ALSO SEE
By Lyle Crouse
ESPNET SportsZone
CLEVELAND �- There's nothing wrong with All-Star guard Latrell Sprewell that a little amnesia couldn't cure.
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Latrell Sprewell is the only All-Star left with the Warriors.
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"You see them doing well, and you're saying to yourself, 'Hey, we were on the same team,,' " Sprewell said.
Golden State castoffs on the Western Conference All-Star team include Kings guard Mitch Richmond, Timberwolves forward Tom Gugliotta and Mavs forward Chris Gatling. The East squad boasts Heat guard Tim Hardaway and Bullets forward Chris Webber.
At least Golden State traded Richmond before Sprewell reached the NBA. But the rest are his former teammates.
"It's kind of tough, but like I said, there's nothing I can really do," Sprewell said. "I'm trying to stay focused right now. Even though we're not doing as well as we would like to be doing, I still have to keep myself going and try to stay positive."
The first to go
"If you look at the team that was there, you think, 'How do you get rid of these guys?' " Richmond says.Of the departed Warriors, only Hardaway was with Richmond in Golden State. That was during the era of the exciting scoring combination of RUN-TMC: Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin.
The Warriors disbanded RUN-TMC in a Nov. 1, 1991, trade that sent Richmond to Sacramento for the rights to Billy Owens. "I'm just sorry that we broke up, to tell you the truth," Richmond said.
Owens would eventually be traded to Miami and is now Richmond's teammate in Sacramento.
Now rumors persist that Mullin is on his way out, hoping to be traded to a contender before his career is over.
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Chris Gatling had a stop in Miami before putting up All-Star numbers in Dallas.
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No laughing matter
Webber realizes the kind of talent Golden State had."We were talking about that Friday night, Spree and I," Webber said. "Gatling's an All-Star and he was on our team, coming off the bench at the time. Tim Hardaway was on our team. Spree, Mully -� we had some great players. It would've been nice (to stay together)."
Webber was Rookie of the Year for Golden State in 1993-94, but he held out the next season and demanded to be traded because he loathed playing for then-coach Don Nelson. Golden State sent Webber to Washington in a Nov. 17, 1994, deal that brought Gugliotta and three first-round picks to the Warriors.
That's when the team's core started to disband.
"We don't laugh about it," Webber said. "It's kind of sad. It's something to try to forget because we had so much fun together."
Coincidence?
Gugliotta didn't even last a full season with the Warriors. He was a budding star with Washington, but he never got on track while in Golden State. He went to Minnesota on Feb. 18, 1995, in exchange for Donyell Marshall."I can only say it's a big coincidence that they've had that many players get away and become All-Stars," said Gugliotta, who is averaging 22.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in 38.8 minutes per game this season.
Marshall, by the way, is averaging 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game with the Warriors.
Over and done
Hardaway was unhappy playing for Golden State coach Rick Adelman last season, and there were constant reports that he and Sprewell weren't on good terms in the Warriors' backcourt.
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Tim Hardaway is approaching the one-year anniversary of his departure from Golden State.
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While Gatling and Hardaway are both All-Stars, Willis signed with Houston as a free agent during the off-season. Coles is still with the Warriors as a backup point guard.
Hardaway is quick with a laugh and a smile, but he gets serious when the subject of Golden State is broached.
"That's over with," he said. "I can't think about that right now. That's over with. That's over and done."
Very scary
Although he was traded away from Golden State, Gatling got to remain with Hardaway for the rest of the season. That was crucial, because Hardaway had been one of Gatling's biggest supporters, going so far as to say in the 1995-96 Warriors media guide, "I'd say in a year, maybe two years, he'll be on the All-Star team.""I knew that he was going to be an All-Star," Hardaway says now. "He has great potential. He plays hard every night. You know he's going to get his minutes and produce, even in limited time. He does a great job. I'm happy for him. I'm very happy for him."
Gatling credits Hardaway for helping him reach the All-Star level.
"He's a great friend," said Gatling, who signed with Dallas as a free agent. "He just pushed me more than anyone, more so when I was at Miami, to really work on my game. Because at times I didn't really feel like working out �- you go through that stage when you just feel lackadaisical -� he took me over that hump many a time.
"He would just try to push me and work with me and shoot with me at Miami. I took that same mentality and attitude in the off-season and then took it to Dallas, and it showed in my level of play."
Gatling looks back on the Golden State days and says, "It's kind of scary to think what things would be if we had that talent there now."
What could've been
It's unfair to imagine these six All-Stars playing on the same Warriors team. After all, Webber and Gugliotta were traded for each other and were never teammates at Golden State. And would the Warriors have even drafted Sprewell if they hadn't traded Richmond?But it's tough to ignore the trend of shipping away players who flourish elsewhere.
"We haven't been able to keep some of the guys who are playing in this (All-Star) Game," Sprewell said. "If we could've done that, kept a little nucleus together, maybe we'd be where we want to be right now."
