Usually, Hersey Hawkins has to get on a plane to go to his job as television analyst for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Yesterday, all he had to do was drive from his Charlotte home to the Charlotte Coliseum.

Hawkins retired over the summer after 13 NBA seasons as a player, including two stints with the Hornets. He said before the Grizzlies' 92-78 win yesterday that he is enjoying his new job - but he definitely feels like a rookie in the business.

"As I do it more and I start to feel a little more comfortable, I'm enjoying it a lot more," he said. "It's a lot more difficult than what I thought. Watching the games you think it would be easy, but it's hard to formulate what you want to say and say the right thing. So I'm still learning."

Hawkins appeared in 59 games with the Hornets last season, but was not re-signed. He was looking into playing one more year elsewhere when the call came with an offer from Memphis.

"This is something I wanted to go into eventually," he said. "I majored in it in college, and I've always thought I'd give it a try one day. So when the opportunity came up, I figured I could either try to stay in shape and try to latch on with somebody, or I can latch onto this while I could. An opportunity like this doesn't come along often where you get a chance to get into the league and do TV. So I decided the chance was there and I had to take advantage of it."

Hawkins made Charlotte his permanent residence after his first stint with the Hornets, from 1993 until 1995.

? Guard David Wesley was examined by team doctors before yesterday's game, and the decision was made for Wesley to continue wearing the boot cast on his left foot for at least six more days.

Wesley has been out since Feb. 1 with a cracked bone in his left foot. He missed his seventh straight game yesterday.

Doctors will re-examine the injury next weekend and will determine a timetable for his return. He was initially expected to miss three to four weeks.

? When Jamal Mashburn returns to the active roster for tonight's game at Milwaukee, he will immediately move back into the starting lineup.

Coach Paul Silas said before yesterday's game that he would play Mashburn in long stretches at the start of each half and would play it by ear from there.

"I have to start him because they told me that once he warms up, it's not good to let him sit down and get cold and then bring him back in," Silas said. "So he'll start right away, and then it's all according to how he feels."

Mashburn has been on the injured list since Nov. 20 with a strained abdominal muscle. He said he will be ready for as many minutes as Silas gives him.

"I've been cleared to play so I'm just going to go out and play and not worry about it," he said.