Had enough of Spree yet?  Well, it's only fair to present management's side of this.

Chris Broussard reports that besides Layden's ability to look laughingly at Monday's public-relations nightmare, there were several indications that Sprewell would soon rejoin the Knicks.

First, Layden, Coach Don Chaney and the Garden executive Steve Mills will meet with Sprewell today to discuss his return, and Sprewell may even attend practice for the first time this season. Since Oct. 7, Sprewell, who was fined $250,000 that day for not reporting a hand injury in a timely fashion, has been barred from practices and games.

Second, Chaney, who had not commented at length about Sprewell for two weeks, spoke candidly about him yesterday, saying that Sprewell is in the team's plans.

"It's not that management wants him out," Chaney said. "We're all together in this. We all want him back so we can win some games. We realize that with him out, it hurts our chances to win. So the coaches, the players and the management want him back. To me, it's not a personal thing. Rules were broken, he was fined and we'll go from there. It's not personal at all."