Out of character

Maurice Cheeks earned nationwide good will on April 25 when he helped a teenager who forgot the words of the national anthem at center court before a Trail Blazers' playoff game.

Now, Cheeks is just another of the Blazers' bad boyzz. The same good-guy Cheeks was ejected from an NBA game Dec. 7 with two technical fouls and later fined $7,500 by the league for verbally abusing officials and not leaving the court in a timely manner in Memphis.

OK, so maybe he had added stress — bad, bad Bonzi Wells was on the other team, traded by the Blazers just a few days earlier after verbally abusing Cheeks and disrespecting just about everyone in Portland, and Wells dropped 16 on the Trail Blazers.

But that's the first time in Cheeks' career, playing or coaching, that he's ever been ejected.

Then there's San Antonio's Tim Duncan, named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year along with former teammate David Robinson as two of the league's best Eagle Scouts. That came the same week that Duncan was suspended by the NBA for knocking official Jack Nies to the floor, pushing him with both hands as he tried to cut to the high post in a Dec. 1 game against Golden State.

Spurs' forward Malik Rose told the San Antonio media that he said to Nies at the time, "You know Tim would never intentionally do that. He's one of the nicest guys in the league."

When Duncan received word of the suspension, coach Gregg Popovich told the Associated Press, "Tim was shocked. I mean, he almost let out a laugh, like 'Are you kidding me?' It was just like a funny incident to the fans, and nothing was written about it. He was flabbergasted."

But one of the league's white-hat guys had become a bad boy for a bit.

Popovich, too. The Spurs coach, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, doesn't seem to be defined by volatility, but he was ejected from a game a month earlier and received a one-game suspension and automatic $1,000 fine for a tirade over a non-call when he thought guard Shane Heal was fouled. He was restrained by Rose and assistant coaches but still managed to bump an official.

"I hated to see Popovich get thrown out of the game," Grizzly coach Hubie Brown told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "I respect Popovich as much as anybody in the league."