O’Neal to Begin Full Workouts Monday

Shaquille O’Neal, his recovery from a major knee injury continuing on schedule, has been cleared by doctors to participate in full workouts beginning Monday in what figures to be an extended final test before he is activated.

O’Neal probably won’t play for at least two weeks, but it’s at least another encouraging development for the Lakers, only days after their all-star center had returned to practice on a limited basis. He has been prohibited from scrimmaging, the same guideline that will be in place for the rest of this week, before the restrictions come off.

From there, O’Neal will get two or three full workouts in before he is reevaluated sometime between April 11-13. Based on the results of that exam, it’s possible a target date will be set for his return, perhaps in time for the final three regular-season games. That would also be on the original timetable that had him missing eight to 10 weeks.

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Last summer it was reported that the Lakers had signed O’Neal before he had officially become a free agent. Now it’s that they are courting Kentucky’s Rick Pitino or Kansas’ Roy Williams to take over after Coach Del Harris gets fired. So before this summer can become last summer and Jerry West has to live through the irritation of more unfounded speculation, the executive vice president took the unusual step Tuesday of releasing a statement.

“I would like to express my disappointment in the recent media reports in my alleged interest in certain coaches,” it said. “The stories are wrong--period. They also create an unfavorable, uncomfortable and unfair atmosphere for our team--management, coaches and players alike. The fact is, we have an excellent coach in Del Harris. All of us are very pleased in the job Del has done and is doing, and we would appreciate a stop to these false rumors. This should not be interpreted as a ‘vote of confidence’ for Del; the fact of the matter of the matter is, we’ve never had a lack of confidence in Del.”

Said Harris: “I knew that. Jerry and I have a very close relationship. I think I know what’s going on in the organization. He’s not the type of person who’s going to back-door anyone.”

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Having cut Seattle’s lead in the Pacific Division to half a game, the Lakers are also well aware that the SuperSonics have a big schedule advantage down the stretch. The next five opponents for the defending champions: the Bucks, Mavericks, Kings, Mavericks again and Spurs.