When Antonio McDyess strolls the Garden hallways tonight, he will give the cold shoulder to Isiah Thomas.

"He never said anything to me when I was there, so what do I have to say to him now?" the former Knick, now an injury-listed Sun, told The Post yesterday.

"I'm happy to be out of that situation. I was feeling uncomfortable."

McDyess won't play tonight when the Suns visit for the first time since Jan. 5's Stephon Marbury blockbuster. He'll save his revenge for the Knicks' visit to Phoenix Feb. 25.

The agent for Seattle Supersonics center Jerome James says that if he feels that his client is not part of the team's future, he will likely opt-out of his contract this summer.

"It's way too early for us to make that determination," (Marc)Fleisher said. "It depends on how well he plays, how much opportunity he is given to play, what other potential suitors are out there, do they have cap space where he might be able to fit if he is unhappy where he is?

"I think right now his preference would be to stay (in Seattle) and play. But obviously if he gets the sense that he is not in their future plans, then he would want to look elsewhere."

Contract talks between the New York Knicks and forward Kurt Thomas have stalled.

"We've had discussions but they haven't been very fruitful," said Thomas' agent, Jerry Hicks. "The fact that they've expressed interest in doing something with Kurt, we interpret that to be a positive, but nothing has happened."

Thomas can opt-out of his contract this summer, which he is likely to do if he doesn't get an extension.

NEW YORK (AP) Kobe Bryant was selected to start in the NBA All-Star game, voted in by fans despite a sexual assault charge.

The Los Angeles Lakers star led Western Conference guards with 1,759,717 votes in final results released Thursday, fourth among all players.

He was picked to start in front of his hometown fans at Staples Center on Feb. 15 in the 53rd NBA All-Star game.

Bryant's teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, was beaten out for the second straight year by Houston's Yao Ming. The Chinese center edged O'Neal by less than 32,000 votes.

``That's cool,'' O'Neal said. ``Where he's from there are 2 trillion people.''

But it was O'Neal who got more electronic votes from fans around the world, while Yao had the advantage in paper ballots available in the United States and Canada.

Joining Bryant and Yao on the Western Conference squad were Rockets guard Steve Francis, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett, last year's All-Star game MVP.

Toronto Raptors forward Vince Carter led all players with 2,127,183 votes. It's the fourth time he's finished first in the voting, tied for second all-time with Julius Erving. Michael Jordan holds the record with nine.

Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal will be the other starting forward for the Eastern Conference. The center is Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons, and the guards are Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Orlando's Tracy McGrady.

Bryant is charged with sexual assault for allegedly raping a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort during the offseason. He faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. Bryant, 25, says the two had consensual sex.

It's been a tough season for Bryant on the court as well.

He leads Los Angeles in scoring at 21.7 points per game, but he missed six games because of a sprained right shoulder and has heard plenty of boos on the road, where the Lakers are 7-12.

The 29 head coaches will vote for the reserves in their respective conferences. Those results will be announced Feb. 3.

Indiana's Rick Carlisle will coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars. Flip Saunders of the Minnesota Timberwolves will lead the West.

CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Bulls gambled big three summers ago, entrusting the future of the franchise to a couple of teenagers just out of high school.

Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry were raw and inexperienced, but they were also 7 feet tall and incredibly talented. Give them time to develop, and the two could be the best big men in the East _ and the cornerstone of a new Bulls dynasty.

Three years later, Chandler and Curry remain certain they'll be a force in the NBA one day. But they're no closer to dominating the game than they were that June night they were drafted, and the Bulls are paying the price with another abysmal year.

Chandler has shown he can live up to his hype, averaging a double-double early in the season, but he's played in only 10 games because of a back injury. Curry gets pushed around too easily for a guy dubbed ``Baby Shaq,'' and he's regressed from last season, when he led the NBA with a .585 field goal percentage.

He's averaging less than six rebounds to go with his 12.5 points, and coach Scott Skiles has criticized his conditioning. He's also a frequent target of boos in Chicago _ not an easy thing to hear in your hometown.

``I know if I was out there, I could make things easier for him,'' said Chandler, who was drafted second overall in 2001, two spots ahead of Curry.

``I'm always going to feel like we can be the best two big men in the East. I know we can be. I know we will be.''

