Edwards Admires Parish's Longevity

CHARLOTTE, N.C. When you've played in the NBA for 19 years andyour number of games is in four digits, there aren't many nights whenyou face an older player who has played in more games.

But that was the case of veteran center James Edwards on Fridaynight as the Bulls played the Charlotte Hornets.

Edwards, who was activated from the injured list earlier in theday, played in his 1,161st game.But that paled in comparison to Charlotte's Robert Parish, whotied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA record by playing in his 1,560th game.Parish, in his 20th season, will break the record tonight when theHornets visit Cleveland.Is catching Parish, 42, a goal for Edwards, 40?"No, I'm not going to catch him," Edwards said. "I was justtrying to stay around longer than him, but he just keeps going."It's a great accomplishment. I don't think anybody's going toget that."With nine games left in the regular season, Edwards has a littlemore than two weeks to show he is the team's best option for a thirdcenter in the playoffs. In a sense, this is his last push to getready."I should hope so," Edwards said. "I haven't heard one way oranother, but I hope so."Roster MoveTo make room for Edwards, the Bulls placed John Salley on theinjured list with a strained groin muscle. He must sit out a minimumof five games.TributesThroughout the game, videotaped tributes to Parish were playedon the Charlotte Coliseum scoreboard. The first was from NBAcommissioner David Stern, and others were from Parish's formerteammates - most of whom have retired."You really have no idea," Edwards said of having a long career."You have to be lucky and you have to be injury-free. You have totake care of your body and you have to be lucky to last this long."At halftime, the Hornets gave Parish a grandfather clock.For StartersToni Kukoc again was in the Bulls' starting lineup at powerforward and again played splendidly, scoring 16 points in the firsthalf on 5-for-5 shooting and finishing with 20.Bulls coach Phil Jackson isn't saying what he's planning to dowith his lineup against Orlando on Sunday."It's worked both ways, so I think that's another option thatPhil can rely upon," Michael Jordan said. "I think that's somethinghe's going to experiment with. As a coach, you like to have alldifferent kinds of options."Cat CallsOne of the biggest ovations Jordan has received lately cameagainst Miami on Thursday, when he was forced to leave the gamebecause he had blood on his shorts. He changed his shorts on thebench because he always wears navy blue University of North Carolinashorts under his oversized uniform shorts.Still, that didn't prevent a host of whistles."There are a lot of nosy people out there," he said. "But I wasprepared for it with my shorts. They didn't see anything other thanthe UNC shorts."