TOMASSON: Father vs. son is nothing new : rockymountainnews.com

It was football season. Perhaps that's why so few noticed. Then again, few in the Crescent City paid attention to anything the New Orleans Jazz did.

History was made Nov. 9, 1976, when Butch Van Breda Kolff of the Jazz became the first to coach against his son in an NBA game. But it took nearly three decades for his son to realize it was historic.

On that night, a meager 7,606 showed up at the cavernous Superdome. They watched Jan Van Breda Kolff of the New York Nets total six points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in a 110-99 loss.

"Back in the '70s, there wasn't ESPN and all the media outlets there are today," said Jan, who recalls few details about the game other than, as the Nets' defensive specialist, chasing around Jazz star Pete Maravich. "I don't recall anybody saying, 'This is history.' I didn't even realize we had been the only ones until the Dunleavys started to do it."

The Dunleavys have made a father going against his son popular. With Mike Sr. coaching the Clippers and Mike Jr. playing for Golden State and now for Indiana, they've met 16 times.

There was hope George Karl would become the third to coach against his son in the NBA game. But rookie guard Coby Karl was assigned to the NBA Development League on Wednesday, a day before his Lakers were to face his dad's Nuggets.

So that matchup will have to wait. Karl hopes it will end up happening "20 to 30 times," which means Coby would have to play at least six NBA seasons.

Karl would love that. Then again, perhaps these father-son battles aren't all they're cracked up to be.

"It's really bad," Dunleavy Sr. said. "For the first time in your life, you don't want your son's team to win. You're sharing in the scouting. It just goes against your nature."

Dunleavy Sr. recalled one time drawing up strategy to foul out his son. It didn't work.

The Dunleavys first met Nov. 14, 2003, when the father was in his first season with the Clippers and the son in his second with Golden State. Dunleavy Sr. previously had taken two years off to watch his son's final season at Duke and his rookie NBA season.

The first round went to dad. The Clippers won 104-98 as Dunleavy Jr. was held to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting in 25 minutes.

"It was just different, hearing his voice and he was on the sideline for the other team," Dunleavy Jr. said. "Growing up, he was telling me what to do and then he's telling guys what to do against me."

Overall, the father has gone 11-5 against his son. Dunleavy Jr. said dad's dominance results from always watching his team's games on TV.

The wins have been rather lucrative considering the loser buys dinner. But there appears to be little gloating at home, where the games aren't discussed as much as one might think.

"I never asked the question," Dunleavy Sr. said when asked for whom family members root. "I don't want to know the answer. I assume (Emily, his wife of 30 years) wants me to win because I'm the livelihood and then wants Michael to play well."

The subject also didn't come up much between the Van Breda Kolffs, whose historic meeting turned out to be their only one.

A month later, Butch, whose greatest coaching moments were taking Bill Bradley-led Princeton to the 1965 Final Four and the Lakers to the NBA Finals in 1968 and 1969, was fired.

Butch, who died at 84 in August, never again was an NBA coach. His son played through 1982-83 and later coached at four schools, including alma mater Vanderbilt.

"It was never revisited once," Jan said of talking to his father about their meeting. "When the Dunleavys came along, he was in the last three or four years of his life and had a hard time understanding."

Their one matchup would seem to have provided plenty of fodder for discussion. Only much later was Jan reminded that he fouled out and his dad was ejected with two technicals.

It's unclear whether Jan's fouls came from chasing around Maravich or whether his father was able to do what Dunleavy Sr. couldn't.

Money man

Nuggets guard J.R. Smith is nicknamed "Youngrich." It's even written on his shoes.

So why the nickname?

"Because I'm young and I'm rich," the New Jersey native said. "My homeboys gave it to me."

Actually, Smith, 22, is not rich by NBA standards. He makes $2.13 million, less than half the league's average salary. But he is trying to cash after the season as a restricted free agent. He turned down a Nuggets contract offer last month because it wasn't lucrative enough.

But Smith can continue to think about money. On a segment called "This or That," recently shown on the video board at a Nuggets home game, he was asked if he preferred "love" or "money."

Smith's answer was "money."

"Because love can hurt you," he said. "Money never hurts you."

Iverson aware

Armed robberies in the summer of NBA players Eddy Curry and Antoine Walker got the attention of star athletes. The recent shooting death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, and allegations he might have been targeted, really got it.

"You're aware that you are a target," Nuggets guard Allen Iverson said. "A lot of people want what you got. A lot of people don't like the fact that you have what you have. Being black. Being a certain age. It don't sit well with a lot of people. But that's the lifestyle we chose. And that's the lifestyle we have to deal with."

Iverson said he tries to "stay away from . . . negative surroundings" but admits that often "you can't stay away because . . . that environment follows you."

On deck?

Other than George Karl going against Coby, could these other instances occur in which a father coaches against his son in the NBA?

Family Comment

Bryants Kobe's dad, Joe, led the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks to a 25-9 mark in 2006. Might somebody give him an NBA shot?

Lucases John II coached six NBA seasons, the last in 2002-03. Sons are John III, an NBA guard (2005-06 to 2006-07), and Jai, a promising Florida freshman guard.

Waltons Luke, 26, has several NBA seasons left. Could some team in the next decade be crazy enough to hire his dad, Hall of Famer Bill?

NUMBERS GAME

14games is what it took Golden State to reach 7-7 this season - the fewest an NBA team has needed to reach .500 after an 0-6 start. The previous mark was the 1995-96 Nuggets, who reached 9-9 but soon returned to their old ways and finished 35-47.

O'NEAL SIGHTING?

Much has happened since the Nuggets last faced Shaquille O'Neal.

He continued to shine, won a fourth NBA title and, if you listen to doomsayers, then fell off the map. If the Heat center plays Sunday at the Pepsi Center, it would be his first game against Denver since Dec. 17, 2004, when he scored 20 points against a Jeff Bzdelik-coached team.

Since then, George Karl is 4-0 against Miami, with O'Neal missing them all because of injury. Considering the recent play of O'Neal, averaging a pedestrian 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds, it might not matter if he plays Sunday.

HE SAID IT

"I would just tell (Coby Karl) to tell his dad before the game to put the worst defender on him."

Mike Dunleavy Jr., Pacers guard- forward and son of Clippers coach Mike Sr., offering advice if George Karl faces his son.