NBA NOTES / Jordan's Jersey Switch: Bulls Fined $25,000

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The Chicago Bulls could be out another $25,000 if Michael Jordan wears No. 23 tonight without the NBA's permission. Yesterday, the Bulls were fined $25,000 because Jordan changed jerseys -- from No. 45 to No. 23 -- without league approval.

Jordan plans to wear 23 -- the number he made famous before retiring in October 1993 -- again tonight when the Bulls play host to the Orlando Magic in Game 3.

However, the league said the Bulls have not requested a jersey change for Jordan, and the Bulls face another $25,000 fine if Jordan wears No. 23 again without approval.

"For any player to change it has to be approved," league spokesman Jan Hubbard said. "As of now, the league has not been asked to approve the change."

The league also fined Jordan $5,000 for wearing white sneakers with black trim instead of the black shoes his teammates wore. It was expected Jordan would return to wearing the black shoes on Friday night.

'We can't have a situation where a player can decide every night what number he wants to wear," NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said. "Our policy is that you have to apply to the league when you want to change your number and that applies equally to every player in the league."

Precisely what motivated Jordan to make the change still isn't clear. For the fourth consecutive day, he wasn't talking to the media.

"He just told me he feels more comfortable in it, and anything that Michael feels comfortable with is fine with me," Bulls vice president Jerry Krause said yesterday.

When he came out of retirement, Jordan said he wouldn't wear 23 because that was the last number his father, James, saw him play in. James Jordan was murdered in 1993. So the younger Jordan chose 45, which he wore during his mediocre stint as a minor-league baseball player last year.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Former Celtics forward Kevin McHale officially was named vice president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He takes over a team that was 21-61 last season, setting an NBA record with a fourth consecutive 60-loss season.

So is McHale, who quit playing in 1993 and takes over the duties of retiring general manager Jack McCloskey, expecting to have to start slowly?

"It starts now," he said. "My butt's on the line and my reputation is on the line. And I am very short-tempered with people who don't have a commitment to the team. If they don't have that, they'll be gone."

Phil (Flip) Saunders, a CBA coach for seven years, is the new GM. Saunders and McHale were college teammates at Minnesota in 1976- 77, when Saunders was a senior and McHale a freshman. Jerry Sichting, who played with McHale on Boston's last championship team in 1986, did radio analysis with the Celtics last season, was named director of scouting and player development.

-- In what could be a preview of the most valuable player voting, San Antonio's David Robinson beat out Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal as the center on the All-NBA team. Robinson was joined on the first team by Utah teammates Karl Malone and John Stockton, Chicago's Scottie Pippen and Orlando's Anfernee Hardaway.

-- Charlotte Hornets coach Allan Bristow, who last week said he was uncertain whether he wanted to come back for a fifth season, has decided to return next season and will have more control over basketball operations, The Winston-Salem Journal reported.