Former Bloomington North High School standout Sean May finally made his preseason debut for the Charlotte Bobcats on against the Indiana Pacers.

May, the 13th overall pick in this year's NBA draft, missed six weeks while his surgically repaired right knee healed.

"I've been anxious just like anybody else would be," May said after the Bobcats' morning shootaround Wednesday.
May, who left the University of North Carolina with a year of eligibility remaining, soaked up the Bobcats' concepts while he was out the lineup. He scored 10 points and had eight rebounds in 18 minutes of action in Wednesday's 109-103 win over the Pacers.

Now he's focusing on his endurance.

"My knee is 100 percent," he said. "I feel like I have the same lift I had before I got hurt. There's a difference in being in shape and being in game shape. You don't really experience game shape until you get on the floor."

Indiana Pacers center Jeff Foster likely will miss the start of the season for the second straight year, this time because of a sore Achilles' tendon.

The 6-foot-11 Foster missed the first 17 games last season after offseason hip surgery.

``It's definitely frustrating sitting and watching,'' Foster said Monday. ``I want to be part of the team.

``But we're a very deep team. After what I went through last year, I've come to realize there's no reason for me to be injured for any portion of this year beyond getting healthy here in the beginning.''

The Indiana Pacers intended to trim payroll and alleviate their tax burden by exploring trade opportunities. But injuries and championship potential have persuaded them to change their mind, for now, about trying to get closer to the $61.7 million luxury tax threshold.

Pacers president Larry Bird said outside of making two cuts to get the roster to 15 players, he doesn't anticipate making a move before the season starts.

"I would never say we're not going to make a trade because you never know, but right now I'm happy with this team and it looks like who we're going to go with," Bird said. "You don't want to make a move just to make a move. You have to make sure you have a team that can compete."

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, walking the sidelines in the first half of Tuesday's game, yelled a question to Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle: Who is playing center?

Carlisle looked on the court, looked at Popovich and shrugged his shoulders.

Rick Carlisle's three centers -- Jeff Foster, David Harrison and Scot Pollard -- were on the bench in street clothes along with Jermaine O'Neal.

The lack of healthy bodies has hurt the Pacers' chemistry on the court in the preseason. Foster (Achilles) and Pollard (calf) are expected to miss the start of the regular season. Harrison is out at least another week.

"We're still doing a lot of things we wanted to do, but when you don't have three 7-footers out there to go through stuff, it makes it hard," Carlisle said. "We have to roll with it and hope we can get guys back as quickly as possibly but not rush them back."

Calling the rules "quite liberal and easygoing," David Stern even joked that the dress code is something that "even [Dallas Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban can comply with." But Cuban, who often wears T-shirts and jeans to games, told ESPN.com that there was "no chance, no way" that he would comply with the league's off-the-court dress code for its players. Sleeveless shirts are not allowed under the policy.

Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson, contending that a league ban on chains worn over clothing is "a racist statement" from the league, wore every long, diamond-studded chain in his collection Tuesday night as a protest.

Jackson voiced no opposition to the bulk of the "business casual" demands in the NBA's new dress code, but he described the jewelry ban as "attacking young black males."

"I think it's a racist statement because a lot of the guys who are wearing chains are my age and are black," said Jackson, 27. "I wore all my jewelry today to let it be known that I'm upset with it.

"I'll wear a suit every day. I think we do need to look more professional because it is a business. A lot of guys have gotten sloppy with the way they dress. But it's one thing to [enforce a] dress code and it's another thing if you're attacking cultures, and that's what I think they're doing."

San Antonio's Tim Duncan, far less vocal but also a critic of the new policy, did not play in Tuesday's game and sat on the bench wearing an untucked shirt and baggy jeans -- attire that could result in a fine if seen during a regular-season game.

At first, Ron Artest didn't want to appear in Penthouse magazine.

"I was going to shy away from it, with all the bad press I'm getting," the Indiana Pacers forward said. "But they gave me the opportunity to talk about my family and charities . . . things people don't know about me."

Artest will be featured in the December issue, which hits newsstands Oct. 25. He is shown on the cover with three bikini-clad women.

The interview reveals his gentler side. Of Pacers president Larry Bird, he says, "God put us together for a reason. He says he'd give up his salary for a year if 20 other millionaires would do the same to help poor people. And he agrees with Bill Cosby that poor African-Americans aren't doing enough to help themselves."

Artest also suggests that he and Ben Wallace box on pay-per-view for $10 million.

Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest said Friday night that comments he made earlier this week about playing like a "wild animal" had been taken too seriously.

"I'm going to continue playing hard and out of control, like a wild animal that needs to be caged in," Artest said Tuesday night before the Indiana Pacers faced the New Jersey Nets in the preseason opener for both teams. "I'll let the referees handle it."

Artest, who was suspended for most of last season after the NBA brawl in Detroit, doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

"It was nothing more than just a comment, a quote," he said following the Pacers' 93-84 win over Minnesota on Friday. "All that summarized was [being] hungry. It was definitely a real passionate quote.

"Before all this craziness happened, everybody said I played like a beast," he added. "I'm back to playing real hard and playing like a beast."

Jermaine O'Neal was scratched from the Indiana Pacers lineup before a 99-92 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, the second straight preseason game he has missed because of a bruise to his right thigh.

O'Neal, who was celebrating his 27th birthday, played in only 44 games last season becauese of injuries to his shoulder and foot and a 15-game suspension by the NBA for his part in the brawl with Detroit fans last November.

He bruised his thigh during practice last week, although the injury is not considered serious.

"If it were the regular season, he'd probably play," Pacers spokesman David Benner said.

Indiana also did not play Jeff Foster, out with a sore left Achilles tendon; David Harrison, with an abdominal strain; and Fred Jones, with a hyperextended right knee.

Ron Artest was met with a hostile New Jersey crowd on Tuesday night, his first game after a record-setting suspension.

"I'm going to continue playing hard and out of control, like a wild animal that needs to be caged in," Artest said Tuesday night before the Indiana Pacers faced the New Jersey Nets in the preseason opener for both teams. "I'll let the referees handle it."

Artest had eight points, three rebounds and three fouls in 12 minutes in the Nets' 105-103 victory.

The Indiana Pacers will limp into their preseason opener tonight at New Jersey.

Jermaine O'Neal, David Harrison and Danny Granger, all key players in the rotation, are doubtful. Center Jeff Foster is out.

"We're going to be pretty small for our first game or two, depending what our situation is," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Monday. "We are really without three of our four big people. We're going to have to be smaller and use our speed."

Granger, the Pacers' first-round draft pick, turned his right ankle in Monday's practice. Carlisle did not know how long Granger will be sidelined.

O'Neal, who is dealing with a right thigh contusion, took part in non-contact drills Monday and hopes to play.

"I'm going to give what I can," he said. "It's nothing serious. They just want to be cautious on how we deal with the injury. My goal is to play. We want to win preseason games; it sets a tone going into the season."

Harrison went through the full practice wearing a brace to protect the unidentified pain by his ribs on his right side.
"It feels like somebody is stabbing me," he said.

Carlisle said he probably will mix and match the lineups. Ron Artest will likely play at power forward. Carlisle even joked that the bulked up Artest might see time at center.

"You're going to see some lineups out there that are unusual," Carlisle said. "That's all right; I don't mind doing that."