Advertisement

Radmanovic won’t look back

Share
Times Staff Writer

HONOLULU -- Of all the Lakers who wanted to forget the way last season ended, Vladimir Radmanovic was near the top of the heap.

Lampooned for his ill-advised snowboarding excursion during last season’s All-Star break, Radmanovic’s soreness went beyond a separated shoulder.

He was talk-radio fodder for weeks after coming back from Park City, Utah, with his right arm in a sling and a similarly flimsy excuse in tow (he said he slipped on a patch of ice while crossing the street).

Advertisement

He ultimately came clean, admitted he lied to his coaches, and was fined $500,000 while sitting out almost two months as his shoulder healed, the extension of an already unbecoming first season with the Lakers.

He showed next to nothing after signing a five-year, $30.2-million contract, averaging 6.6 points in 55 regular-season games, career lows in both categories.

He was slowed by a sprained ligament in his right (shooting) hand during the exhibition season, and then Coach Phil Jackson got on him in December, calling him a “space cadet” because he was failing to grasp the intricacies of the triangle offense.

In his second training camp with the Lakers, his hand feels fine, his shoulder as well, and his shot is falling.

“He’s getting his licks in,” Jackson said.

At the same time, Radmanovic irritates Jackson on occasion.

“A 6-[foot]-5 guy rebounded over him twice at the end of the game to make a difference,” Jackson said after a recent scrimmage. “It’s little things like that, we just keep plugging away at him.”

If it makes Jackson feel better, the 6-10 Radmanovic says he understands the offense better. His outside shooting will be needed by a team that added Derek Fisher to help address the same concern.

Advertisement

“It’s easier when you don’t have to concentrate so hard on Phil’s language,” Radmanovic said with a smile, referring to the triangle. “It’s like learning a new language. It’s gotten better. Things are much easier.”

As for last season. . .

“There was a last year?” Radmanovic asked rhetorically. “Did I play last year? I think that there answers your question.”

Neither Luke Walton (strained hamstring) nor Lamar Odom (shoulder) will play tonight in the Lakers’ exhibition opener against Golden State, but Kwame Brown (ankle) has begun full-court contract drills and took about 500 shots Monday.

Of those shots that were free throws, what was Brown’s percentage?

“About 80,” Jackson said. “Out of 500.”

Chris Mihm sat out practice Sunday because of soreness in his right foot, but he returned Monday after changing to a larger pair of shoes that would fit better with his orthotics. He is expected to play tonight.

“I think that’s the big problem he had, is the irritation he had in the orthotics that he used,” Jackson said.

An MRI exam showed that forward Ronny Turiaf had a bruised right knee. He practiced Monday. . . . Jackson, who once famously quipped that rookies were “lower than whale [excrement], offered an update on this year’s batch of Lakers rookies. “That’s where the rookies are right now. All of them,” he said, smiling. “Some of them are starting to bubble a little bit and move up from the bottom of the ocean, but they’re still down there in the bottom of the ocean.”

Advertisement

--

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

Advertisement