Chandler sprains ankle.

Byline: K.C. Johnson

CHICAGO _ Tyson Chandler found himself in the spotlight Thursday night_for all the wrong reasons.

Chandler, already fighting a sore back, sprained his right ankle in a light-hearted, pregame drill with fellow rookie Trenton Hassell. Chandler had to be assisted off the court by assistant coach Bill Cartwright, came out to the bench on crutches to watch the Miami game and is considered day-to-day for a team already battling injury problems.

Chandler also found himself defending his work ethic after coach Tim Floyd was quoted as questioning it in a column in Thursday's Tribune. Floyd rarely criticizes players in public.

"I wouldn't read too much into that," Floyd said. "I've said what I said, and that's it. It shouldn't be bigger than it was."

Floyd said he wasn't trying to send a message, but Chandler seemed to take it that way. He ran several sprints following Thursday's morning shootaround, was one of the first players to arrive at the United Center on Thursday and spent an hour working out on the court before his injury.

"Hopefully, [Floyd's] just saying that to motivate me," Chandler said. "That's what I take it as. Whenever anybody makes comments about me, it's my competitive nature to get back out there and try to throw it in their face."

Chandler added that he didn't work out extra after Wednesday's practice because he went to get a massage for his back.

Same page: Floyd has made it no secret that he and general manager Jerry Krause occasionally have disagreed on personnel decisions. But Floyd took a philosophical approach to such disagreements in comments on Thursday.

"In the off-season, when you go to him and say, `What about this guy?' he comes back and says, `That guy can't help you win a championship,'" Floyd said. "At the time, that's a negative to you. Over the long haul, that's a positive because you know ultimately that's what he's trying to do."

The Bulls are beginning yet another rebuilding phase centered on Chandler and Eddy Curry, but a clearly uncomfortable Floyd wanted no part of any discussion on whether he'd be a long-term part of it.

"Let's talk about the Heat," he said. "I'm tired of talking about myself and sympathy and `What's he going to do?' I'm fine."

Layups: Krause spent most of the pregame chatting with White Sox general manager Kenny Williams, whom Krause was instrumental in bringing to the White Sox as a player. ... Ron Artest, Brad Miller and Bev Floyd, wife of Tim, will read to 75 children at the Abraham Lincoln Centre on the South Side on Friday from 3-4 p.m.

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