Impressed Magic Gives Lofty Praise

Heresy, that’s what it is. Claiming that the current Laker team has more depth than its counterparts from the 1980s, the group that won five NBA titles. That this squad can be more exciting than Showtime, the track team that could dribble.

What would Magic Johnson say?

That it’s true. They were his theories in the first place.

“This team is more talented one through 12,” said Johnson, then the point guard and now the part-owner and vice president. “You’ve got to remember, our last three or four guys, you know. [Bob] McAdoo and [Michael] Cooper would come in, but after that, we may have had a big drop-off from there. So maybe not one through six or seven, but one through 12, no question.

“And this team has a chance to be more exciting because you’ve got more finishers on this team. With Kobe [Bryant], Eddie [Jones], Jerome [Kersey], who can still get out on that wing and dunk on you, Cedric [Ceballos]. . . . They’ll be a better finishing team than we could ever be.”

Byron Scott, a Laker player than and now, considered the statements.

“I don’t think it’s that Magic has a short memory,” Scott said. “Let’s say can be--those are the key words. This is definitely going to be an exciting team. And it can be more exciting than the teams we had in Showtime.

“In the ‘80s, we had some guys who were impressive finishers. This team you’ve got a bunch of them. Everybody lives above the rim. When they finish, they finish spectacularly.”

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Shaquille O’Neal can opt out of his contract after three seasons and says regularly he is used to picking up and moving because his father was in the Army. So should the Lakers, and their fans, be worried?

“Probably not,” he said. “The only thing I want is to come out here, play, win. That’s all.”

The clause was put in so O’Neal could re-work his contract if his $120 million falls too far behind the pack by the summer of ’99.