KNICK NOTES
Latrell Sprewell was cleared for his first practice yesterday since injuring his back one week ago and labored through the entire session, even shooting an extra 25 minutes afterward at Purchase College.
Spree joined the Knicks on the team flight to Seattle and is still hopeful of playing tonight against Patrick Ewing’s Sonics but did not give a 100-percent commitment.
“It depends on how I feel afterward,” said Sprewell, who missed three straight games. “I got up and down with the guys. I’ll go through shootaround (in the morning) and see how it feels and hopefully play. It’s sore but it felt better today. I could move around actually.”
If it wasn’t for the historic nature of tonight’s game, Sprewell might not even consider it. When he finished shooting free throws, Sprewell immediately took a bag of ice and wrapped it around his midsection.
“If it’s not right, I’m not going to go out and make it any worse.” Sprewell said. “I could actually move and actually run even though I did feel a little weak. With more practice and shooting a little bit, it will all come back.”
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The good news is Miami is out of the Joe Smith sweepstakes.
The bad news is the Knicks won’t get him either. Smith’s agent, Dan Fagan, declined Knick GM Scott Layden’s invitation for the free-agent power forward to visit New York.
“It looks like we’re out of the picture, at this point,” Layden said.
Layden had invited Smith on Friday, but it appears Smith will choose between Dallas and Detroit, with the Timberwolves having an outside shot.
Layden also tried to arrange a meeting with Smith at another location, but was turned down by Fagan. “We would have loved to have had the opportunity,” said Layden. “Clearly you’d love to have a player come in and see what we have to offer because it’s a special situation. We need to move on. I don’t want to see ‘Knicks are Devastated’ headlines.”
“It goes back to when we went after Grant Hill. We didn’t get a chance to have him come visit. We went to Detroit. It would have been much different if he came to visit. We would have had a better opportunity.”
Latrell Sprewell, Smith’s close buddy said, “Joe has to do what’s best for him. We would have loved to had him, but he’s his own man.
That’s not gonna keep us from staying friends.”
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Sprewell, commenting on no Knick player calling Patrick Ewing in the weeks after he got traded, “Not one person on this team dislikes Patrick. He may be a little upset, but I don’t think it should be to the point where he’s not going to speak to the guys. Let’s hope he’s not bitter about that. Honestly, I know in my heart, I didn’t want him to leave. I wish he would have finished here.” . . . Layden, the man responsible for shipping Ewing out of town, said on the eve of the Seattle showdown, “It was very hard trading a player whose been with an organization so long. The whole notion of trading Patrick saddened me when it happened. Everyone in this organization genuinely wants him to do well.” . . . Charlie Ward, averaging 1.3 steals per game, could be a defensive weapon tonight, helping against Ewing on the block. “We know his game, he knows our game. There’s no secrets,” Ward said.