HAWKS' NORMAN IS FORGOTTEN MAN.

Byline: Marc Stein 

Close games, especially. Blowouts, too. Even lopsided losses. It does not matter. Ken Norman does not play.

Can ol' Snake really be that poisonous?

They sure think so in Georgia, where Norman, judging by his work rate since New Year's Day, is more likely to tee off in this week's Masters at Augusta than get in a game for the Atlanta Hawks.

Lenny Wilkens, the winningest coach in NBA history, apparently has no use for one of L.A.'s favorite ex-Clippers.

``Obviously, I'd like to be be playing and contributing to the team,'' said Norman, a starter for the season's first 28 games and almost invisible after that. ``You've got to try to look at things positively. It's a real tough situation. I feel I'm as good or better than anyone playing in front of me. I should say I know I am.

``But I understand chemistry. We were a little below .500 when I was playing. What happened since then? The team has played really well. I shouldn't have been blamed that we weren't playing well, but I guess someone had to be blamed.''

To the venerable Wilkens, Norman stood out, as much for his horrid free-throw shooting (a league-low 35.4 percent) as his on-court antics.

The Hawks were 13-15, and Wilkens, unlike Sports Arena-goers, could no longer tolerate Norman's Snake Dance. So he pulled Norman from the starting lineup on Jan. 2 - from the rotation entirely, in fact - and replaced him with Stacey Augmon.

Atlanta responded with 19 wins in the next 28 games. Norman sat out the first 20 of those, played sparingly in three of the next five games and then sat out 18 more in a row.

Last week, Norman seemed to get a last chance, with short stints against Boston, Washington and New Jersey. In the game against the Nets, though, Norman was ejected in the fourth quarter after an altercation with Robert Werdann. Referee Joey Crawford had to lead the former Illinois All-American off the court.

Who knows now if Wilkens will ever let him back on?

``I like Lenny as a person,'' Norman said. ``I think he's a wonderful man. No player and coach are going to totally see eye-to-eye, but I don't even have a problem with him on the court.

``I'll tell you what really upsets me. I see a bunch of things about me in the paper, negative things, and I don't see (Wilkens) or anyone else get up and defend me. I thought we were all in this together.''

In the locker room, maybe. Norman actually sits in the stall beside Augmon, the man who took his job, and jokes like nothing happened.

With the coach? It's clearly time for the relationship to end, but the sides aren't sure how. Along with a damaged reputation, Norman has three years left on a six-year, $15.8 million pact he got from Milwaukee when he left the Clippers before the 1993-'94 season - the Bucks are still paying a substantial portion of Norman's salary after he didn't work out there, either. Not the easiest guy to trade.

``I'm 32 years old and I average over $3 million,'' Norman said. ``I would think it would be difficult to move me.

``I'm sure they won't release me, but I wish they would. I'd be through with basketball. I'd just go home and spend time with my family.''

Until then, the erstwhile player is content to be a provider.

``For you to be drawing a $200,000 paycheck every two weeks, you're playing for your family as well as yourself,'' Norman said. ``I know my family is going to be provided for extremely well.''

GM sweepstakes: If there's a front-office opening in the NBA, you can be sure Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak will be considered. In fact, he's on Philadelphia's short list for the second time in three years.

The Sixers' new ownership interviewed Kupchak on Friday, while he and Lakers executive vice president Jerry West were on the East Coast for the pre-draft camp at Portsmouth, Va. Kupchak declined to comment about the meeting, but it's believed that he'll have a shot at the job only if Orlando's John Gabriel turns it down.

Of course, Kupchak might not really want it. The Lakers regard him as West's eventual successor - within a few years, perhaps - and want him to stay. In the meantime, though, they don't deny him the chance to talk with other clubs.

The last time Philadelphia came after Kupchak, in 1994, the Lakers elevated him from assistant general manager to GM, with West going from GM to vice president.

CBA corner: Ray Jackson is Michigan's only Fab Five alumnus yet to graduate to the NBA, but the Grand Rapids (Mich.) forward is the CBA's Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.7 points in 53 games. Mackers coach Brendan Suhr, the longtime NBA assistant, gives Jackson a good chance of someday joining Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King in the bigs.

``(Jackson) has developed into a premier scorer,'' Suhr said. ``He can score at any level of basketball. I think he is very much the type of player Cedric Ceballos is in the NBA. He can play point guard, (shooting) guard, small forward or power forward. Anywhere I wanted to put him on the floor, he could play it.''

Buzzer-beater: It doesn't bother the Lakers that there is increasing speculation in Orlando that Shaquille O'Neal is struggling to co-exist with fellow star Penny Hardaway and under-fire coach Brian Hill. Magic Johnson freely admits what L.A. management isn't allowed to say about the 7-foot-1, 303-pound prize of this summer's free-agent market:

``Shaq knows that we want him. It would be just like old times with me and Kareem if he came here. I think that it will basically be a two-team race between us and Orlando. If he doesn't come here, I would rather he stay in Orlando than anywhere else.''

THE REAL 411 Dennis Rodman has returned to the Bulls as a sub, because ex-sixth man Toni Kukoc averaged 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the six games Rodman missed. Rodman isn't arguing because: A) He's going to be a free agent soon and knows his head-butting incident with referee Ted Bernhardt didn't help hiOs marketability; and B) Rodman was genuinely hurt by the negative reaction to his suspension after he and Bulls fans had seemingly grown to love each other. . . .

No matter how remorseful Rodman gets, there is growing belief in Chicago that the Bulls won't try to re-sign him. Potential replacement: Horace Grant, who after just two years in Orlando is again bound for free agency. Count on Jerry Krause - and Jerry West - to be interested. . . .

Dallas owner Donald Carter, whose Mavericks have a worse record since 1990 than even the Clippers, is selling the team. Why? Carter can't bear the thought of firing coach Dick Motta and GM Norm Sonju himself. . . .

League executives are still waiting to hear whether Wake Forest's Tim Duncan will join Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury in the June draft. ``I've got another month to sit down and make a decision,'' Duncan said. ``Why's everybody trying to get an answer out of me? It's like I'm a freshman or something and I'm just going to blurt it out?'' . . .

New Jersey's Jayson Williams after his 75-foot buzzer-beater against San Antonio: ``I just wish Yinka had thrown the inbounds pass.'' Yinka is Yinka Dare, the second-year center who has yet to record an NBA assist. . . .

Great point by the Dallas Morning News' David Moore on Rod Strickland, who pleaded guilty to the charge that he hit his former girlfriend in an argument over their five-year-old son. Had Strickland simply walked away from the woman, as he did from the Trail Blazers when he wasn't traded at the midseason deadline, the Portland guard wouldn't be forced to attend a program for battery to avoid a jail sentence.

SOURCE: - Marc Stein MEMO: Staff Writer Marc Stein's NBA column appears Tuesdays in the Daily News. He can be reached via e-mail at NBATalkaol.com. Some information came from writers in other cities.

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