It is such a simple phrase.  But in politics "no comment" is not always as simple as it looks.  In fact it can get quite complex, as you try to ascertain the true motivation for trotting out that old stand by when somebody wants nothing to do with the media.

    Case in point is that little Joe Dumars story that surfaced here yesterday.  The prospects of a former B-ball player running for the democratic nomination for governor captured the imagination of lots of folks.

    Recall that feelers have gone out to Joe D. and when the story reached the Piston's president, waiting to see his team lose another one down in Texas, it produced an unexpected response.

    Frankly the popular wisdom was that once Dumars got wind of all this political stuff he would promptly laugh it off, declare it out of bounds, and end of story.

    But there was no rebuke, no laughter, no nothin' except that curious, "No comment."

    While it is risky business to read into anything, wouldn't you agree that if there was nothing to this, he would have said so.  The fact that he did not will be interpreted this way: He indeed is thinking about it.

    Maybe it is the ego stroke that motivates him to think about it, but whatever the rationale, he did not say no, which some will say means he could eventually give a yes.

     Many believe that Dumars does not have any political passion. Well turns out, when White Supremacist David Duke was making anti-civil rights noises down south years ago, Mr. Dumars went there to protest.

     To be sure, it is a quantom leap from civil rights demonstrator to Governor of Michigan but in politics anything can happen…just ask John Cherry.