployed as a coach but looking to get back in the profession is TNT analyst Mike Fratello, who was a candidate for the Knicks job when Don Chaney was fired but was passed over in favor of Wilkens.

``This summer, if there are more changes, there are going to be a wide variety of guys to choose from,'' Carlisle said. ``You're going to be able to go for and get whatever you're looking for.''

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MAILMAN GOES POSTAL:@ Karl Malone was appalled by a skit put on by the Utah Jazz during the Lakers' visit to the Delta Center last weekend.

In the skit, a Malone impersonator phoned the Jazz mascot and expressed unhappiness with the Lakers, pleading for the Jazz to take him back. The fake Malone ended his complaining by saying: ``I guess it could be worse. I could be Ko- ...'' _ a reference to Kobe Bryant _ before the line was cut off.

The skit continued during a later timeout, this time with Jazz owner Larry Miller _ sitting courtside _ accepting a call from the Malone impersonator, hanging up as the begging continued and throwing the phone to the floor.

``After 18 years, for them to stoop to that kind of level, that's no class,'' Malone said. ``And that's something I'll never forget.''

Malone did receive an apology over the phone, but it came from the man who wears the Jazz mascot suit _ not from Miller or anyone in the Jazz front office.

Malone could be out until March with a sprained knee ligament, which could prevent him from playing in the Lakers' final visit of the season to Utah on March 8. Malone vows to attend no matter what.

``I'll be there, and then you bring it on,'' Malone said. ``If I'm living, I'll be there. You have my word. And unlike those (expletive) in Utah, my word means something.''

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POP V. PARKER:@ San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is trying to motivate Tony Parker again. And, as usual, he's doing it with some public pressure.

Parker went through a four-game stretch in which he averaged only 10.5 points and 3.0 assists before breaking out of the mini-slump with 26 points and six assists Monday against Milwaukee.

The next night, however, Parker had just 12 points and two assists against New York.

Popovich feels that Parker, now in his third NBA season, needs to start becoming more consistent and more professional. He delivered the following statement on Parker to a French journalist at Madison Square Garden:

``Tony needs to figure out this is his job now. This isn't fun and vacation and 'I get a check' and 'Everybody loves me' and 'I go to France and they love me' and 'Nike gives me a contract. Oh, this is wonderful.' This is work. You have to do it every game, every year, every practice.''

Theo Ratliff has been unhappy about the Hawks level of basketball acumen since the beginning of last season and is a constant source of honest opinions about the team.

After Thursday's Hawks loss to the Blazers, another game in which the Hawks turned the ball over 20+ times, Ratliff sat down with RealGM's Hawks Front Office to vent some of the frustration about the team's play.

The interview is at the bottom of the GameNight recap, and as one listens to Theo, you wonder...can a trade be close at hand for the frustrated center?

What were we thinking this past week?

RealGM looks at the growing MVP candidacy of Kevin Garnett in MIN and who is behind it, the sitting stars of the NBA that have returned and those who are still sitting, the city of forgotten lotto picks, and answers the question of whether the Hawks are more serious about trading this offseason than last.

All of that along with the Weekly Power Rankings and the Hot team of the Week (though last week?s teams may warn the new ones against the honor).

Knicks president of basketball operations Isiah Thomas has generated enthusiasm in New York since taking over for Scott Layden on Dec. 22. He acquired Stephon Marbury in a blockbuster deal with the Phoenix Suns and hired a Hall of Fame coach in Lenny Wilkens. Madison Square Garden is buzzing.

But there is no rest for the weary. The Knicks entered their game against the Hawks four games from the Atlantic Division lead, and Thomas desires to add a low-post presence.

"That's an area we'd like to get better at -- being able to ball down there," Thomas said. "Control the game from the paint as opposed to the perimeter."

Rumors have circulated in New York that Thomas has interest in Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Thomas didn't single out any players Friday, but he hasn't hid his desire for Portland forward Rasheed Wallace.

"You always try to improve," he said. "That being said, at this point we don't have anything on the table."

Forgive this writer if this comes across a little bitter, but this is one Atlantan who has had enough.

First, let?s look at the facts.

Fact: Reggie Miller is a very good shooter.

Fact: Ron Artest is an extremely talented player, who is only getting better in the league.

Fact: The efforts of the two of them were the reason that the Pacers beat the Hawks on MLK day, 100-97.

Here is another fact that nobody read about in their recaps of the pretty impressive matchup between one of the best and one of the worst in the league:

Neither Miller nor Artest have a lot of class between them.

Michael Lee of the AJC recalls that the Hawks lost their second game of the season to the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 31.

On that night in Chicago's United Center, former Bulls general manager Jerry Krause was unemployed and being honored as the architect of that dynasty of the 1990s.

The Bulls' coach was Bill Cartwright and they ran the triangle offense. Third-year forward Tyson Chandler and center Eddy Curry had a career-high 22 rebounds and scored a season-high 22 points, respectively. And, Scottie Pippen reverted to his days as Michael Jordan's trusty sidekick -- hitting a clutch 3-pointer, a driving layup and taking a charge on Dion Glover -- in the fourth quarter of a 100-94 victory.

That feels like so long ago. Because almost three months later, the Hawks will welcome an almost unrecognizable Bulls team to Philips Arena tonight.