Notes on a Scorecard - Nov. 1, 1990

Guaranteed to happen in the National Basketball Assn. this season:

Donald Sterling will have to cancel the Clippers’ annual lottery draft party. . . .

By December, you’ll be sick of hearing “three-peat.”. . .

Larry Brown will be rumored heading for the New York Knicks. . . .

Seattle SuperSonic guard Gary Payton will be rookie of the year. . . .

The Lakers will start slowly as they learn Mike Dunleavy’s system, but finish strong. . . . Manute Bol will look taller than 7-7. . . .

Muggsy Bogues will look shorter than 5-3. . . .

Dick Motta will have a nice chat with Jack Nicholson. . . .

Bill Laimbeer will be more aggressive than Buster Douglas--or Evander Holyfield. . . .

Wilt Chamberlain won’t do lunch with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Bill Russell. . . .

John (Hot Rod) Williams will be overpaid. . . .

Michael Jordan will score 100 points against the Denver Nuggets. . . .

The Chicago Bulls will score 200 points against the Denver Nuggets. . . .

Traveling won’t be called often enough. . . .

Illegal defenses will be called too often. . . .

The Forum won’t be the same without the sounds of “Cooop, Cooop.”. . .

The Sacramento Kings will make a poor trade. . . .

David Stern will be the best commissioner in sports. . . .

Thousands of fans will show up at the Sports Arena for a Clipper game disguised as empty seats. . . .

Larry Brown will be rumored heading for Marquette. . . .

A Lakers-Detroit Pistons game at the Forum will be worth the price of admission--except for courtside seats. . . .

Charles Barkley will lead the league in technicals. . . .

Bob Costas will be honored as the shortest announcer in the history of the NBA. . . .

People will say Julius Erving invented a move when it was really Elgin Baylor. . . .

Chick Hearn will have an injured Laker half dead until he returns to the court two minutes later. . . .

Joe Dumars will be called underrated so often that he will be overrated. . . .

Elden Campbell will be an even better draft choice than Vlade Divac. . . .

Best thing about the Charlotte Hornets will be their uniforms. . . .

Earl Strom will be missed. . . .

Not even slow-motion instant replay will be able to follow Kevin Johnson going one-on-one with Boston Celtic rookie Dee Brown. . . .

The league will fine players thousands of dollars for the same offense hockey players get five minutes in the penalty box. . . .

Dwayne Schintzius will be the surprise winner of the Mr. Congeniality award in San Antonio. . . .

Danny Ainge’s career will be revived in Portland. . . .

Portland, Utah, Boston and Chicago will win the division championships. . . .

Magic Johnson will be the MVP. . . .

Dominique Wilkins and Moses Malone will drive Bobby Weiss wacko. . . .

Danny Manning will pull a Bert Campaneris and play all five positions one night. . . .

Larry Brown will be rumored heading for Boys and Girls High in New York. . . .

Isiah Thomas will smile a lot. . . .

Tom Chambers won’t need a 24-second clock. . . .

Isiah Thomas will pout a lot. . . .

The Celtics will beat the Clippers on a controversial call. . . .

Derrick Coleman will help the New Jersey Nets win 25 games. . . .

Roy Tarpley will be a problem. . . .

The All-Star game will be the most entertaining of its kind in professional sports. . . .

The Utah Jazz will have the two highest-scoring Malones. . . .

Mike Dunleavy will use his regulars the last time the Lakers play the Trail Blazers in Portland. . . .

For old times’ sake, the Lakers will beat the Celtics in the championship series.