NBA commissioner David Stern held an impromptu media session Tuesday at the draft lottery, and was peppered with questions about former referee Tim Donaghy, a convicted felon for gambling. He also fielded questions concerning criticism of the draft lottery.

Before being whisked away, Stern stopped briefly and responded to two questions about the Grizzlies.

Q. Winning made the difference in New Orleans and Atlanta but the problems in Memphis seem to run deeper with unstable ownership and declining fan interest. Are you concerned about Memphis’ viability?
A. Yes. And we’re anxious that Memphis gets new leadership, not ownership, but leadership. I know that there’s a search on for a new president of the club that will hopefully redirect their efforts in a very positive way.

Q. Is it disappointing that the relationship between the team and city is so poor for a relatively new market?
A. It is. It is. But stay strong. That’s the beauty of the draft lottery and the ability to make trades. It can improve situations.

As you may have read on the May 4 outdoors page, a breeding population of the dreaded northern snakehead fish was recently discovered in Lee County, Arkansas.

Obviously, this is bad news. But it may not be nearly as bad as some people think.

Since the northern snakehead was discovered in the United States back during the 1990s, myths and misconceptions about the fish have spread much faster than the fish themselves.

I’ve heard people say snakeheads can walk great distances to find new homes once they’ve eaten all of the fish from their original host reservoir. I’ve heard people say it’s unsafe to swim in a pond that’s inhabited by snakeheads because they will attack humans.

None of that stuff is true. It’s just exaggerated garbage that gets blown farther and farther out of proportion every time a story is passed from one person to another.

It’s true, northern snakeheads can survive for brief periods out of water. In fact, according to reports from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, that’s how this particular population was discovered. A farmer actually noticed one wiggling along a gravel road near a ditch.

“Wiggling” is a much more accurate assessment of what the fish can do out of water. They don’t have legs, so they don’t actually walk. You won’t see one jogging along the shoulder of I-40, and you certainly don’t have to worry about one walking up your driveway, ringing your doorbell and attacking you when you open the door.

As far as I know, there is no record of a northern snakehead having ever attacked a swimmer in the United States.

I’m sure humans have been bitten by snakeheads. But it was probably during the hook-removal process after the snakehead was landed by a fisherman - and that’s nothing new for anglers in the Mid-South.

The same thing can happen easily with gar, bowfin or even trout. We’ve been catching those fish - and swimming in waters loaded with them - for years, and we’ve never had any problems.

The difference with snakeheads is that they’re relatively new to us. They made their way into the U.S. from Asia sometime during the early 1990s when some brain donor brought them in for sale in the aquarium trade. When that happens with an exotic fish species, it will almost always make its way into the wild at some point.

It’s been happening for years with fish like Oscars and pacus. The difference is “Oscars” and “pacus” don’t sound nearly as menacing as snakeheads.

Be honest. If they were called rabbitheads, do you think they’d still be as feared as they are now?

Don’t get me wrong. Just because these fish have overblown reputations doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. If they escape into the major reservoirs of Arkansas, they could do immense damage to native fish populations like crappie, bass and bluegill.

For that reason, anyone who finds a northern snakehead in Arkansas is asked to call the AGFC regional office in Brinkley at (877) 734-4581 or the Fisheries Division in the Little Rock Office at (501) 223-6428.

They do pose some major dangers.

But no matter what you’ve heard, they’re not gonna come running up to bite you on your next family outing.

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