Purple Haze

It was early March a year ago. The Lakers were stalled and in need of a shove.

They arrived at the Forum on a Friday night to find one in their lockers.

It was a letter from Jerry West.

“Each of you are on the verge of letting the season slip right through your fingers,” began the shoe-pounding, neck-wringing missive from the team’s executive vice president.

The Lakers read and paid heed. They won that night, and 21 times in their last 24 regular-season games.

A year later, little has changed, but everything has changed.

Facing their first meeting with league-best Portland tonight, it’s time for another letter.

But now, it should come from Shaquille O’Neal.

And he shouldn’t write it, he should read it, like the riot acts Michael Jordan once read to the Chicago Bulls, in the same tones Karl Malone uses on the Utah Jazz.

He needs to be unafraid to scold on the floor, unembarrassed to call teammates out in the locker room, and undaunted in his dealings with Dennis Rodman.

Besides 27 points and 11 rebounds a game, he needs to produce about three more overt acts of leadership.

Shaq should behave as if this is his team, because it is.

After nearly three seasons here, using the currency of outstanding performance and relentless hustle, he has purchased it outright.

These are not Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, no matter how many times the youngster makes you cheer, because of all the times he makes you scream.

These ceased being Jerry West’s Lakers the minute they acquired Rodman.

They are not Kurt Rambis’ Lakers, anymore than they were Del Harris’ Lakers, at least not yet.

This is Shaq’s team, his time, his town.

But because of his kind and youthful nature, he has sometimes behaved like a pushover landlord.

The very thing that has endeared him to us--he is as approachable and nonthreatening as a 300-pound fourth grader--is the very thing that could be hurting him.

The Laker who puts up the best numbers every night will not scold those who don’t.

The Laker who epitomizes hard work won’t point fingers at those who don’t work.

The Laker charged with carrying them to the playoffs is too nice to even tell anyone where to sit.

For years, Jordan ran the Bulls not just with his body, but his will. With his glares and words and gestures, he created not just magic, but enough tension that his teammates were afraid to fail.

We need to see more of Shaq’s will.

Just last week, Gary Payton ran the Seattle SuperSonics by ripping into teammate Vin Baker at the end of practice. Baker was so upset, a couple of days later he scored 27 points to help beat the Lakers.

We need to hear more about Shaq’s anger.

He grew up in a military family and Shaq often reminds us that he has spent his entire life quietly respecting authority.

Well, guess what, sir. At 27, in your seventh NBA season, you are the authority.

Now act like it.

And please don’t tell me he can’t run the team because he misses some free throws. That’s like saying he shouldn’t be playing at the end of games because he misses some free throws.

His dominating presence turns both statements to nonsense.

My favorite moment of Sunday’s loss to the Sonics? When Shaq fell to the floor battling another player for a rebound.

That player was Rodman. In terms of asserting control over a messy operation, it was a start.

In an interview Monday after practice--after he had shot countless free throws with assistant coach Bill Bertka--O’Neal said that he has tried to be more of a leader.

“I have said some things, done some things,” he said. “But around here, it doesn’t really work.”

First, he noted, the team culture under Rambis is not conducive to Jordanesque peer pressure.

“Sure, I can get on a guy,” Shaq said. “But if that happens, Kurt can’t go back up to him and talk all nice.”

Rambis, who played in an era where on-court leadership was enough, said he is not in favor of teammate confrontations.

“Do I think players should be yelling at each other? No,” he said. “Kareem never said a word to us, but he didn’t have to. We knew what we were supposed to do by just watching him.”

Shaq said the Lakers also have had the type of players who did not react well to teammate tension.

“I could never yell at Eddie [Jones] or Nick [Van Exel]. They would go into a shell and we would lose them for 10 days,” he said. “A lot of guys around here, you have to really be careful, they’ll react the wrong way.”

And other teammates, he said, just don’t want to be bothered.

“We have some guys who just don’t want to listen,” he said.

Even when he does talk, O’Neal said, he is not sure whether he is doing the right thing.

He said that early in Rodman’s term here, he encouraged him to get with the program.

“He said he would, and it was fine,” Shaq said.

But then Shaq was told to cool it, to let Rambis handle Rodman.

Which is fine except, well, with a $120-million contract, Shaq has a bigger stake in the team than Rambis.

Shaq says the Rodman problem has been “overblown” by the media but acknowledged that when it comes to the rest of the underachieving team, he remains confused.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “I lead by example and it doesn’t work. I say something, and they don’t listen. And we keep getting beat by bad teams.”

How about this: Do everything you have been doing, just do it louder.

Scold Bryant on the court for a bad shot. Get in Horry’s face on the bench for a defensive lapse. Don’t be afraid to terrorize your teammates like you do the other guys.

Because, to quote a former wise man, each of them are on the verge of letting the season slip right through their fingers. . . .

Bill Plaschke can be reached at he e-mail address, bill.plaschke@latimes.com.

BEHIND THE NUMBERS

30-9: Record last season at this point vs. 25-14 this year

18-8: Record since acquiring Dennis Rodman on Feb. 22 (17-5 when Rodman plays)

10-8: Record since trading for Glen Rice on March 10

103.8: Points allowed since Rice Trade

24th: Ranking in points allowed (95.1)

26th: Ranking in free throw percentage (.683)

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TONIGHT

LAKERS at PORTLAND; 5 p.m.; Channel 9, TNT; Radio: KLAC (570)