Artest Wouldn’t Be Tailor-Made Solution

If the Lakers, like any self-respecting sports fans, watched the NFL playoffs over the weekend, they saw a perfect illustration of why they’re better off without Ron Artest.

Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor made an incredibly athletic play, bending down to catch a bouncing fumble and racing 51 yards for a touchdown in Washington’s victory at Tampa Bay.

He also made an incredibly stupid play, spitting in the face of Tampa Bay’s Michael Pittman to draw a penalty and ejection.

Taylor and the Redskins were lucky that Tampa Bay’s Edell Shepherd couldn’t handle a perfectly thrown ball in the end zone and that quarterback Chris Simms missed an open Shepherd on the Buccaneers’ next and final play or the game could have gone to overtime.

Would Taylor, Washington’s best player in the secondary, have made a difference on those plays? We know this: He didn’t make any contributions from the locker room.

It’s not worth having a guy who makes great plays if he can’t make good decisions. Taylor’s choices have also led to his being arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Artest made one of the worst decisions in the history of the NBA when he charged into the seats at the Palace of Auburn Hills last season. The resulting suspension cost the Pacers a shot at the NBA Finals. And even though the franchise had his back through it all, it wasn’t enough for him. He demanded to be traded in December, and hasn’t been in a Pacer uniform since.

A team with championship aspirations has been playing .500 ball without him, amid daily trade rumors.

You don’t think Indiana could have used the game’s best perimeter defender instead of Anthony Johnson and Fred Jones against Kobe Bryant on Monday night at Staples Center? Bryant scored 45 points in the Lakers’ 96-90 victory.

The Lakers, by reliable accounts, aren’t in the Artest derby. Golden State remains the favorite. Apparently it has been long enough that the Warriors have forgotten that whole Latrell Sprewell thing.

The Warriors learned what the Pacers will discover, that eventually someone will make your problem their problem. After being traded to the New York Knicks, Sprewell put on his best behavior (plus a new pair of glasses) and sparked a run to the NBA Finals. Then he broke his hand in an incident on his yacht. The exact circumstances were disputed, but he was guilty, at the very least, of not following proper nautical safety procedures. He had one good year with the Minnesota Timberwolves, then reverted to his bad attitude and sulked his way through last season.

Guys like Sprewell and Artest can give your team a quick boost, a rush of adrenaline.

So can a motorcycle, and you know how NBA general managers feel about those.

It’s obvious the Lakers need something. As entertaining as it is to watch Bryant try for 50 every night, solo scoring performances won’t win playoff series. Coach Phil Jackson said the Lakers need to find a reliable third scoring option. That’s being generous in saying Lamar Odom can be counted on night in, night out.

“If we can improve our team, we’d certainly like to,” Jackson said. “So we’re staying attentive to what could possibly happen.”

Artest is the only impact player on the market right now. Ben Gordon might be the odd man in the Chicago Bulls’ crowded backcourt, but the Lakers don’t have enough appealing pieces to offer.

With the Pacers in town, the Lakers got a look at their wish list. Jermaine O’Neal, who was drafted straight out of high school by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1996, represents the best-case scenario for first-round pick Andrew Bynum. O’Neal spent most of his four years in Portland on the bench, never averaging more than the 4.5 points per game he posted in his second season. But he flourished after he was traded to Indiana in 2000, and now can give you 20 points and 10 rebounds on any given night. (He had 24 and 16 Monday).

The Lakers did get a nice glimpse of their own future when Bynum checked in with 4:11 left in the second quarter. Bynum made a nice hook shot over Jeff Foster. He forced a ball up and in and drew the foul in the lane. He also caught a pass from Bryant off a pick-and-roll and scored.

Then again, he got beat down the floor by O’Neal for an easy dunk.

But overall it was a productive run of six points and three rebounds in just over four minutes.

He also blocked a shot that was negated by a foul on Devean George.

But mostly this game was about the teams as currently constituted. That meant Bryant providing almost half the points for the Lakers, and the Pacers looking lost without Artest, even though he’s technically still on their team.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/adande.