THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL : RASHAD WON'T RUN ROUGHSHOD.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

It was Ahmad Rashad who threw down the gauntlet Sunday. At the top of NBC's telecast of the Lakers-Bulls game, Ahmad reported that his source, Michael Jordan, told him that while others said this wasn't a ``statement game,'' it was in his Airness' eyes because the Lakers are just the team of the future and must go through the Bulls to get to the championship.

(Fast forward three hours later).

Rashad is standing courtside with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant for a postgame interview and finishes it off by saying he'd see 'em at the All-Star Game next week.

Ahmad, MJ wants to see you in his office . . .

Absolutely best line of the game: Ahmad ``interviewing'' Chris Rock at courtside, and Rock blurting out: ``Let me get this straight: You're a football guy doing a basketball game . . .'' Absolutely best comeback was from play-by-play man Bob Costas: ``It should be pointed out to Chris Rock that football experience is virtually useless these days at NBC. You must diversify.'' . . .

Which was greater, the Lakers' victory margin over the Bulls or the number of celebrities NBC tried to show on the telecast before the game got out of hand? How could Jack Nicholson not be there, yet ``the great'' James Spader (in the words of Costas) find time to pull on a dark baseball cap and sunglasses to be seen? . . .

Just so you know: NBC cameramen are given a Xeroxed list of celebrities and their seat locations a few hours before gametime. . . .

How convenient that Magic Johnson was in the building (in his usual seat next to Dyan Cannon) when a 30-second spot ran on the Forum message board about his new Fox talk show in June. Know where he can find any guests? . . .

The most obscene element at the Forum wasn't even Dennis Rodman. It was advertising everywhere from that Shaq-endorsin' soft drink company that isn't Coca-Cola. They even outfitted the Laker girls in their logo tight tops and had them dance to the Spice Girls' ``Generation Next'' song during a timeout. . . .

One more quip from Costas: After explaining how Bryant got his first name - it's the same as a steak that folks order quite often in Japan, and can be pronounced ``ko-BAY'' or ``KO-be'' - the little wise acre added: ``Either way, it's a good thing they weren't ordering rump roast.'' . . .

Postscript to Lakers-Bulls: Jordan has a live chat on CBS Sportsline, Tuesday at 4 p.m. and the next ABC ``Sunday Night Movie'' is the theatrical rendition of Rodman's ``Bad As I Wanna Be.'' . . .

Let the record reflect that ABC's Frank Gifford had a very touching goodbye speech Sunday on the network's Pro Bowl coverage, mostly touching on the fact that he's glad he's off the road. And he made the speech at halftime . . .

It's KRLA-AM - as opposed to any of the sports radio stations in L.A. - that will wedge in three hours of Olympic coverage each night from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. starting Wednesday. . . .

Steve Lavin will live or die with his six-man rotation after what happened in UCLA's game Saturday against Washington. And if the Bruins' lose, you can say they were deep-sixed. . . .

Thursday's Duke-North Carolina contest is so important - it's the first time in four years that a No. 1 has faced No. 2 in the regular season - that it'll be on ESPN2, the same place these same two teams met in this same situation in 1994. Only difference is the network is in about 40 million more homes. . . .

Two pharmaceutical companies are considering using Denver's Terrell Davis as a spokesman, considering that he made such a remarkable comeback from a second-quarter migrane headache to win the MVP award in the recent Super Bowl. . . .

Loy Vaught's future with the Clippers depends not on how his back surgery went recently - that's fine. It's on how Lorenzen Wright and Maurice Taylor pan out. If both show promise, Vaught can start packing his Samsoniteos. Which is why you know he's pulling for their success. . . .

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PHOTO High school flashback: Jack McDowell takes the mound on Long Beach State's baseball field Friday to show a few dozen major-league scouts his surgically repaired right elbow is sound. A few days earlier, he pitched at Stanford's Sunken Diamond in front of officials from at least 15 teams.The radar guns show the 32-year-old Notre Dame High grad and former Cy Young Award winner is throwing in the mid-to-high 80s. ``He's 100 percent,'' says Jim McDowell, Jack's older brother and agent. The Yankees and Diamondbacks appear most interested at this point.

Gene Blevins / Special to the Daily News