Lakers Believe Time Has Come

The rings are at home in Houston, in a safe purchased to house and protect the symbols of NBA championships, a pair he decided to supplement with the three earned for Southeastern Conference titles while at Alabama. Robert Horry considered breaking out the two that signify his work with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and ’95 and showing them to his Laker teammates, wondering if they might serve as motivation for the road ahead, before deciding against it.

“I don’t want the guys to think I’m showing off or anything,” he said.

He may still opt to bring them out, maybe around the middle of the season, when the road is looking long. To show them the way or something.

Rick Fox has no rings, but plenty of perspective. He played with the Boston Celtics when that meant something--when Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were still around. So he too knows about championship readiness.

Days before the Lakers open a season of grand expectations, Fox is speaking of his new team’s approach.

“I’ve played with teams that have championship players on it, legendary guys,” he says. “Really, at this point, this team isn’t [there] yet. Larry and Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, those guys knew how to prepare themselves for a game. They took care of the little things. They prepared for games by watching films. That type of thing. The things championship teams do.

“We’ve got the talent. The skill level is something that will come. Yeah, we’re all skilled. But there’s the skill of setting a pick right, the skill of executing your offense every time down the court, there’s the skill of communicating on defense. Those are things you learn the older you get.

“Then there’s the attitude. Your attitude has to be one of professionalism every game. Not just some games, not just at home, not just on the road. It’s a total maturing process. I don’t see it as a whole yet.”

Fox does not, of course, have an exclusive on such analysis. It’s what much of the rest of the league is thinking as the season is about to begin and the Lakers, disregarded as too emotionally erratic, have in their sights the first 60-win season since 1989-90 and the first trip to the Western Conference finals, if not beyond, since 1991.

The Lakers know people doubt them for reasons that have nothing to do with the physical, because the core is back from the team that finished fourth in the Western Conference despite injuries that knocked out two starters for much of the second half.

They can dominate. Or disintegrate.

They can explode. Or implode.

When asked about the Lakers’ reputation around the league, Fox--a Celtic the previous six years before signing as a free agent--said:

“Immature. Talented.”

Growth has come this season at least in that they are addressing it instead of dismissing it. Shaquille O’Neal, his play having been everything the Lakers hoped for in 1996-97, his first season after signing a $120-million deal, said he’s now committed to stepping forward as a team leader for the first time in his career. Nick Van Exel, combustible emotionally but far more stable as a ballhandler than his reputation allows, has worked to keep his attitude in check and, therefore, get along better with Coach Del Harris and referees.

“Staying focused,” said Eddie Jones, coming off his all-star season. “Being a young team, you can lose focus any time. We have to stay focused.”

Said Harris: “How our pressure defense is, how we handle the pick and roll, and whether we make our free throws--those are factors. But do we develop the championship mind-set? Only that mind-set allows a team to exert its will over another team when the moment of truth arrives.”

On the court, the Lakers are much more of a certainty. That is, they have proved to be more dangerous to the other team.

They are very big, capable of starting a frontline that goes 7 feet 1, 7-0 and 6-10, but anything but plodding. The size has speed. Sandra Bullock never steered anything this large and fast.

They are versatile, meaning they’ll be able to match up with any team. Three of the top eight players--Kobe Bryant, Elden Campbell and Horry--are expected to get significant time at two positions. Harris can fan four shooters around the perimeter and dare opponents to double-team O’Neal or have shot blockers at all three frontcourt positions.

They are deep. The deepest, they would argue. Derek Fisher’s continued improvement at the point will be especially critical considering the tenuous state of Van Exel’s left knee. The departure of Byron Scott and Jerome Kersey means a leadership and attitude void must be filled, the job O’Neal wants, but also means an increased role for Bryant, behind Jones at shooting guard and some at small forward--where the Lakers are beyond solid with Horry and Fox.

But are they ready? Hoping to set a tone from the start, Laker players addressed this topic at a team dinner the night before training camp started four weeks ago.

“This year, everyone expressed much more confidence in their voice,” Bryant said. “It was the determination we never had. Last year, everybody talked about how good we could be. But you can hear it in a person’s voice whether they believe it or not.”

This time around, apparently, they do.

“You could see it in the eyes, that we firmly believe,” Bryant said.

“We want to take it one game at a time, but we know what this team is capable of. Somebody has to win it. Why can’t it be us?”