But when? While Kevin Garnett made the transition from preps to the pros with relative ease and LeBron James makes the leap seem like child's play this year, they are the exceptions. Most players who've gone from high school to the NBA have struggled early on, children in a man's game.

Some eventually become standouts, developing slowly like Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal and Seattle's Rashard Lewis. Others become cautionary tales against precociousness, flaming out like Darius Miles or Leon Smith.

Miles, the No. 3 pick in 2000, is on his third team in four seasons. Smith, a first-rounder in 1999, isn't even in the league anymore.

``The expectations, they're hard but that's the price you pay when you want to jump straight from high school,'' said Toronto Raptors forward Donyell Marshall, who played with Chandler and Curry before the Bulls traded him in November.

``I don't think anybody wants those high expectations on them, but that's what they come in the league for. They wanted to make themselves the franchise and stuff like that. That's what comes with the territory.''

Players are eligible for the NBA as soon as their high school class graduates. NBA commissioner David Stern would like the minimum age raised to 20, but that's unlikely to happen.

So teenagers will continue to dream big and make the jump. Teams will keep taking chances on the kids, just in case they really are the next James, Garnett or Kobe Bryant.

And the growing pains will continue for everyone.

``There's no question not going to college hurts,'' said Bulls general manager John Paxson, who didn't draft Chandler or Curry. ``It's really the environment. I've been able to see several college practices this year and you say to yourself, 'There's something demanded of them. There's discipline.'

``There's just a structure that, as professionals, you can't totally give them.''

Like the other phenoms who've gone straight to the NBA, Chandler and Curry dominated in high school. Chandler was USA Today's player of the year in California his senior year, when he averaged 26 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Curry was a McDonald's All-American and Illinois Mr. Basketball, and he averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds in the state tournament his senior year.

But they also were bigger and stronger than just about everyone else they played. Going to college would have evened the competition out, forcing them to work on their games rather than rely on their talent.

Look at Bulls rookie Kirk Hinrich. After four years at Kansas, he's averaging 10.8 points and 5.7 assists, and only Jamal Crawford plays more than his 33.7 minutes per game. Skiles recently called him the team's best player.

``College just gave me a chance to mature, physically and mentally,'' Hinrich said. ``You get great coaching for four years and you enjoy yourself. It was a great experience for me.''

Neither Chandler nor Curry regrets skipping college. This season has been tough on both, with Curry struggling on the court and Chandler limited by injuries. But both are confident they will eventually be the stars everyone expected.

It's just going to take some time.

``Tyson Chandler wants to get better, Eddy Curry wants to get better,'' said Toronto's Jalen Rose, who spent 1{ years in Chicago. ``Unfortunately for those guys, their learning curve needs to come when their team really needs them to be great players. And right now, they're still working to be that.''

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Without a single superstar, Grizzlies president Jerry West revived this inept franchise.

His low-key deals have slowly turned Memphis into one of the deepest teams in the league and given the franchise its first chance at making the playoffs.

``We've been fortunate because we have one of the best evaluators of talent ever in the history of the game,'' said Grizzlies coach Hubie Brown, who was hired by West.

As general manager in Los Angeles from 1982 to 2000, West built the Lakers into consistent winners on the shoulders of superstars like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

In Memphis, his team matches its uniforms: blue collar.

The Grizzlies have no marquee names, but at least two solid players at each position, and Brown plays a 10-man rotation, rewarding hard-nosed, unselfish play with more time on the court.

``A team is not five guys playing all the minutes,'' West said. ``He keeps players pushing and trying to get better all the time.''

West took over in 2002, a year after the hapless Grizzlies moved from Vancouver. At 65, he was bored with retirement and wanted to transform a bottom-rung team into a contender.

But the Grizzlies were no Lakers, a franchise West led to seven NBA championships as general manager and one as a player in 1969. The best record the perennially awful Grizzlies had ever managed was 23-59.

``It was pretty evident to me that we needed to do things differently around here, and fortunately I have an owner who allowed me some latitude in being aggressive,'' West said.

Now, only forward Stromile Swift remains from the Vancouver era.

Five players in the Grizzlies media guide, which is put out shortly before the season begins, are no longer with the team. Four new faces don't appear.

