In a way, perhaps Horace Grant should be flattered.
The Bulls are 5-3 this season when he has been out of the lineup, which translates to a little more than 20 percent of their losses. And while none of his teammates or coaches questioned was critical of him in the wake of the disappointing loss to Miami Wednesday-a game Grant missed because of illness-he was certainly the main topic of discussion.
It was Grant’s eighth absence of the season, his fifth due to illness. He joined Bill Cartwright (sore knee) and Toni Kukoc (strained back) on the sideline, but Grant’s absence was the most conspicuous for two reasons. One was the initial diagnosis, a hardly glamorous-sounding sore throat. And second was the nature of the Bulls’ defeat, a second-half collapse in which they lost a 21-point lead, in large part because they were battered on the boards.
“I hate to cast aspersions at Horace because we’ve been over this bridge a number of times,” said coach Phil Jackson. “I know the team is disappointed, because last night we just didn’t have the manpower, and Horace’s skills certainly could have helped. But this guy has been through a lot of battles with us, and I’m sure he’d never let his teammates down.”
Jackson was more diplomatic than he has been in the past about Grant, but he also pointed out that Grant missed a doctor’s appointment Tuesday.
“I don’t know the problem,” he said when asked if he was concerned Grant has had more illnesses than usual. “Scottie (Pippen) seems to think it’s the fact he goes to so many movie theaters. He sees four or five movies a week, and perhaps he catches alien germs floating around the many theaters, or maybe his hand in all those popcorn boxes may be doing it, too. Whatever it is, we’d certainly like to have a healthy and strong Horace for the duration of the season.
“I suggested to Horace that when he signs his new contract, he signs it on a 60-game basis rather than 82, and then he can afford to do it this way.”
It was no joke to Grant, who was indeed sick Thursday and disappointed in feeling he has to defend himself again. “Whenever I miss a game, I feel terrible,” he said. “Especially when we lose.”
Grant said he will be back for Friday night’s game against Denver, as will Cartwright. “When Horace does come to play, he makes this a very tough team,” Jackson said. “He gives us an energy source we really miss.”
Grant, who missed just 10 games combined over the last three championship seasons, said he always becomes ill when the weather changes dramatically, as it has this week. And he attributes the problems he has had this winter to not getting a flu shot, as most of his teammates did.
“When I was sick against the Magic on Christmas, I made my situation a lot worse,” he said. “I just didn’t want to make this situation worse. I was definitely looking a little ahead (to Sunday’s game against the Knicks), because whenever we go into New York, I want to be at full strength.”
Jackson said he wasn’t surprised Grant was sick after All-Star weekend. “Guys who go to the All-Star Game get totally bent out of shape with late hours, parties, meeting and greeting people.”
But Grant insisted he played it extremely conservative over the weekend, staying in his hotel room nearly the entire two days before the game, other than going out to dinner Saturday night.
Naturally, his contract status and impending free agency was brought up again, and Jackson said that when he had his midseason meeting with Grant, he repeated earlier concerns. “I told him, `I know you don’t want to miss games because other teams get wind of this and they’re not going to be after you.’ They want players who show up every day, and he knows that.”
Grant said that is the very reason why he would not miss a game unless he was truly unable to play. “By being an unrestricted free agent after this season, I want to play as many games as I possibly can to show GMs and teams around the league how durable I am and how I can play. From that standpoint, I want to be out there every opportunity I can.”
