The notion that the Warriors might release their leading scorer outright may be an option, though the team has not publicly entertained the thought.

"That would be the best case," he said, refusing to entertain publicly the consequences of a worst-case scenario.

He publicly entertained the idea of eliminating taxes on corporations before the president gave the go-ahead, but now has been joined by other administration officials in the push to reduce such taxes as part of any new stimulus package.

Not long ago, Mr. McLaughlin publicly entertained the notion of running for mayor.

Among the reasons is that for a while Mr. Rostenkowski publicly entertained the possibility of a capital-gains tax cut as part of a broader 1991 budget deal with his old friend and former Ways and Means colleague, President Bush.

But these officials never publicly entertained the notion during Mr. Bush's European trip that missile defense itself was up for negotiation, just as they never invited a fresh discussion on the administration's abandoning of the Kyoto accord.

She even publicly entertained the notion of a nice job in a Bush administration.

Brown missed 17 games for health reasons last season, and he publicly entertained thoughts about the Knicks' and the Lakers' coaching jobs.