Being in Laker Club Could Give a Player a Case of the Shakes

Sometimes, the Lakers aren’t so much a team as a fraternal organization. Traffic cops perform fewer hand motions than Laker players during pregame introductions.

Frivolous as it may seem to outsiders, team rituals such as handshakes and chants are important to the Lakers’ success. In fact, they credited a pregame rendition of their “Laker Show” chant as the inspiration leading to their ousting of the Houston Rockets Thursday night in Game 4 of that first-round playoff series.

The Lakers have long believed in team bonding. Such behavior is not at all unusual in sports, since teams that do not stay together can break apart.

But the Lakers, waiting to face the winner of the Utah-Phoenix series, are different because of the extent to which they employ togetherness rituals.

Their handshakes--some secret, some not--change every season. Sometimes, they change several times during a season. Nicknames and pranks abound.

“It’s like we’re a club, the Laker Club, and no one can be in it but us,” Byron Scott said. “I mean, (fans) can try to imitate our handshakes and stuff on the street, but they can’t do it with us . They aren’t in the club.

“It’s fun for the team. It brings us together and makes life easier. We’re going to be with each other eight or nine months, so you got to be close. I hear, on some teams, you got brothers who wouldn’t even talk to one another. It’s not like that with us.”

Especially not this season. This is one of the closest Laker teams in the Magic Johnson era. Their personalities are more compatible. They are tight and loose at the same time, and that is partly because Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has retired.

“Everyone is into it this year,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you could (have fun) with Kareem, sometimes you couldn’t. You had to step around him a lot. That’s just the way he was, and that was fine. But this year, if somebody gets you, it’s OK. You know he’s gonna get it back. Most of the stuff we do is between us, you know. It’s just what we do.”

Most publicized has been the “Laker Show” chant, brainchild of forward Orlando Woolridge. Before most practices and games, teammates will encircle Woolridge, who turns and asks, “Whose show?” His teammates answer, “Laker show.” They will repeat it several times before breaking up.

“It just happened,” Woolridge said. “Magic always says, ‘It’s the Lakers’ show.’ One day, during the game, I go up to him in his face and say, ‘Whose show is it?’ After that, it just stuck. It just went from there. It’s from all of us, not just me. I’m just the lead chanter.” Woolridge also is one of several creative forces behind the variety of handshakes. Some have credited Johnson for “inventing” the high-five, but that is now passe to Lakers.

“All of these (handshakes) came as derivatives of the high-five,” Woolridge said. “We’re the Lakers. We gotta do something different.”

A partial list of Laker shakes:

--The Fake Five: Also known as long-distance five, according to Woolridge. Players will raise both hands, then wave it off, like an umpire giving the “safe” sign. “A.C. (Green) and Coop (Michael Cooper) came up with the Fake Five,” Scott said. “We do it because everyone high-fives now. We fake it.”

Added Woolridge: “I call it the ‘long-distance’ because you can do it across the court at a guy.”

--The Ninja Chop: Some Lakers are fans of movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” It started earlier this season, when Scott’s son said Woolridge resembled one of the characters. Now, players occasionally greet each other with karate chops to the throat. The motion sometimes appears more like a backhand tennis stroke.

Players reportedly soon will unveil a derivative of that, called the Fake Chop, in which they will finish the motion with by flicking their wrist backward. Oh yes, they also will make grunting noises while performing the act.

--The Two-Finger Touch: Sometimes, only one finger is used. Players will simply touch finger tips with outstretched arms, a gentler, more intimate version of the high-five. Scott said Johnson and Green developed it.

--The Foot Five, or Low Toe: When a player returns to the bench after being replaced, a teammate on the bench will lift the sole of his shoe and touch shoe bottoms with the on-coming player. This one is a favorite of rookie Vlade Divac.

“It’s not like we have to work on being this way,” Woolridge said. “We just think up these things. It’s just the way we are.

“We’re serious, but there’s time for fun. This is the first team I’ve been on where you can go out to dinner with everyone on the team. We have a good blend of personalities. Earvin made the comment just today that, this season, he really enjoys coming to practice because he knows something will happen that will make him laugh.”

Laker Notes

The Lakers said they will watch the decisive fifth game today between Utah and Phoenix together before practicing. That way, they can prepare knowing their opponent in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers do not express a preference. But the Suns’ running style, as opposed to the Jazz’s physical play, is better suited to the Lakers. “Any series we play now is going to be physical,” center Mychal Thompson said. “We’ve had some physical games against Phoenix this season.”