I find this coments from LJ very interesting. Could it be anger at the media or fear of loosing an NBA title after coming so close to it? Have a great weekend! God speed! Pa Mambuna ****************************************************************************************** Friday, Jun. 25 LJ silent on court, talkative off it By Kevin Jackson ESPN.com NEW YORK -- Larry Johnson was back in the center of the storm again Thursday afternoon. Only this time, the controversial New York Knicks forward didn't want to leave. That's right, the same man who has been fined a total of $35,000 for failing to talk to the media on three occasions during the 1999 playoffs was actually begging for a little more time to meet the press. The horn had sounded at Madison Square Garden, signifying the end of New York's half-hour mandatory media session before Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Friday night. Several Knicks officials immediately told Johnson to wrap it up, and coach Jeff Van Gundy even came over to say practice was about to start. Perhaps they'd have been a little more forceful if they'd known what Johnson was talking about. Johnson insisted he needed a few more minutes to set the record straight on the most controversial of topics -- slavery. So he decided to speak his peace before joining his teammates on the Garden floor for some stretching exercises. In case you haven't heard, Johnson set off a firestorm of controversy Tuesday, when he characterized the Knicks as a band of "rebellious slaves." Since then, Johnson has been chastised in the New York media for being completely out of touch with the slavery issue. NBC broadcaster Bill Walton even called LJ "a disgrace to basketball" after hearing the comments. When the topic came up again Thursday, Johnson felt the need to explain why a man with an $84 million contract could possibly consider himself a "slave." "Can I ask you all a question?" Johnson said, as the questioning began to heat up. "Have I lied?" When he got no response, he continued, "Oh, OK, then I'm telling the truth. But people still say, 'Shhhh.' "Listen, no one man can rise above the masses of the conditions of his people. Understand me," he said. "I am privileged and honored by the situation that I am in. No question. I have an excellent opportunity, and this is a beautiful country, the best country. But it's not holy, it's not righteous." Then, Johnson turned a little political. "We talk about what's going in Kosovo," he said. "We talk about Nigeria and all that. Well, what's going on here? Huh? "Sure, we see the NBA, it's full of blacks, and the NFL and all that. Great opportunities, and we've made beautiful strides. But when I go back to my neighborhood (in Dallas), I see the same thing. "I'm the only one who came out of my neighborhood. All of them are dead, in jail, on drugs, selling drugs. So am I supposed to be honored and happy and whatever, just by my success or by that brother's success? But I can't deny the fact of what done happened to us over years and years, and we're still at the bottom of the totem pole. I can't turn my head on that." Still, Johnson's comments Thursday will surely turn more heads in New York. Although the Knicks are trying to extend their season and overcome a 3-1 deficit against the Spurs in this series, Johnson talked as much about social issues as he did about basketball. When he was asked about the play of Spurs point guard Avery Johnson in Game 4, LJ again shifted the topic to slavery. "That's my man, Ave, because we're from the same plantation. We've both got the Johnson name," he said. "You tell Bill Walton that. We're from Mas'r Johnson's plantation." Clearly, Johnson isn't concerned about how his explosive comments will be received. He spoke at length earlier in the week about how he doesn't care if people "don't like me," calling it simply "mutual respect." Johnson said he's played with a bit of a chip on his shoulder since his college days, ironically for a UNLV team nicknamed the Rebels. "I don't care about myself. I've got a family that loves me, (and) a wife, kids and mother that love me. So I don't care what you guys write or say about me," he said. And that goes for Walton, who had these comments after Game 4: "Larry Johnson, who spent the last 48 hours railing against the world, what a pathetic performance by this sad human being. This is a disgrace to the game of basketball and to the NBA. He played like a disgrace tonight, he deserved it." LJ's retort to Walton was just as harsh: "That's not the same Bill Walton that was at UCLA, smoking pot and (being a) hippie. If that's the way Bill feels, that's the way Bill feels," said Johnson, who went as far to suggest that Walton and other white media members should trace their ancestry for possible connections to slavery. "But you know what, I respect that. That way me and Bill know where each other stands." Although he knows he's standing knee-deep in controversy again, Johnson is nonplussed. He can already picture tomorrow's headlines. "I'm going to be killed with my 'slave' quote, which is 100 percent true," he said. "And y'all know it." And with that, Johnson hit the floor to actually work on some basketball.