Gar Heard was fired as coach Saturday night, after the Wizards' 103-98 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Washington is 14-30 and in last place in the Atlantic Division. It was the Wizards' first major move since Michael Jordan became head of basketball operations.

	Gar Heard never saw many good times as coach of the underachieving Wizards.

There were reports that Rod Higgins, an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, would be the new coach. But negotiations stalled, Aldridge reported, when Golden State wanted the Wizards to address a clause attached to a No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft. The pick was part of the 1994 trade that brought Chris Webber to Washington.

Currently, the Warriors have the Wizards' No. 1 pick in 2000, unless that selection is among the top three overall. To release Higgins from his contract, the Warriors wanted that pick outright. The Wizards refused.

Higgins and Walker are both former teammates of Jordan. Walker currently is coach of the CBA's Rockford Lightning.

"I mentioned that when I became a member of the Washington Wizards that I would evaluate the team and the coaching staff," Jordan was quoted as saying in a statement released by the team. "I felt it was necessary to make a change at this time."

Heard saw the writing on the wall shortly after Jordan was made part-owner and president of basketball operations Jan. 19. Jordan met individually with several veterans and at length with Unseld, but never with Heard.

"You never have a chance to show what you can do," Heard said. "Unfortunately that's the nature of the business. I think they had their mind made up when he got here. I never got an opportunity to talk to him. When you come in you want to bring your own people. Next time things will work better."