Derrick Coleman is injured, hardly news, but in straining a calf muscle Coleman has them cheering in Charlotte.

	The Hornets, like other NBA teams in the past, don't want Derrick Coleman.

He may have saved a franchise because the Hornets are winning again and working their way back into good public graces. That could lead to public approval of the new downtown arena co-owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge say they need to keep the team in town.

He may have saved the job of general manager Bob Bass, who makes good trades and bad free agent hires. Bass, you may recall, paid Coleman $40 million over five years through 2003 when no one else offered half that.

He may have saved both the job and the sanity of coach Paul Silas, who had benched Coleman once and was seriously thinking of doing that again in defiance of orders from Bass and Wooldridge.

"If Paul makes up his mind not to play Derrick at all, they'll have to fire him or give in," another NBA coach noted. "Paul's going to do what's best for his team."

Silas had to wait 16 years to get a second chance to coach. Still, he might have taken that gamble, knowing that majority owner Shinn is thrifty and would not want to pay him more than $2 million a year for two years NOT to coach.

The sad truth of Coleman is that his teammates dislike him and disrespect him. They show that in their play when he's in uniform. In 27 games they are 8-19 when Coleman plays. In 29 games without Coleman they are 22-7. Saturday's victory over Philadelphia was their third straight without Coleman, their fifth in the last six games. They are back in second place in the Central Division with an outside chance of catching the Bucks, who they beat in Milwaukee last week.

It was Coleman's return around the turn of the year that sent the Hornets from 22-9 into a 5-16 tailspin.

Silas had mandated him to the injured list to get in shape. He publicly announced he was benching Coleman on the eve of the Hornets' last West Coast trip before the All-Star break, but Wooldridge followed the Hornets out on the road and told Silas to play him with a veiled threat of consequence. The co-owner's poor argument: Since the Hornets are paying Coleman, they might as well get something out of him. And if they don't play him, they can never trade him.

Okay, the Wizards dumped Juwan Howard's contract in Dallas and the Lakers signed Isiah Rider, so we know anyone can be traded and almost anyone can be signed.

But Coleman is the anti-hero in the NBA, calculatedly lazy and dedicated to beating the system, a useless appendage at practices where he usually hangs around the basket support and shoots the breeze with teammates who are supposed to be working. Coleman on the court is dedicated to putting up a few numbers for himself.

When Chuck Daly quit in New Jersey, in part he was walking away from Coleman. "What most people don't understand is that Derrick doesn't like to play basketball," Daly said later. "He simply does not enjoy the game."

That's why there was gloom in the Hornets locker room in early February when Silas benched P.J. Brown and started Coleman. That's why the experiment lasted all of one game.

	“	What most people don't understand is that Derrick doesn't like to play basketball. He simply does not enjoy the game. ”
		— Chuck Daly

Coleman has not been in even reasonable condition after missing time while he adjusted to medication for an irregular heart, the condition a source of some amusement to skeptics who were not sure he had one. In fact, Coleman was injured lumbering the floor on a breakaway dunk against the Lakers.

Meanwhile, the Hornets have won their last two on late three-pointers by David Wesley, who is fighting his way out of a serious shooting slump. With Coleman out, if Wesley regains his stroke it will be an interesting stretch run for Charlotte.

A welcomed addition
Trainers don't make trades and they are rarely, if ever, consulted unless there are questions about a player's health. That usually is put to the team doctors.

	Kukoc

For what it's worth, though, the acquisition of Toni Kukoc gets a rave review from Hawks trainer Wally Blase, who worked with the veteran from Croatia throughout his seven-year tenure as a Chicago Bulls player.

"Toni has some back problems. That's well documented," Blase said after the Hawks agreed to trade Dikembe Mutombo and Roshown McLeod to Philadelphia for Kukoc, Theo Ratliff, Nazr Mohammed and Pepe Sanchez last week. "But Toni is a guy who really knows his body, does everything he's supposed to do and works hard to be able to play."

Blase said that the slender 6-11 Kukoc needs his rest after being knocked about. But there is a reward in patience because he will be able to come back and bring his versatility to the court.

Kukoc has not had an easy career in the NBA. He was Phil Jackson's whipping boy in Chicago, often the object of Michael Jordan's derision because he was the player Bulls GM Jerry Krause brought in and labeled a future star, a rival to Jordan. Kukoc, a soft defender, is a skilled passer and shooter, adept at getting to the basket, but he has not been a star player outside Europe.

In Philadelphia, Kukoc was often at odds with coach Larry Brown, who expected more consistent performance from a player making about $32.5 million in four seasons through 2004. Of that total, Kukoc gained an extra $3.5 million thanks to a trade kicker in his contract.

Kukoc told Hawks GM Pete Babcock he would be ready to play Wednesday against Toronto. That's what Babcock wanted to here. "I told Toni, you tell us when you're ready."

Whether Ratliff's surgical wrist allows him to play this season or not, the Hawks see him forming a quick inside tandem with Lorenzen Wright, but Kukoc's future is far less certain. Several teams offered to take him Thursday but Babcock and coach Lon Kruger are intrigued by his skills. Atlanta is one of the worst ball handling teams, guilty of surrendering at least 20 points from turnovers in 20 of 54 games.

"We can see where Toni will be a great asset for us as a scorer and as a passer," Kruger said. "He will give us tremendous versatility. As young as our players are, a veteran who understands the game as well as he does could really move us forward."

Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.