Where in World Is Ceballos?

Cedric Ceballos was suspended indefinitely by the Lakers on Thursday after apparently going AWOL, leaving them to wonder where he was and why their leading scorer and co-captain would choose this way and this time to stage what may have been a protest against Coach Del Harris.

After playing only 12 minutes, his low as a Laker, in the 94-71 victory over the SuperSonics on Tuesday night at the Forum, Ceballos missed Wednesday afternoon’s charter flight to Seattle without explanation. He had not returned several calls from team officials as of 9 p.m. Thursday, with Magic Johnson having taken his place as the starting small forward. The SuperSonics scored a 104-93 victory.

Agent Fred Slaughter did not return calls to The Times, but told the Lakers that Ceballos had left a message on his answering machine Thursday that included no indication of his whereabouts. That, along with other factors, leads team officials to conclude that no harm has come to Ceballos, amid a report by KNBC-TV that he was stranded in Lake Havasu, Ariz.

“You would think that family members would call our office and say, ‘What do you know? We haven’t heard from him,’ ” General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “There has not been anything like that from his representative either. That kind of leads us away from that. But we’d still like to hear from him.

“Our assumption is that he is fine, and we hope that he is, and that this is his decision. In that case, it’s an unexcused absence and we have no choice but to suspend him.”

That, in turn, will cost Ceballos $27,378 a game, along with $1,000 for skipping practice Wednesday. It will be $1,000 more for the next missed workout and then the fine can increase to as much as $2,500 per practice. There is a chance the Lakers will suspend Ceballos one extra game for every game he misses.

Said Executive Vice President Jerry West, clearly angered: “People are emotional. But when you’re emotional and then put the word professional in front of your job title, you expect a certain type of behavior. And obviously this is not very professional. More importantly, this team should be preparing for the playoffs and building more focus, and that won’t happen with this going on.”

And the fact that Ceballos is a team captain and therefore regarded as a leader?

“That’s even more distressing,” West said.

The timing of the disappearance--if it is, in fact, basketball related--is particularly aggravating to management. The Lakers were coming off an impressive victory against the league’s second-winningest team and had 18 games left in the regular season and an outside chance to move up to No. 3 in the Western Conference.

Seattle was in their immediate future, then Charlotte at home on Sunday, then a six-game Eastern swing that begins Tuesday at Orlando.

“You talk about timing,” Johnson said. “This is the worst timing it could possibly be.”

Johnson would not comment much beyond that, preferring to wait until he finds out exactly what happened, but the indication was clear. Ceballos had better have a pretty good reason for doing this.

The Lakers’ other team leader, Nick Van Exel, was equally guarded, but telling, in his reaction.

“It looks like we’re going to be playing without him,” said Van Exel, the other co-captain. “That’s about it.”

But asked whether Ceballos is setting the wrong example by walking out on the team, he added: “I wouldn’t do it.”

Ceballos’ action comes as Laker players have grown increasingly frustrated with Harris’ inconsistent rotation and what some perceive as a coach who has become too uptight as the level of expectations climbed this season.

The Ceballos-Harris relationship has often been uneasy, but both were able to keep the negative feelings behind closed doors while achieving individual and team success. On those occasions when it started to become an issue, when the rift started to grow or Ceballos desired a more defined role, West would sometimes mediate.

Through it all, Ceballos got more minutes (35.2) and 165 more shots than any other Laker. Johnson’s return had little effect on that, even as Magic began to play more small forward.

Then came the last couple of games. Ceballos played 38 minutes Sunday against Orlando, but was only on the fringe of the offense the second half in what became a one-point loss for the Lakers. Tuesday brought the SuperSonics, and Ceballos missed six of seven shots and had three fouls in the 12 minutes, playing only four the second half.

“That’s just the way it was, that’s all,” Harris said. “You have to play the guys who are in rhythm. I don’t think you have to apologize. That was our biggest win of the year.”

Beyond that, Harris didn’t want to dissect the issue. “I’m just concerned about him as a person now,” he said. “We can worry about the ballplaying later.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Shrinking Cedric?

Cedric Ceballos’ key statistics have declined slightly after the return of Magic Johnson. After the games category, all figures are per game.

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Category Before After Games 40 22 Minutes 36.3 33.2 FG (Made-Att.) 9-17 8-15 FT (Made-Att.) 6-7 3-4 Rebounds 7.3 6.8 Assists 1.7 1.4 Points 23.4 20.6

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