Bryant Might Be All-Star Starter

Try telling the Lakers it will be an all-star break.

Shaquille O’Neal is already a lock to be going, and chances are good Eddie Jones will join him. But events of the last few days have made things especially interesting, with Kobe Bryant at least temporarily moving into the starting lineup at guard, even though he’s not in the Laker starting lineup, and Del Harris in position to coach the Western Conference.

Harris is doing his best to downplay the possibility of becoming the first Laker coach to work an all-star game since Pat Riley in 1989. That’s probably because he could never have imagined it would work out like this, with the SuperSonics losing in Dallas on Tuesday to greatly hurt the chances of Seattle’s George Karl.

Suddenly, victories in the final two games before the Sunday cut-off date would send Harris. The first came Wednesday in Phoenix. The last hurdle only increases the stakes in what would have been a big game anyway: Saturday at Seattle. A Laker loss that day means Karl goes after all.

Bryant, meanwhile, already knew he’d be going to New York, but that was to compete in the mixed doubles event, the new 2ball competition with Lisa Leslie. But come Wednesday, the latest returns showed him trailing only Gary Payton in fan balloting that will determine the starters, the final update from the league before last votes are counted and the opening lineups announced Sunday.

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It might make for decent talk-radio fodder, but reports that the Lakers have discussed sending Nick Van Exel and Elden Campbell to the Toronto Raptors for Damon Stoudamire have no real foundation. The Raptors would have to start piling on bodies to make it work with the salary cap.