Three Lakers to Share Captain Duties
The Lakers replaced their retired captain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with three players after an informal polling of veterans Saturday.
Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and James Worthy will share the honor this season, meaning they will rotate tasks of arguing with officials, enforcing internal team policy and arguing with officials some more.
“Nobody just wanted it individually,” Johnson said after the Lakers’ morning practice at the University of Hawaii. “Everybody wanted somebody else. I voted for them (Cooper and Worthy), but then everybody said, ‘No, you’ve got to be it.’ So, we all just sort of decided to do it this way.
“It’s not going to make a difference to me. I’m still the leader. I have been. I’ve been arguing with the refs for years. But Coop deserves a piece of (the job), and so does James.”
The Lakers, who practiced without Orlando Woolridge, who has knee problems, are scheduled to hold their first scrimmage tonight.
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