The no-name Grizzlies have beaten some of the biggest names in the NBA, including the Western Conference-leading Sacramento Kings and Lakers, and set a franchise-record eight-game winning streak.

``The talent level has gone up,'' center Lorenzen Wright said. ``We've got the type of guys who fit Hubie's system.''

With little fanfare, West brought in three players _ Mike Miller, James Posey and Bonzi Wells _ who are among the team's top five scorers and key to its resurgence.

Miller, a strong outside shooter, was acquired from Orlando along with Ryan Humphrey and two draft picks in February 2003, in exchange for Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek.

Miller played only 16 games with Memphis last season because of muscle spasms in his back, but he's started every game this season, averaging about 11 points and four assists.

``What Mike Miller is doing now is what we expected him to do,'' Brown said. ``He's an excellent passer and he makes the right plays, so we've got another ball handler on the break.''

James Posey, a starter who is averaging about 11 points, came to Memphis from Houston as a free agent.

``He's a great teammate because he's all about winning,'' Brown said. ``When I say he's a real professional, I mean that. You could not ask for a better guy at both ends of the court and in the locker room and off the court.''

The biggest surprise might be Wells, who was traded to Memphis and left his bad reputation behind in Portland. In Memphis, he's also a crowd favorite, a decided change from the Trail Blazers.

Though a starter in Portland, Wells has adapted to spending more time on the sideline in Memphis. Still, he's averaging about 12 points, and scored 30 points against Dallas on Dec. 27.

Brown and West were never concerned about his attitude and gave him a fresh start.

``He's every bit what we thought he would be,'' Brown said. ``Everything about Bonzi Wells has been terrific.''

Perhaps the only stars on this team are Pau Gasol, the 7-foot Spaniard who leads the team in scoring with about 17 points per game, and point guard Jason Williams, who was flashy and unpredictable in Sacramento but has settled down under Brown.

The new players have ``certainly done what we want done here and given us a chance to have a team that we think is pretty competitive right now,'' West said.

So, for now at least, West has no immediate plan for trades.

``You never turn a deaf ear to anywhere you think you can help yourself, but we're not anxious to do anything at this point,'' West said.

Last year, the Grizzlies had their best season in franchise history with only 28 victories. But by the halfway point of this season, they already had 23 wins, following an 88-82 victory over the Lakers.

The only goal now is the playoffs.

``We're trying to get to 41 and 41,'' Brown said. ``Once you get there, you're in the hunt.''

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.''

___

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.''

___

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.''

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana Pacers forward Al Harrington has no structural damage in his sore right knee and isn't expected to miss any time.

Harrington had tests on his knee Thursday, one day after feeling pain during a victory over Phoenix.

Harrington said after the game that he thought the knee might need minor surgery to clear up some scar tissue. But a review of the tests on Friday found no such damage, the team said.

Harrington has been bothered by the knee since colliding with teammate Jermaine O'Neal before the season started. Team doctors have assured Harrington that he cannot damage the knee further by continuing to play.

Harrington, who practiced with the team Friday, is averaging 13.1 points and 6.7 rebounds.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Lakers star Kobe Bryant was placed on the injured list Friday because of a severe cut on his right index finger that will keep him out of action for at least a week.

The Lakers said Bryant needed nine to 10 stitches to close the wound. He was injured Thursday when he accidentally put his hand through a glass window while trying to move some boxes which were in storage in his garage, the team said.

Bryant will be eligible to return Feb. 8 when the Lakers play at Orlando in the fifth game of a seven-game road trip leading up to the All-Star break.

Bryant played two games after missing six because of a sprained right shoulder that clearly bothered him during Wednesday night's 96-82 victory over Seattle.

Bryant was going to have to miss Monday night's game at Indiana to attend a two-day hearing related to his sexual assault case in Eagle, Colo. He has been charged with allegedly raping a 19-year-old hotel employee last summer and faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation if convicted of felony sexual assault. He says the two had consensual sex.

The Lakers said Bryant will meet the team in Cleveland and be re-evaluated at that time. They play the Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Bryant is averaging 21.7 points to rank ninth in the NBA along with 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He was voted into the starting lineup for the Western Conference in the All-Star game, to be played Feb. 15 at Staples Center.

The Lakers didn't immediately replace Bryant on their active roster.