So the season is four games old and he still hasn't played. Nor is he expected to appear during the current four-game road swing. (By comparison, Golden State's Baron Davis missed last Friday's game against the Jazz with an identically described injury, yet played Sunday against the Knicks, scoring 16 points and contributing nine assists.)

It's hard to say how Boozer's hamstring is feeling right now.

But it's not hard to guess how Jazz management is feeling. The return on the $68 million hasn't been much.

The bottom line is Boozer hasn't played for the Jazz since Valentine's Day, four days after owner Larry H. Miller questioned his toughness. He's done nothing to prove Miller wrong.

Pain is a tricky, individualistic thing, but this much is undeniable: In the '90s, the Jazz missed fewer games due to injury than any team in the league. That wasn't merely luck. It's not as though players didn't pull hamstrings back then.

You think they never played with pain?

Jazz players from that era say sitting out was a last resort, not a precautionary measure. Karl Malone played weeks on an ankle so badly sprained he should have been in a soft cast. He also played most of a season with a torn finger. John Stockton endured the playoffs one year with a shoulder so severely injured he couldn't lift his arm.

It's not too much to expect Boozer to put on a uniform and see how he feels.

In a curious show of support, the Jazz named Boozer this year's tri-captain along with Kirilenko and Harpring. Boozer says he's more than happy to be a leader, but don't expect him to be a spokesman with the media. He says he merely wants to lead in the locker room and on the court.

That's hard to do wearing street clothes.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com