Emotions Runneth Over in End

The Lake Show: fade to black.

Your favorite dysfunctional basketball team started on their summer vacation Monday--those who hadn’t gotten a jump on it the day before against the Jazz, that is--with more emotion than during the brief attempt to be competitive in the Western Conference finals.

Shaquille O’Neal cried in the locker room immediately after the Lakers had been eliminated Sunday, then about 20 hours later skipped the final team meeting.

Nick Van Exel showed, apparently to clean out his locker, but left before the gathering to divide playoff shares, the second time he has bailed early in three years, this season amid an increased possibility he will be traded.

Derek Fisher shed tears after the final game, but showed Monday.

Rick Fox showed, and cried and choked through words upon leaving the Great Western Forum for what may be the last time as a Laker.

Coach Del Harris showed, and probably not for the last time. Management has yet to meet for its postseason evaluations, but General Manager Mitch Kupchak gave a strong indication that Harris will return in the fall for the final season on his contract, despite the 4-0 loss to the Jazz, despite the postgame comments about the officiating that struck his bosses as whining and probably angered them more than the on-court performance.

“We’ll get together in the next week and review when things settle down a little bit emotionally,” Kupchak said. “I don’t think it’s a good time to really make a decision and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this, let’s do that.’

“Our feelings at this time are that, yes, he will be the head coach next year. This city, in a good manner, has been spoiled with great teams over the years and we have high expectations here, we feel the pressure, and we know at the end of the year we’ll all be reviewed. Our players will be reviewed, our trainer, our strength and conditioning coaches, people in the front office, as well as our coaching staff.

“Having said that, I think Del had a great year this year. With the exception of the last eight days, I don’t think anybody can question the job he did. He did a wonderful job.”

Owner Jerry Buss had said as much at the end of the regular season. But the manner in which the end came--with the Lakers being dominated far worse than any worst-case scenario could have imagined, with Jerry West and Magic Johnson blasting some players for a lack of effort and the coaches for a lack of adjustments, with Buss no doubt a little less than thrilled to have his team taken apart twice in a row at home--became the only manner in which Harris’ future could have been put in doubt.

Still, though no final decision has been made, all indications are that he will ride out the storm and return for a fifth season, no doubt after being told to knock off any future notation of Karl Malone’s leg kicks at the start of a series or of how referees did in the Lakers. Harris remains well regarded by management, both professionally and personally, and Buss has no desire to spend $6 million a year to bring in a big name like Phil Jackson.

“I’m the coach until I’m not the coach,” Harris said.

So Harris likely stays. So does Van Exel, even with the irony that there appears to be a greater chance he will get traded this summer than compared to year ago, when much of the Laker post-mortem focused on his future after a run-in with Harris.

At issue, after a season in which he made commendable strides to harness his emotions, are bosses who noted that “we had a couple of players that should be embarrassed” and teammates who noticed the absence of the usual Van Exel determination in the final games. Said one, when asked if there was a sense Van Exel had quit early:

“You wouldn’t be far off to write that.”

But he will probably be back. The Lakers, for all their current frustrations, have accepted that they’d have a hard time doing better at point guard than Van Exel and that they couldn’t get much in a trade because of his bad knees and questionable character. The sad part for Van Exel is that although he showed greater stability and was thrilled to be picked by Western Conference coaches for the All-Star team, it ended with 23.8% shooting against the Jazz and teammates suggesting a trip to the cardiologist.

“I felt that we had a couple guys that maybe could have done a better job,” Harris said without getting specific. “But all in all as a team, I don’t think that’s the case. We had a couple guys that maybe were a little off. But I don’t see it as guys that weren’t trying.

“I’m with the same group of people here that eight days ago [some were] saying we’re the best team in the league, that we have done such a fantastic job that we’re unbeatable. And now all of the sudden, we’re no good. That’s not realistic. I think you have to be less reactionary in both cases. Yes, we’ve just been eliminated from the playoffs. We did get to the final four this year. We have shown obvious improvements throughout, both individually and as a team. So to overreact and take away from all the things and the progress that has been done would not be wise.

“I will say this: I will not buy into the talk around that our guys didn’t play hard or didn’t have heart or emotion or energy. That’s just not the truth. The thing to do is pick a guy. Give me some names. It’s easy to say the team didn’t, but give me a name of somebody.”

Fox would never be mentioned, not after a season in which he played much of the second half despite the pain of a sore foot and back spasms and refused to accept anything less than a championship as a realistic goal. The pain of Monday was a different kind, but just as obvious, his voice cracking and tears trailing down his cheeks almost the moment he left the locker room to face a summer of uncertainty.

He wants to come back and the Lakers want him back. But, under the current rules that could be adjusted with a new collective bargaining agreement, they can only give him a one-year contract at $1.2 million next season, far less than other teams will offer.

The sadness? It took Fox 10 seconds to answer, as his eyes welled up.

“I’m just sad, that’s all.”

Giving up money a year ago to come here for the opportunity to win a title?

“I’m not retiring, so I’ll get another chance, somewhere.”

In Los Angeles?

“I don’t know.”

Fox was down to a whisper.

“Don’t know.”

The emotions about what had transpired and what may transpire converged.

“I just hope somewhere, someday to win a championship, and I think this team is going to do it eventually,” he said. “Whether I’m a part of it or not, I just don’t know.”

His decision is critical for the Lakers because, beyond his actual contributions, it involves a starting position. If Fox leaves, Robert Horry might be moved back to small forward, putting Elden Campbell in the starting lineup, if he isn’t traded, something that remains a possibility. Or Kobe Bryant, continuing to grow, could end up at small forward, creating his chance and ending the need to choose between Bryant and Eddie Jones.

So much for a quiet summer.