THE AGING LAKERS : They Have Built for the Present, Making Them One of the NBA’s Oldest Teams

One day, the Lakers will awaken, look in the bathroom mirror and see that they have grown old.

They will notice crow’s feet, receding hairlines, expanded waistlines. Arteries will have hardened, muscle mass softened. Denture paste will stand next to the cologne on the sink top.

That day, obviously, is not here yet. The Lakers remain their robust selves, heading into the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets with the NBA’s best record. Clearly, it is not time to put them on high-fiber diets, send them to Florida for the winter or explore hair-coloring endorsement opportunities.

But, in their current alignment, the Lakers must soon face the sobering prospect of growing old together. They have seven players 30 or older, among them starters Magic Johnson and Mychal Thompson. James Worthy and Byron Scott are 29 and nursing chronic injuries.

Even after the retirement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar last season at 42, and the unexpected addition of 22-year-old Yugoslav center Vlade Divac, the Lakers still are among the league’s oldest teams.

The Lakers’ average age is 29 years 4 months--one year and four months younger than last season’s team, which had Abdul-Jabbar. In the last 10 seasons, the oldest team to have won an NBA championship was the 1987-88 Lakers, with an average age of 29 years 1 month. But that Laker team had only four players 30 or older. No championship team in the ‘80s had more than four 30-something players.

If it is at all consoling to the Lakers, they are not alone among the successful aged. The Pistons, whose average age was 28 years 4 months when they won the title last season, now average 30 years 3 months and have six players 30 or older.

The Lakers are not at all concerned about growing old and say they can win with their current group for three more seasons. That would be until the end of the 1992-93 season, when Johnson says he will retire.

So, the Laker thinking is win now and worry about rebuilding--or even just staying reasonably young--later.

“(Laker owner) Jerry Buss is very comfortable with this team as it is, and he thinks it can win for several more years,” said Jerry West, the Lakers’ general manager. “I think (Buss) realizes it’s a risky thing. But I don’t think there’s any question this team, right now, can win it.”

Coach Pat Riley was even more blunt.

“Sure, it’s win now,” Riley said. “It’s all win now. We’re not trying to win in 1995. We want to win this year. We’re going to put the best, most experienced team we can on the floor. Maybe (age) could be a problem. We got lucky with Vlade. He’s young. A.C. (Green) is still young (26). But we definitely are a team that is seasoned.”

Riley, who prefers coaching veteran players, said the Lakers have deliberately sought experienced players to surround Johnson.

“I hope we’ll have this much experience for the next two or three years,” he said. “We’ve got to do everything we can do, while (Johnson) is still healthy and vital, to win championships. Because, when Earvin retires, it’ll be very hard. We’ll have to rebuild anyway.”

Throughout the ‘80s, however, the Lakers always took measures to avoid turning into doddering geezers in shorts and sneakers. They successfully combined youth and experience. The 1979-80 Laker championship team had an average age of 25 years 8 months. Even the 1984-85 Lakers, said by many to be the developmental team of the ‘80s, averaged only 27 years 9 months.

The Lakers have such a rich history you would think it was West or Bill Sharman, not Branch Rickey, who said, “It’s better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late.”

The Lakers were able to build a solid talent base by using acquired draft choices to select Johnson and Worthy, as well as West’s own eye for talent in selecting Green with the last pick in the first round in 1985.

But the Lakers also consciously made moves to stay young.

In 1983, they traded shooting guard Norm Nixon, then 26 and seemingly still in his prime, to the Clippers for draft rights to Scott, then 22, and Swen Nater. Nixon’s only physical problem then was tendinitis in his knees, but the Lakers liked Scott’s youth and shooting ability. When the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the NBA finals that season, some criticized trading Nixon. No complaints have been heard since, though.

After winning the championship in 1984-85, the Lakers waived Jamaal Wilkes, who had just turned 33, and chose not to offer Bob McAdoo, then 34, a new contract. Both had been key figures, but Wilkes was coming off a knee injury and McAdoo was expendable.

And, after winning consecutive championships in 1987 and ‘88, the Lakers chose not to re-sign Kurt Rambis, who had turned 30. They had committed to Green, younger and stronger, by that time, and Rambis wanted more playing time.

At first, the Lakers got a lot younger after last season. Abdul-Jabbar, at last, had retired and the Lakers drafted Divac in the first round.

