October 8, 1994
He was confused then. He is confused now. But yesterday Xavier McDaniel's audience was not a single reporter on the other end of the telephone, as it was in August.
Yesterday there were microphones and minicams and notebooks in front of him during the annual Celtics media day at Brandeis, taking down everything. Yesterday was the first official day of the feel-good M.L. Carr Administration, not summer vacation. Yesterday was probably not the time to question your role, your minutes or your future.
And yesterday was probably not the day when you looked around the gym and said, "I don't know what's going on here, to tell you the truth. I want M.L. to tell me, am I in? Or am I out?"
But McDaniel did all that and then some. He may have changed his number (he now has 34, last worn by Kevin Gamble) but he hasn't changed his style. To him, tact is a four-letter word.
Embellishing on his incendiary interview with the Globe six weeks ago, McDaniel again openly wondered about his fit here. He came this close to asking for a trade, adding that his agent, David Falk, already has talked to Carr about ways to accommodate him.
"We've talked to M.L. to see if we can find a way to work it out," McDaniel said. "That's the hard part of this business. I thought I might get traded and I don't think you can still rule out that possibility. If I get traded, I'll go. It doesn't matter what I want. If it did, I wouldn't be here talking to all of you."
Carr tried to dance around the topic by saying he welcomed a fit and focused McDaniel, and that he thought McDaniel was fit and focused. But had there been trade discussions, as McDaniel had said?
"David and I have talked," Carr said, "but mostly, the conversations have been about playing time and minutes. I said to him what I'm saying to you. X can be a great asset."
Falk was out of town yesterday and unavailable for comment, his office said.
McDaniel's time has declined in each of his two years here. And with the additions of Dominique Wilkins and Blue Edwards, there seems to be even less chance for him this year. He has heard all the talk about having roles and minutes settled on the floor, but he also has been in the league nine years.
"I'm no dummy," he said. "If I was the general manager, I'd start Dominique. You have to look at the reality. We've got Blue and Dominique and Rick Fox at small forward. What I'm looking for is playing time. But it was hard for me to get minutes last year, and with the new guys now, it's going to be almost impossible.
"I'm just going to do what I always do, which is play hard. I told M.L., 'Why are you paying me $ 8 million over three years and I just sit there?' I think I can still play. I didn't see Larry Bird score any points last year. That's because he didn't play. Well, I didn't score any when I didn't play, either. I just don't know what this year is going to be."
He said Carr told him to forget about the last two years. "That's what I'm going to do," McDaniel said. "Last year minutes were just given to guys instead of to guys who worked for them. If you have to work for your minutes, I don't have a problem with that. We'll wait and see. I don't want to be speculating."
All of yesterday's observations, as well as those delivered in August, would have been unnecessary had McDaniel simply exercised a termination clause in his contract before July 1. It would have been a costly move ($ 4 million), but theoretically, he would have been able to choose his next employer.
Instead, McDaniel heeded Falk's advice and took no action on his contract. This year the Celtics will pay him around $ 2.6 million. Each year, as his role, minutes and contributions have declined, his salary has shot up by about $ 500,000.
Maybe that's why McDaniel said he wasn't unhappy - off the court. "I do know this," he said. "I will be the highest-paid 12th man in the league."
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