IT IS a rite of passage with NBA teams. The veterans always have something for the rookies to do. Bring the coffee. Buy the doughnuts. Deliver the newspapers.

Or, in the case of Charlotte Bobcats rookies Gerald Henderson and Derrick Brown, wear various colorful, sometimes sparkly, backpacks.

"The sillier the better," Bobcats coach Larry Brown was saying before last night's game against the 76ers. "They got Gerald a North Carolina one."

They even got Bobcats guard Ray Felton, a former Tar Heel, to sign it. That would be Gerald Henderson, of Duke.

"He told me he burned it," Brown said, laughing.

"That's what I told him," said Henderson, the onetime Episcopal Academy star. "That's what I should have done. It's somewhere long lost in my apartment. Now, they gave me a pink one. That's OK. That's better than Carolina. Anything is better than that."

That's one side of being a rookie, even for the No. 12 pick in the June draft.

"In time, he's going to be a heck of a player," Brown said. "The trade we made might help him, because [management] wants me to figure out a way to play him."

The trade, finalized Monday, brought Stephen Jackson and point guard Acie Law from Golden State for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. With Felton and D.J. Augustin, the Bobcats have three point guards, leaving Brown mentioning the possibility of the 6-5 Henderson filling in as a small forward or even a power forward in a "small" lineup.

"He'll figure it out," Brown said, "because he's a willing listener. He needs to become a better ball-handler, but he's so explosive, so athletic. I want him to fall in love with the rim, not just with shooting. I don't mean to go out on a limb with a comparison, but he has some Vince Carter qualities athletically."

Coming into last night's game, Henderson was averaging a modest 3.1 points in 10.6 minutes.

"It's just different," he said of the transition process. "You're still playing basketball, but the rules are different, the travel is different. Especially for me [after three seasons under Mike Krzyzewski], the coaching is different. It's a matter of getting adjusted to a new lifestyle. But it's all good stuff."

That includes listening to his father, Gerald, who had a 13-season career in the league, including time with the Sixers. "He tells me to stay ready, especially now, when I'm not playing much," young Gerald said. "He tells me to be in the best shape I can be, to always keep my mind engaged in the game, so that when my opportunity comes - and it will - I'll be ready."

Henderson appeared for 5:43 of the first half last night, hitting two free throws and collecting a rebound.

Community leader

 

The Bobcats practiced Tuesday at Community College of Philadelphia, more than familiar territory for backup shooting guard Ronald "Flip" Murray.

"He said he led the league in scoring in intramurals when he was there," Brown said, laughing. "He holds all the records."

Murray, a star at Strawberry Mansion High, spent time at CCP after a stint at Meridian (Miss.) CC and before he emerged as the 2003 Division II Player of the Year at Shaw University.

"He can just score," Brown said. "He just has a knack to score. He has a pace about him, where he gets people in the right positions. He can get his own shot, he can get other people a shot. He's fearless in that regard."

Murray, with his seventh team in seven seasons, averaged 12.2 points with Atlanta last season, a key component with a rising team, but ended up leaving in free agency.

"I understand what the whole thing is, it's still business," he said. "What we did last year was special and we had fun, but I had to move on."

And, yes, it's also still fun to play in his hometown.

"It's always great to come back to where it all started," he said. "It's always special."

Murray had nine points and five rebounds, shooting 4-for-11 in 19 1/2 minutes.

Six shots

 

The Sixers host the Allen Iverson-less Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow night, then visit Cleveland Saturday night. They stay on the road Nov. 24 in Washington and Nov. 25 in Boston . . . The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported that Iverson merchandise, discounted by 50 percent, was on sale in FedEx Forum, where Iverson never played as a Grizzlie. Replica jerseys, originally $170, were down to $85, while front-office folks were awaiting delivery of 3,000 Iverson jerseys that were to be part of a Dec. 4 promotion. The Grizzlies waived Iverson after reaching an agreement to terminate his 1-year contract.. *