As Scottie Pippen visit's Chicago for what many consider to be the final time as an NBA player, with Pippen previously stating that this will be his last hurrah, Scottie is hinting that he may just have more fuel left int he tank after all.

Ex-Bulls teammates Michael Jordan and Horace Grant both appear to be in their final seasons in the league - though with Jordan you can never be sure - Pippen believes that if he can continue to contribute he will continue to play.  Play where, however, is the question.

Pippen has not ruled out playing again in Portland, but their cap situation might prevent the six-time champion from returning.  But what about a reunion with Phil Jackson in Los Angeles?

"If I can contribute, yeah," Pippen said.  "If Phil wanted me and I could contribute, not be a 12th or 13th man."

"I don't regret going to Portland," Pippen said. "The only regret I have is going to Houston. I should have sat out the '99 season and then put myself on the market. I tried to push a deal [to the Lakers from Houston]. That's what pushed me out of Houston."

And of course there cannot be a Pippen-Chicago story with yet another dig at Jerry Krause and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, whom Pippen still feels were to blame for the dynasty break up.

"There's nothing for me to regret about that," said Pippen, who said he would have rejected a one-year $15M contract to keep the team together and left should Jordan have not retired. I didn't do anything wrong. It was not the players' fault. The regret should be for Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf. What they did makes what we did much greater. Because it's going to take that much longer for them to put any type of team together, a team that can just compete for the playoffs. The league is getting better, but they keep going back and trying to play catch-up."

Geoffrey C. Arnold of the Oregonian reports that the Warriors? Chris Mills is having a hard time getting over Bonzi Wells. The two were engaged in a fight at the end of last week?s Warriors/Blazers game. The tussle (and Mills? actions afterward) earned both players multi-game suspensions.

Mills? recently let his feelings on Wells be known.

"I think Bonzi Wells is a straight punk, with a capital P," Mills said to the Contra Costa Times. "He's tough on the court. And I'll give it to them, the Blazers, their unity was there. They had all 12 players on that floor. When they all stand up, he feels invincible. That's cool, but I think he's a punk.

"He tried to sucker punch me. Then he moon-walked like Michael Jackson back toward the tunnel. That's a punk move and he's a punk."

Mills also had some unkind words for a few of his teammates (Antawn Jamison, Erick Dampier and Danny Fortson) who retreated to the locker room during the fight. "If there was somebody in the locker room when stuff was going down, they wouldn't be at the top of my list of people I want with me in a foxhole," Mills said. "I would hope that nobody was going to the locker room when the altercation happened."

Jamison was not happy with his teammates? comments and responded, "My teammates know that in any kind of situation, I have their backs and they have mine," Jamison said. "If someone would think that, they don't know who I am."

With his advancing age and retreating productivity, it has been a trying season for Karl Malone.

Malone's scoring has plummeted, and his shooting percentage is at a career low. His annual talk about retirement and a trade this summer irked Jazz owner Larry Miller, and Malone has feuded with coach Jerry Sloan. Meanwhile, the Jazz is barely keeping its head above water and does not have the look of a contender.

Malone, 39, will be paid $19.25 million this season, his 18th in the league. Malone knows Jazz fans expect more from a player earning one of the league's highest salaries, but that doesn't make him feel better about being targeted as a scapegoat.

Peter Vecsey of the NY Daily News questions whether the NBA was fair in handing out a 3-game suspension to Golden State?s Chris Mills.

Mills took the basketball fight to new heights as he tangled with Bonzi Wells on the court, then tried to get into the Blazers locker room, then barricaded the team bus in the parking lot as he and his friends challenged the Blazers to a fight until the police arrived to escort the bus out of the arena. Finally, he tailed the bus and the police escort all the way to the airport.

Stu Jackson, the man in charge of handing out suspensions by the NBA, said "Chris Mills engaged in some actions at the conclusion of the game, and well after the conclusion of the game, that, quite frankly, we cannot accept and will not tolerate."

Yet Mills' madness is only good for a three-game sentence.

Vecsey adds, "Naturally, had Mills hijacked the bus and killed a few hostages, Jackson, quite frankly, would've really clamped down and suspended him for a week or two and, who knows, maybe even fined him as well.

How scary must the situation have been for the Blazers to rely on the law for protection instead of prosecution?"

To conclude the amazing brawl which followed the Portland Trail Blazer's stunning victory over the Golden State Warriors at the last possible second, the NBA suspended Warriors forward Chris Mills for three games yesterday.  

Portland forward Bonzi Wells had already been suspended by the league for two games, and has one remaining after spending the first against Seattle on the sidelines.  The other party in the affair, Rasheed Wallace (who also hit the winning basket) was fined $15,000 for trying to go after a fan who had thrown a wad of gum at him.

"Chris Mills engaged in some actions at the conclusion of the game, and well after the conclusion of the game, that quite frankly we cannot accept and will not tolerate,'' NBA senior vice president Stu Jackson said.

Amazingly the drama did not end for Mills when the camera's switched off, with Mills reportedly trying to get into the Blazers' locker room but was restrained.  Mills then parked his car in front of the Portland bus and along with several of his friends challenged the Blazers.

While Mills did not throw a punch - NBA reports revealed that Wells was the only one who did - Jackson reported that "he certainly was not an innocent bystander, either."  Jackson said he took Mills' actions outside the locker room and in the bus bay into account when determining the length of the suspension.

And this may not exactly be the end of the suspensions either, with Jackson saying that further punishment could be delivered if evidence reveals improper action by any other players.

"Guys were trying to break it up,'' Golden State's Jason Richardson said before Sunday's game. "It was a bad scene, a lot of people could have got hurt. But the league looked at the tape, they saw what guys were trying to do. No one was out there looking for a fight.''

