Harris Won’t Rush Shaq Back

Beyond the obvious--sitting out his second consecutive game--the suspension that cost Shaquille O’Neal the chance to play Tuesday at Sacramento also pushed back his return to full speed after sitting out the last two weeks because of a strained abdominal muscle.

That prompted Coach Del Harris to schedule a light workout tonight with some players after originally planning to give the Lakers the day off because a Chamber of Commerce luncheon was already on tap. Still, O’Neal won’t have his first workout with contact until Thursday--the day before he begins a stretch of opponents that includes Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Bradley’s size, at least, presents problems, so that leaves him one game without an interesting matchup, Sunday against the Golden State Warriors.

“That can’t have any bearing as to how much he plays,” Harris said. “It all has to do longer range.”

Harris is worried about O’Neal’s health for the rest of the season, not the rest of the month.

Harris said doctors told him not to play O’Neal more than 20 minutes Tuesday against the Kings, so, depending on how the abdominal muscle reacts to the upcoming practices, the same time limit could be in effect when Ewing and the New York Knicks come to the Forum on Friday. Though impossible to say for sure, Harris figures it might be three games before his star center is able to go full steam.

The run of standout centers could be over by then, but the challenges won’t. One comes Nov. 18.

Lakers at Utah. The team whose center, Greg Ostertag, isn’t much in the standout department but has nonetheless proven able to cause problems for O’Neal.