ORLANDO, Florida - NBA officials stood on stage beside Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos and 25-year-old shooting guard Jeryl Sasser Wednesday to publicly deny any involvement in the "Sasser" Internet worm currently infecting hundreds of thousands of PC's a day. "We want to now quell any rumors that Jeryl, Rich, or the NBA had any hand in this latest Internet plague," NBA spokesperson Dee Ribble told reporters, "It is sad, wrong, and unconscionable that someone would use the good name of Jeryl Sasser in this way, and we support all legal efforts to bring the person or persons responsible to justice."

"Talk about a clear run at publicity," said Ron Davis, an independent contractor and occasional sports gambler, "Sasser's got nothing. He's got nothing on the court, he doesn't interview well, and now they're reassuring us that he's not responsible for a computer program? I have doubts the boy can successfully work an ATM, I didn't have him on my list of suspects for the virus."

The Sasser worm is so named because of the nature of its infection. Sasser spreads through a Windows vulnerability known as LSASS, or Local Security Authority Subsystem Service, hence "Sasser". It had not been associated with Jeryl Sasser prior to the NBA press conference.

"This was not a publicity stunt," said NBA vice-president Stu Jackson, "We genuinely saw a need to inform the public. There was a real potential here for a great player and person like Jeryl to suffer for the crimes of another person. When fans watch Jeryl play, we don't want them wondering if there's a cyber-criminal lurking behind the jersey."
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