The punishment for Friday?s brawl in Oakland came quickly for the Trail Blazers. They learned shortly before last night?s game against Seattle that Bonzi Wells received a two game suspension while Rasheed Wallace will not miss any time.

The Associated Press reports that Wells missed the Seattle game and will miss next Friday?s game against Utah for throwing a punch at the Warriors? Chris Mills. "He was disappointed,'' said Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks, who said Wells found out about the suspension about 3 hours before the game against Seattle. "He was disappointed the situation happened, for himself and the team. For him to be out for two games is hard for him and it's hard for the team."

Wallace was fined $15,000 for attempting to go into the stands after a fan. The fan was subdued by security after throwing a wad of gum at Wallace and inciting incidents with other Portland players.

The penalties for the Warriors players are expected to be announced today. We can expect a hefty suspension for Mills who fought with Wells on the court, then tried to get into the Portland locker room, then barricaded the Portland bus as they tried to leave the arena.

Mills and some of his friends used his car to block the Blazers? team bus as he challenged the Blazers. The bus wasn?t able to leave until  Oakland police arrived to provide an escort. "I've never seen anything like that, that's for sure. I've never seen a guy do anything like that,'' Cheeks said. "That can be kind of scary, because you don't know what's going through a guy's mind.''

ESPN.com reports that the Blazers tarnished their already bad reputation a little more last night. After a last second win over the Warriors, the Blazers found themselves in a brawl with the Golden State players, coach and fans.

Wallace scored Portland's final six points, including a game-winning fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, in the Trail Blazers' 113-111 victory over Golden State on Friday night, then things got completely out of control. After racing to congratulate Wallace, his teammates rushed to the aid of Bonzi Wells.

Wells became wrapped up with Warriors forward Chris Mills during the final shot. As the two exchanged words and then began angrily pushing each other, the Warriors' Troy Murphy entered the fray and threw punches. Golden State coach Eric Musselman ran across the court and shoved Wells.

Ruben Patterson and Murphy began fighting as officials tried to break up the mele.

Police officers ran into the crowd as they started spilling out onto the court and throwing things at the Portland players. One fan threw a wad of gum at Wallace and was handcuffed by four officers. One Portland player, who could not immediately be identified, started running into the stands and a couple others -- including Wallace -- were trying to grab the fan.

Portland?s Scottie Pippen has seen the troubles his team has gone through, but he believes this incident is the fault of the Warriors. "It's not about reputation,'' Pippen said. "They lost the game. It's about their reputation, too."

Art Thompson III of the Los Angeles Times reports that the loss to the Blazers really hurt the Clippers, but their injuries are continuing to hurt as well.

Wednesday?s 97-93 loss to Portland was a bad one to swallow because the Clippers had a 4th quarter, 15-point lead but let it slip away. "It really is a shame because we played very good basketball,'' Coach Alvin Gentry said after putting the team through a two-hour practice. "We just can't shoot 4 for 15 in the fourth quarter. The guys want to do the right thing. We just have to make sure that we're executing. We had a good roll going, and if we had won the game, our confidence level probably would be as high as it could be.''

The Clippers have no time to pity themselves as they face the Suns tonight in Staples Center and they are still struggling with injuries.

Andre Miller sprained his ankle three weeks ago. He sat out one game and limped through eight others. He had 25 points and 8 assists in the loss to the Blazers, but he was hobbling on his injured ankle. Gentry held Miller out of Thursday?s practice and plans to rest him as much as possible next week when they play only two games in seven days.

"We have to keep monitoring him,'' Gentry said. "He wants to play, but we probably have to look at that situation. The only thing is, if you take him out and sit him down, the ankle tightens up.''

Adding to the injury woes is guard Eric Piatkowski. He has missed four games with a lower abdominal strain and is listed as "out" for tonight's game and Saturday's game against the Denver Nuggets. "I saw a specialist Tuesday,'' Piatkowski said. "I've had this before. I hope to be back the first game we play after Christmas."

With Charlotte coming into the league in 2004, a realignment will be needed.  Right now there are 15 teams in the east and 14 in the west.

David DuPree of the USA Today expects Charlotte to be in the east, so one team is going to have to head west.

Going from the map, that would be New Orleans.  But Memphis has been trying to escape the stiffer competition out west, so would they consider moving Memphis to the east while Chicago and Milwaukee head west?  Unlikely.

DuPree also reports that the player conditions for the new Charlotte team have been settled.

Charlotte will get the fourth pick in the 2004 draft.  In future years they will pick wherever they land in the draft, with no restrictions.

At the end of the 2003/04 season, teams will all be able to protect eight players that they have under contract for the 2004/05 season.  Charlotte will be able to select up to one player from each team.

Dupree says to expect older players with ugly contracts to be available, citing Damon Stoudamire and his $15.8 million salary being a prime candidate.

Charlotte will be able to sign free agents like other teams (not if they take on Stoudamire?s salary!).  But for the first season their salary cap will be two-thirds what other teams have, and in the second season it will be three-quarters what other teams have.

Although each team gets about $10.3 million from the $300 million expansion fee Charlotte is paying, it won?t take too many years for that to be offset by each team?s loss in national TV revenue.

Getting outplayed in every facet of the game, the Wizards played their worst game of the season in last night?s 98-79 blowout loss to the Portland Trailblazers. The boo birds came out early at an unhappy sold-out MCI Center during the third quarter, as the Wizards were well on their way to dropping their season record to 9-12. It was the Wizards eighth straight loss to the Blazers.

?It was a sad, sad game, unfortunately we can?t take our checks and give it to our fans. Embarrassing they paid to see us,? said Michael Jordan after the game.