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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 1, 2002
ORLANDO -- Goodbye, Horace Grant. Goodbye, Patrick Ewing?
After Tuesday night's playoff and season-ending loss, the Magic's venerable veterans were quizzed about their plans.
Grant had spoken openly about retiring after this season. The 15th-year pro won four championship rings, three with Michael Jordan's Bulls and one with Shaquille O'Neal's Lakers, and was on Orlando's 1995 NBA Finals team.
But Grant, 36, didn't come out and say he was retired Tuesday.
"I'm going fishing (today)," Grant said. "I'll put it that way."
Ewing, named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in a 1996 poll, may be close to retiring after 17 seasons and 1,187 games with New York, Seattle and Orlando. The 1985-86 Rookie of the Year made his mark with the Knicks, leading them to the 1994 NBA Finals.
Ewing, 39, has not discussed his retirement this season, and he wasn't ready to discuss it Tuesday. "I don't want to think about that right now," Ewing said. "I'm not even worrying about it."
WELL, DUH: NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said official Bernie Fryer made the wrong call at the end of Game 3. But Granik added that instant replay, which the league is considering adopting, would not have corrected the error.
Fryer waved off Baron Davis' 3-point bank shot with .7 seconds left Saturday, which would have won it for Charlotte (which won in overtime anyway.) Fryer said he decided beforehand that a player would not be able to take the pass, set up and release a 3-point shot in .7 seconds.
Television replays showed Davis did just that, grabbing the pass and releasing the ball with .2 seconds left. "I think the referee made a judgment, which I think was not appropriate in that circumstance," Granik said.
M.I.A.: Ailing Hornets forward Jamal Mashburn missed all four games of the series. He has mild anemia and B-12 deficiency and has remained in Charlotte for treatment. "He's still having problems," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "He's weak, he has headaches. We don't know when he's going to return."