Injury won't hurt Martin in draft

NEW YORK - If the Orlando Magic wind up with the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft, Kenyon Martin will be their man - broken leg and all, General Manager John Gabriel said.

Martin, the University of Cincinnati forward who won the Naismith Award as the college basketball player of the year, broke his right fibula and tore several ligaments two weeks ago in the opening minutes of the Conference USA tournament.

"A lot of guys would take him on one leg," Gabriel said.

For a while, that's all Martin has.

Three minutes into Cincinnati's game against St. Louis University, Martin was writhing in pain on the floor of the Pyramid in Memphis. After colliding with an opponent while trying to set a screen, the 6-foot-9 Martin fell awkwardly and his ankle got caught underneath him. He needed to have screws surgically implanted for it to heal.

"This is a severe injury," said team doctor Angelo Colosimo. "Will he recover fully? Expect a 100-percent recovery."

Colosimo said Martin probably could begin running in a couple of months, meaning the Bearcats' leading scorer and rebounder probably won't take part in any NBA predraft camps. The draft will be June 28.

Although NBA executives frown on guesswork, especially when it comes to a franchise-altering draft pick, Martin is a proven commodity, said General Manager Ernie Grunfeld of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Most executives and scouts have seen enough of Martin, whose game benefited greatly from his having stayed in school for four years, scouts said. He developed from an unpolished player with plenty of athletic ability into one with a deft scoring touch.

Slipping in the draft could mean millions of dollars in losses for Martin, who led the Bearcats to an undefeated record in conference play.

The No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft gets a guaranteed $10.4 million over three years. By comparison, a non-lottery No. 14 pick gets about $3.4 million.

Even though he was injured, and it could cost him the top draft position, Martin has no regret about coming back for his senior season.

"I wouldn't take anything back about coming back to school," he said.

Martin can expect to be poked and prodded by plenty of team doctors in the weeks leading up to the draft, Grunfeld said.

"Teams will do their due diligence and check him out," Grunfeld said. "But people know what type of player he is and what he can do. Because of that, I don't think it'll affect his draft position."

Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier was in a similar position. While at St. Bonaventure in 1970 he blew out his knee during an NCAA regional final against Villanova. It didn't deter the Detroit Pistons, who selected him first overall in the draft.

More recently, former UCLA point guard Baron Davis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a 1998 NCAA tournament game against Michigan. Even though he was sidelined into the next season, and questions about the knee's stability lingered, the Charlotte Hornets chose Davis with the third overall pick in last year's draft.

Hornet Coach Paul Silas is glad they did, and if he could pick Martin right now, he would.

"Kenyon Martin would've been the No. 1 pick had this not happened, and this won't change anything," Silas said. "He's young. He'll recover. You go more on what he has done up until this time."

Woolly Mammoth outdraws Carter

How bad are the TV ratings at NBC?

Vince Carter was outdrawn by Jarkov the Woolly Mammoth by a more than 2:1 ratio.

The audience for last Sunday's Raptors-Sonics game, shown to 55 percent of the country on NBC affiliates, was dwarfed in prime time by the number of viewers for a Discovery Channel special on unearthing the 20,000-year-old remains of a mammoth in Siberia.

"Mammoths must have more universal appeal than at least some basketball teams," said Lynn McReynolds, a Discovery Channel spokeswoman.

The Raptors-Sonics game drew about 4.6 million households, the fewest this season for an NBC game on Sunday night prime time. About 10 million tuned in for the Discovery show.

Pig's 'pick

Anthony "Pig" Miller's toothpick has been banned.

Miller, a much-traveled forward for the Houston Rockets, got the word from the league office that he'd have to cease chewing on a toothpick while playing.

Other than his nickname, given to him as a child, the toothpick was Miller's trademark.

"They think I'm going to poke someone," Miller said. "Players keep asking me where the toothpick is. Even the refs are asking me."

Miller has kept one clamped between his teeth while playing basketball since high school. He says it helps him stay focused.