NBA FINALS : LAKERS vs. CHICAGO BULLS : Still a Star, in His Own Write : Lakers: He might spend most of his game time on the bench, but Mychal Thompson is anything but reserved about his opinions.

The days of the season and perhaps his Laker career dwindle to a precious few for Mychal Thompson, a jester in need of a court.

Perhaps a career alternative?

Needed for only 42 minutes in the playoffs, he is most visible in the pages of the Los Angeles Daily News, for which he is writing a diary.

The Daily News landed him only after intense negotiations.

He asked them for $500 a column.

They said no.

How about $500 for all of them?

No.

OK, said Mychal.

“They told me I had to pay them 500 bucks,” he says. “But I think it was a good investment in my future. I didn’t mind.”

How is it going?

“Good. I’ve had lots of good reviews.”

And the editors over there?

“They don’t have to edit,” Thompson said. “I kept everything clean. I was very positive about everything and everybody. The negative stuff comes out later after I get my new contract. Then I’m going to really stick it to everybody. Nobody in the NBA is going to be safe, baby.”

If you don’t already know, everything Thompson says should be taken in the spirit it is offered--lightly.

Of course, he slips in serious suggestions, like recent ones to the coaches to play Elden Campbell and A.C. Green.

Is he so candid because he thinks he’s on his way out, anyway?

“Not at all,” Thompson says. “Even if I was playing 20 minutes a game, I’d still be lobbying for Elden and A.C. to play a lot. Those guys have so much to contribute. Elden’s one of the best shot-blockers in the game already.”

Doesn’t it annoy Coach Mike Dunleavy?

“Well, probably if I go to the press and say this guy and that guy should be playing, I couldn’t blame the coach for being upset.”

But he has gone to the press and said this guy and that guy should be playing.

“But it’s not done maliciously,” Thompson says, smiling.

“Not to put down the coach. I’m just trying to complement and enhance my teammates.”

In five Laker seasons, Thompson has had some famous teammates to enhance and complement.

Says Thompson of Magic Johnson: “A very down-to-earth person. . . . He’s a teaser, but he takes it as well as he gives it out. We kid him about how much money he has, about becoming a business conglomerate, that we have to get an appointment to talk to him. We always ask him if we can come by and ask for a job when our careers are over.”

On Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “He’s probably the most interesting man I’ve ever met. One day he’d come in and kid around with you, give you that hyena laugh of his. The next day, he’d just want to be left alone, so you just left him alone.”

On Michael Cooper: “I think he was the most pleasant surprise because playing against him on another team, you looked at him as an ornery, tough, sort of a crazy-type guy. He was 120 pounds (actually 180) and getting in anybody’s face. But after being around him, you see he genuinely cares about people and takes time for people.”

On Pat Riley: “My first practice with Riles, he almost killed me. I thought I was in shape when I got here. I was only 29 (actually 32) and I’d been playing a lot of minutes in San Antonio. My first practice here felt like boot camp and police camp and fireman’s camp all rolled into one. I couldn’t believe it. Middle of the season and they’re practicing that hard. I almost died.”

Now 36, he has had a full career. The No. 1 overall pick in the 1978 draft, he averaged 17 points for seven seasons at Portland.

After half a season at San Antonio, the Lakers liberated him and turned him into a backup for Abdul-Jabbar. His life’s work became moving behemoths out of the lane and running the pick and roll with Johnson.

It didn’t work out badly: five seasons, four appearances in the finals, two championship rings.

Of course, he also gave out the occasional quote.

“I was always a great talker,” Thompson says. “Selling beads on the beach in the Bahamas, you’ve got to be able to sucker--I mean sell the tourists on your goods.”

Lightly employed this season, he has been forecasting his departure for months. But he says he would prefer to stay a Laker, no matter what the consequences.

“If I come back with the Lakers next year, I definitely won’t play,” he says. “I’ll be doing my Chuck Nevitt impersonation.

“Why come back? For the ring, baby. That’s what it’s all about.”

How about the money?

“You kidding me? You know how much money I’ve hidden away? Oops, any IRS agents around here?

“I’m pretty set. I’ve had some good financial advice over the years, and a rich father.”

If things don’t work out, he would like to play for another NBA team. Or in Europe. Anywhere there are rims, nets and notebooks.

Tell Gazetta dello Sport the bidding starts at 1,500,000 lire, but he’s flexible.