But then they chose not to re-sign Tony Campbell, 26, and signed Larry Drew, 32, and, two months into the season, Jay Vincent, 30. In addition, Johnson, Orlando Woolridge and Mark McNamara all turned 30 within the past year.

Initially unsure about Divac and convinced they needed another big man, the Lakers tried to trade first-round draft picks and McNamara to Minnesota for another over-30 player, Rick Mahorn, but were rebuffed.

Outside forces may now prevent the Lakers from getting older.

Burned in the past, teams are not so willing to trade with the Lakers anymore. Other owners, besides Buss, now are willing to pay extravagantly for free agents. Teams, too, are stockpiling draft choices instead of readily swapping them for talented, but aging, veterans.

And the Lakers seem to have altered their philosophy. They no longer see anything wrong with keeping players well into their 30s. The Lakers ate $860,000 when they waived Wilkes, $922,000 when McAdoo left. They wanted new blood.

Now, they have Thompson, 35, and Michael Cooper, 34, under contract for next season and say they have no intention of letting either go.

“You have to have the opportunities to do things, first off,” West said. “Also, you have to be willing to take the risk. We know what we have for players now, and we’re happy with it. “No question about it, we have to look to the future. We have to say to ourselves, ‘What do we have to do to make over this team but still keep it attractive?’ Jerry Buss knows we’re (getting older), but you don’t always get into a position to do something about it.

“We have explored a number of things before the draft to get younger--and before the (Feb. 22) trading deadline--but it’s tough to get teams to deal with you. It’s the price you pay for winning. If we can risk-take and not destroy the team we have now, we’ll make a deal. Before (in the early ‘80s), we haven’t had to give up anything to get a number of our players. That’s changed.”

The Lakers’ core players--Johnson, Worthy and Scott--say they like having veteran teammates. And, as might be expected, they are a tad sensitive about being called old. They prefer such euphemisms as mature, seasoned, even wizened.

They no longer worry about building for the future because, well, they won’t be a part of it.

“We’ve got to take advantage of this situation,” Scott said. “We’ve got six or seven guys 30 and over, and myself and James are 29, so you try to be as good as you can while the going is good and while you have that team intact. We’ve got the team to win now. We want to win now.”

Johnson compares the Lakers to football’s San Francisco 49ers, a talent-laden team that simply adds experienced accessories every season.

“You can never worry about rebuilding,” Johnson said. “What’s that going to do for you? The philosophy is to win every year, right now. You add the players as you go on.

“You want the experience and the hunger of guys that have played and haven’t tasted it before. It’s like the 49ers. They bring in a few veterans that haven’t won. I think our franchises are the same. We look to win now and not worry about tomorrow. With the free-agency situation and the draft, you always have a chance to be young.”

But doesn’t Johnson fear growing old together, as many say the Celtics have done? “It could be, but we’re not an old team, like in the upper 30s,” Johnson said. “We’re a mature team. We still got a few more years.

“When we started off, we were real young. But that doesn’t help you win championships. You don’t want to have a lot of guys that have never really been (through the pressure of a playoff), because you may have to count on guys that haven’t gone through it. Now, we got Larry and Jay. They’ve been there. That’s what’s going to help you.”

Thompson and Cooper, the two Lakers in their mid 30s, stay in good condition and have yet to show serious decline in the quality of play. Thompson has been nagged by heel and knee injuries, but he had chronic injuries in his younger days. Cooper’s shooting percentage has fallen off in recent seasons, but he still is a defensive demon against guards and small forwards. “Age is just a number, baby, ask George Burns,” Thompson said. “I’m in my best physical condition since I came into the league. There’s no doubt I’m getting old. (But) I take care of myself. I eat the right foods. I do my weightlifting. Get the proper rest. Coop may have his ginseng, but I’m taking these natural herbs and vitamins. I feel great.”

Cooper celebrated his 34th birthday two weeks ago and, unwilling to accept advancing age, refused to shake a well wisher’s hand.

“I may be old, age-wise,” Cooper said, “but I feel in my 20s. I’m taking it a year at a time. I can play longer than next season. It depends on my ability to defend (against) smaller guys. The only thing I can’t do as well as when I was younger is jump.”

Cooper weighs 177 pounds, one more than in 1978-79, his rookie season.

Cooper laughed when it was suggested the Lakers are on their last legs.

“They were saying that seven years ago, when we had Kareem, Jamaal and McAdoo,” Cooper said. “It’s happening again. But it’s not to the point where we are old. Thirty is not old.”

