Having played just 18 minutes in the five games preceding Saturday night’s, Corey Benjamin has had plenty of time to think. And the subject of his future has come to mind, a future that is very much uncertain beyond this season.
Before the season the Bulls didn’t pick up the option on the three-year contract Benjamin signed after they made him their No. 1 selection in the 1998 NBA draft. It will pay him $744,480 this season, and Benjamin will be a free agent when it expires.
“That situation is something I’ll have to deal with in three months. Right now I’m here,” Benjamin said. “The only thing I can do now is work on my own, stay in shape and, hopefully, something good will happen. There is no need to sit around and cry about what’s happening because that won’t do any good. I’m hoping for more playing time, but I’m sure a lot of people in this league are too.”
Benjamin scored two points in 14 minutes in the Bulls’ 123-103 loss to the Nets on Saturday night. Back on Dec. 9, Benjamin pushed his scoring average to a season-high 8.1 points in the middle of a six-game stretch in which he played at least 18 minutes every game and 42 minutes in one game. But minutes have been scarce since.
“I can play basketball. Everybody knows I can play basketball,” Benjamin said. “I feel I can help any team with my running ability, athleticism and defending. I’m not really concerned about [staying in the league]. I’m just concerned about getting better. I’ve been playing basketball my whole life. No need to think it will stop now.”
Shake it off: Ron Artest started against the Nets despite being slowed by tendinitis in his right foot and a hip pointer suffered when he crashed hard to the United Center floor Thursday night against Detroit. Artest was one of many Bulls defenders unable to stop Stephon Marbury on Saturday.
“The hip was a little stiff moving to my right,” Artest said. “I tried to pick him up at half-court, but he kept blowing by me.”
Comeback kids: Sunday marks Mario Lemieux’s return to the United Center and a continuation of his remarkable comeback after a three-year absence from hockey. The United Center provided the stage for another decent comeback, fellow by the name of Jordan.
“Michael’s success after he came back didn’t surprise me at all,” radio analyst and former Jordan teammate John Paxson said. “You’re talking about the greatest player of all time. He had to work a few kinks out, but I didn’t have any doubt that he would be great again.”
Whose comeback is better?
“I don’t like to compare things,” Paxson said, explaining that he knows very little about hockey. “They’re both amazing.”
Not so fast: Elton Brand was scheduled to have his No. 42 retired at Peekskill High School in New York on Friday, but the ceremony was put off when inclement weather postponed the game. No makeup date has been scheduled. “They’re going to try to work it around my schedule,” Brand said.
Layups: Multipurpose arenas are not rare in sports. Holding hockey and basketball games on the same day is. But the New Jersey Devils played host to the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday afternoon, forcing Continental Airlines Arena workers to make the same-day switch from ice to hardwood.
