News from May 18.

Michael Jordan (Chi) won the Most Valuable Player Award.  The award is 
voted on by 116 media members who give a 1st place vote worth 10 points, a 
2nd place vote worth 7 points, a 3rd place vote worth 5 points, a 4th 
place vote worth 3 points and a 5th place vote worth 1 point.
  MVP Results            Total      position votes
  Player                 Points  1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
  Michael Jordan (Chi)    1084    92  22   2   0   0
  Karl Malone (Uta)        842    20  83  11   2   0
  Gary Payton (Sea)        431     3   8  50  24  23
  Shaquille O'Neal (LAL)   311     1   2  33  34  20
  Tim Duncan (SA)          148     0   1   8  26  23
  Tim Hardaway (Mia)        71     0   0   2  14  19
  David Robinson (SA)       36     0   0   2   7   5
  Vin Baker (Sea)           24     0   0   3   1   6
  Grant Hill (Det)          23     0   0   1   3   9
  Scottie Pippen (Chi)      14     0   0   1   2   3
  Glen Rice (Cha)            7     0   0   0   2   1
  Antoine Walker (Bos)       6     0   0   1   0   1
  Jason Kidd (Pho)           5     0   0   1   0   0
  John Stockton (Uta)        5     0   0   1   0   0
  Mitch Richmond (Sac/Was)   3     0   0   0   1   0
  Reggie Miller (Ind)        2     0   0   0   0   2
  Rik Smits (Ind)            2     0   0   0   0   2
  Michael Finley (Dal)       1     0   0   0   0   1
  Rod Strickland (Was)       1     0   0   0   0   1

Wayne Embry (Cle) was named as Executive of the Year.  Embry received 17
of the 29 votes from fellow NBA executives (they could not vote for
themselves).  Wally Walker (Sea) finished second and 7 other executives
received votes.

The NBA named Ed T. Rush as director of officiating.  Rush, who has reffed
for 29 years, will take over the position starting July 1.

Phoenix announced that they will not re-sign free agent Kevin Johnson.


Uta 99, LAL 95 - at Uta
Karl Malone (Uta) had 33 points on 12-18 FG and 9-15 FT and 7 rebounds.
Bryon Russell (Uta) had 10 points including 2-6 FG and 7 rebounds.
Jeff Hornacek (Uta) had 11 points including 2-7 FG.
John Stockton (Uta) had 22 points including 9-12 FG and 6 assists.
Shaquille O'Neal (LAL) had 31 points including 14-21 FG and 7 rebounds.
Eddie Jones (LAL) had 19 points and 6 rebounds.
Derek Fisher (LAL) had 12 points.
Uta leads the series 2-0.


Playoff Standings
  1st Round             2nd Round            3rd Round           Finals
  (Best of 5)           (Best of 7)          (Best of 7)       (Best of 7)
1 Utah (3)    _____
8 Houston (2)      |_ 1 Utah (4)        _
                    _ 5 San Antonio (1)  |
4 Phoenix (1)     _|                     |_ 1 Utah (2)      _
5 San Antonio (3)                         _ 3 LA Lakers (0)  |
                                         |                   |
2 Seattle (3)   ___                      |                   |
7 Minnesota (2)    |_ 2 Seattle (1)   ___|                   |
                    _ 3 LA Lakers (4)                        |
3 LA Lakers (3) ___|                                         |
6 Portland (1)                                               |_ __________
                                                              _ __________
                                                             |
1 Chicago (3)    __                                          |
8 New Jersey (0)   |_ 1 Chicago (4)   ___                    |
                    _ 4 Charlotte (1)    |                   |
4 Charlotte (3) ___|                     |                   |
5 Atlanta (1)                            |_ 1 Chicago (1) ___|
                                          _ 3 Indiana (0)   
2 Miami (2)    ____                      |
7 New York (3)     |_ 7 New York (1) ____|
                    _ 3 Indiana (4)
3 Indiana (3)   ___|
6 Cleveland (1)