Worthy and Scott will not reach 30 until next season, but both could be classified as well seasoned.

Worthy left North Carolina after his junior season and has played in the NBA eight seasons. Except for a broken leg late in his rookie season, 1982-83, he has had no debilitating injuries. He has, however, been bothered by chronic tendinitis in his knees. And this season alone, he has had a sore foot, sore shoulder, back spasms and a periodic flare-ups in his knees.

Even so, he missed only two games and has been as productive as ever.

But Riley wonders whether the beating Worthy routinely takes in the low post will ultimately slow him.

“James is a warrior,” Riley said. “He plays hard, takes a beating every night. There’s a point of diminishing return where he might lose something.

“He’s like a great running back. He reminds me of the Eric Dickersons and Walter Paytons and Jim Browns. He’s taking a lot of banging. He’s getting banged by screeners, getting banged by defensive men. He’s got to fight and fend before he gets the ball. Then, when he gets the ball, he’s got to fight and fend some more. I think that takes its toll.”

Worthy says he does not consider himself an old 29.

“No, I’m a young 29,” Worthy said. “I don’t have anything that any other player is not suffering. Everybody has nagging injury. That’s just the way it’s evolved over the years. You have to go through a lot of barriers and banging to get the balls. A lot of times I don’t get bumped at all. So, I’m a young 29. I’m definitely a young 29.”

Scott, the Lakers’ other 29-year-old, has been unable to fully recover from a torn left hamstring that kept him out of the NBA finals last season.

And now he’s hobbled by a sprained left ankle, but that is not expected to prevent his playing Friday.

As for the hamstring, Scott said, “I don’t think it’ll slow me down much now (in games). But it might end (my career) a year or two sooner than expected. I’m not going to worry about it.

“I don’t want to leave this game and 10 years from now be crippled, you know. But, right now, (the hamstring) seems like it’s getting back to this plateau of being stronger. You don’t want to think the worst, but you have to keep your career in perspective.”

Said Riley of Scott: “It doesn’t mean he should be less productive. He might not be as spectacular. He may not elevate as much, but you can always make up for a loss of physical skills with wisdom, experience. I think Byron is there now.”

Johnson seems as strong now as when he was 22. Now, though, he has experience and leadership qualities he did not have then.

“Let’s just say Earvin is getting his second wind at 30,” Riley said. “He’s talking about quitting in three years. I don’t think it has much to do with money. But if he’s playing like he is now three or four years from now--and I don’t think there’s any reason why he can’t--he can still play like this. I think Kareem’s 20 years has changed the mind set about longevity in the league.”

Abdul-Jabbar’s unprecedented 20 NBA seasons also might have changed Riley’s handling of, ahem, mature players.

Abdul-Jabbar often sat out practice in his last few seasons, especially on days after games. Riley has extended that policy this season to Johnson and Worthy. Also, there was a three-month stretch earlier in the season when Thompson seldom practiced, and Scott periodically sits to rest his hamstring.

“We’re not going to walk around on egg shells,” Riley said. “We’ve got guys who are hurt--not injured, just playing hurt. They aren’t incapacitated. I think I’ve been very conscious of our older guys and key guys. Earvin and James never practice the day after a game anymore. Never. Our practices are always very light the day after a game.”

As much a preservationist as coach, perhaps, Riley said he realizes that someday--sooner probably than later--the Lakers will simply be too old and will have to rebuild. “We’ll keep looking for young players, and maybe getting rid of Tony Campbell was a mistake,” Riley said. “But we will continue to find players with experience, veterans who know how to win, to go with Earvin and James. As long as (Johnson and Worthy) are in their early 30s, we’re not in a rebuilding process yet.”

Riley is justifiably proud of the Lakers’ staying power.

“This team has spanned all our contenders,” Riley said. “What I mean is, you play against the Dr. J’s, the Birds--all these teams with great guys--and then their championship years have gone and they’ve rebuilt. Now, we’re almost at the point where that new team the franchises have will grow old and be gone.

“For instance, if Magic goes another three of four more years, the Stocktons and Karl Malones will have been around eight or nine years and you have spanned the entire development of that (Utah Jazz) franchise. I think that’s the uniqueness of this (Laker) team.”

Yet, the Lakers acknowledge that, eventually, their dominance will end.

“I think we can win for another two or three years,” Scott said.

Added Thompson: “We’re all going out when Magic goes out. So, we’ve got three years to live. The mirror doesn’t lie, baby.”