An Emotional Gill Takes It All Out On Sonics -- Nets Guard Gets In Jabs At Karl

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Kendall Gill kept the anger bottled inside for two years. He fought the temptation to criticize the Sonics and Coach George Karl. He battled to forget the nightmares that hounded him through 1994-95, his second and final season in Seattle.

There were the early, angry blowups with Karl. And the diagnosis of depression. There was the brief peace between the coach and his guard that was followed by the 1995 playoffs and those last, ugly days in Los Angeles when Gill sat and fumed and the Sonics fell apart.

Gill was diplomatic when he was traded by the Sonics to Charlotte. He was quiet when the Hornets dealt him to New Jersey last January.

This week, however, Gill spoke out. This week, this one time, in an interview in The New York Times, he uncorked his emotions. He admitted his intense dislike for Karl.

He jokingly said he would like to meet Karl in a charity boxing match. Then in last night's fourth quarter, he knocked out the Sonics, 110-101.

He beat them with combinations. Drives to the basket. Cool free throws. Sweltering defense.

Gill hit the 17-foot jump shot that put the Nets ahead 93-88. He scored on the drive, was fouled by Craig Ehlo and raised his arms in triumph directly in front of Karl. Then he converted the free throw.

Gill drove again, drew a foul on Sam Perkins and made two more free throws. He scored seven straight points in the middle of the final quarter of a night that was as much about catharsis as it was hoops.

Gill finished with 24 points and seven assists in New Jersey's haymaker victory over Seattle. Twice he blocked shots by Gary Payton.

"I tried not to play with too much emotion," said Gill, who played with the passion of Pagliacci. "When you do that, you run out after a while. I just tried to play a nice, easy game and let things come to me. And in the end, they came to me.

"It's over with now. I said what I had to say (about Karl). I held it in for two years. It was good to get it off my chest and now I can get on with my career. I just wanted to let, for the record, everybody know what happened.

"Now I wish George Karl and all my friends on the Sonics a lot of luck. I hope they get back to the championship this year and do some good things."

This was just another dreary game on a wet night in the New Jersey swamp- lands. The arena was half empty and quiet as a library.

For the Sonics (16-7) this was another necessary evil against a really bad team. For them, it was a team that needed a spark against a team that found one.

The Nets seemed to feed off Gill's crusade. They made 15 of 22 field-goal attempts in the second quarter, including all five from behind the arc.

They led 61-44 at halftime, squandered all of that lead late in the third quarter, then rode the penetration of point guard Robert Pack and the inspiration of Gill in the fourth quarter.

The Nets had won only four of 15 games. In their previous game, they had scored only 69 points - total - at home against Detroit. Isn't it amazing what a little emotion can do?

"With Kendall and George, it's personal," Pack said. "That's what I was hoping for. I hoped that personal thing he had would be channeled into a victory for us. I know he wanted this one bad and I'm just glad we got it for him."

New Jersey played as if it cared. The Sonics played as if they knew they could flip the switch and beat the Nets.

"We got a lot of emotion from Kendall," power forward Jayson Williams said. "Kendall's one of my better friends on the team and whenever he has a beef with somebody, I'm always going to be backing him.

"He came out and he was ready to play tonight. He was practicing all week for this game. Shooting his jumpers and just going out and working hard. He came out and nailed them tonight. This was a Picasso for Kendall. And a Picasso for New Jersey."

Gill's beefs with Karl were part of the gore of '95. Gill never thought he got credit for his hard work. He fumed when Karl told reporters Gill had asked for guaranteed playing time. Gill said he never did. He believed Karl embarrassed him by substituting him into the final seconds of several blowouts.

In this week's New York Times article, Gill said he believes Karl has "an insecurity problem." He said Karl called him "Pretty Boy." He said, "George is the only person in the world that I have a serious dislike for."

Gill raged in the New Jersey night. He scored 11 fourth-quarter points. Maybe it took this one night and that one newspaper story to bury his bitter past.

"How much ancient history are you going to dig up?" Karl asked. "I'll stay on the high road."

In the final seconds, as the Nets dribbled out the clock, Gill thought about an exclamation point. Maybe one last drive to the basket that would end with a bringing-down-the-house dunk.

Instead he walked off the floor with his hands again raised, as if, for this one New Jersey night, he was the heavyweight champion. "I pretended I was playing some other team," Gill said. "I didn't even see George, or think about him out there. I mean it's not just another game. It's a big win for the team, not for me."

It was closure for Kendall Gill. One night of sweet, sweet redemption.