LOS ALAMITOS : Players Give a Tall Order: Eat Healthy

Joseph Bishir, 9, said he’s going to eat his vegetables from now on.

Plus, he’s going to continue riding his bike every day until he’s as big and strong as Los Angeles Lakers A. C. Green and Vlade Divac, because “I want to be just like them,” he said.

Bishir was one of 360 first-, second- and third-grade pupils at Hopkinson Elementary School who gathered on the playground Tuesday to hear Green and Divac deliver a pep talk on a “fun run” that many of the pupils will participate in this weekend at UCLA. Sponsored by a PacfiCare, a health maintenance organization, the assembly was part of a monthlong effort at five Southern California schools aimed at teaching children the value of staying fit.

As soon as Green and Divac arrived, the children twisted around in their plastic chairs on the playground blacktop and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the athletes. “I’ve never seen a real Laker before, I’ve only seen them on TV,” said Brian Clasby, 7, as he waited eagerly. “They’re both my favorite, but my best favorite is Magic Johnson.”

When the players approached, the pupils began chanting, “A. C. Green!” and “Divac!” Melissa Hale, 9, introduced the players to her assembled classmates and got a laugh when she stumbled over the tricky pronunciation of center Vlade Divac’s name (pronounced VLAH-day DEE-vahtz).

She said later that Green and Divac did a “good job” of emphasizing the importance of exercise and nutrition. She added that, even though they’re National Basketball Assn. players, their height still surprised her: “Wow, they’re tall! My dad’s 6-foot-5, and I was like, ‘Dad, you’re a shrimp!’ ”

The NBA lists Divac at 7 feet tall, Green at 6 feet, 9 inches.

Green did most of the talking and Yugoslavian-born Divac demonstrated how to stretch properly and warm up for exercise. Divac, later mimicking a player at the console of a video jet fighter, held his hands on an imaginary yoke and twitched his thumbs to make the point that playing in an arcade for exercise is “no good.”

Green also said avoiding potato chips, french fries and milkshakes is as integral to health as exercising. “Your body’s very, very important,” the forward said. “What you put into it, I always tell Vlade, is what you get out.”

When he suggested that students eat their vegetables and cut out junk food, he received a mixed response of cheers and “ughs.”

Green also emphasized the value of mental exercise: reading, writing and doing homework. “Do the right things mentally and physically, not only for the main event, but for (your life), so you can grow up like Vlade,” he said.

Before speaking to the pupils, Green said he hoped to be a role model for them. “It’s very important to have someone to look up to,” he said. “We’re not supermen, but we try to be the best role models we can be.”

Brian Barrus, 9, called the assembly “awesome” and said that although he didn’t know whether other students would take the lecture to heart and exercise more, “I’m going to.”