It’s Not Quite Over for Lakers

The Lakers paid a torturous price for harboring Dennis Rodman (can Jerry West ever bring himself to watch another game?), but say they will not pay him next season, to the potentially grand surprise of Rodman himself.

These and other great and small tidbits emerged Friday--the day after the Lakers finally released the flamboyant rebounder--as Rodman and his agent disappeared from view, Coach Kurt Rambis breathed a sigh of relief, Laker executives defended and explained their actions, and Shaquille O’Neal refused to comment about the re-turning of the worm.

Media-shy Laker owner Jerry Buss, Rodman’s good friend and supporter, showed up for the Lakers’ team picture before practice at L.A. Southwest College, but did not speak to reporters.

His spokesman, Bob Steiner, said Buss’ reaction to the release by Laker management was this: “They did what they had to do.”

As of Friday afternoon, no Laker official had been able to get ahold of Rodman (though Steiner said Buss probably would try to speak to him as a friend), having to settle for a conversation with Steve Chasman, Rodman’s agent.

“I would say he acted surprised,” Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said of his phone call to Chasman informing him of his client’s waiver. “I find it difficult to believe he was surprised. But he said he was surprised.”

The Lakers, who in February agreed to give Rodman a $1-million option for next season, say they do not have to pay it to him because the contract stipulates that he must be on the team’s roster at the end of this season to trigger the option, Kupchak said.

As in any good divorce, Rodman’s people are going to the lawyers. A Rodman spokesman said Friday that Rodman’s attorneys are aware of the Lakers’ position, are not sure they agree with it, and are reexamining the clause in the contract.

So, in the spirit of openness and reassessing options, here are some more questions asked, answered and fudged:

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Who made the actual decision to get rid of Rodman?

By all accounts, it was Rambis who gritted his teeth through the past transgressions--the personal leave, the four games when he refused to reenter, et al.--and it was Rambis who finally decided Rodman had crossed the line by showing up late to practice Thursday, without shoes or socks.

Once Rambis relayed his opinion to Kupchak and West, they almost immediately agreed. Once they went to Buss, he agreed, too.

“This was a culmination of acts that led to the waiver,” Kupchak said Friday by phone from Phoenix, where he is attending the Desert Classic pre-draft camp.

“I don’t want to focus on what happened yesterday, because that’s not really a big part of this. It’s another in a series of actions, and yesterday’s was really just the fact that we just said, OK, it’s time to pull the plug now.”

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Where do the Lakers go from here?

This is what’s left to be determined: Was the Rodman signing--and laissez-faire attitude to his disruptions--a symptom of a team that is flailing, and hurting itself in the long run, in a desperate attempt to win a championship? Or was it just a one-season fling, a lost weekend from which a long draught of coffee and common sense can easily rescue them?

They do still have O’Neal. And Kobe Bryant. And if West rekindles his enthusiasm for running the team--and is no longer overruled by Buss--this team will no longer be dysfunctional and this can be, as Kupchak said, a lesson learned on a long journey toward a title.

“I don’t want to use the word embarrassment,” Kupchak said. “But yeah. . . . You tend to learn more in situations that don’t work. And having a double standard and having separate rules, it’s tough to pull off. It really is.”

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Have the 51 days of Rodmania, and the way it ended, strengthened or weakened Rambis’ chances to become the permanent coach in the off-season?

It all is probably still way up in the air--will the Lakers redirect their energies in the final weeks of the season toward defense and selfless play? If not, it might not matter. And Buss, of course, has the ultimate say.

But something was proved by this episode: West, Kupchak and Buss do trust Rambis. If they didn’t, would they have blown out Rodman exactly when he asked? Would they have done the same for Del Harris? Possibly not.

“Jerry and I feel Kurt has done a wonderful job, we really do,” Kupchak said. “With Dennis in particular, he probably handled it the same way we would’ve.”

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The players are relieved it’s over, right?

Don’t be so sure. O’Neal didn’t blow off reporters because he was happy that Rodman, the most talented bookend rebounder he has ever had, was no longer a Laker.

Even Bryant conceded he wished Rodman was still on the team

“Yeah, I’ll be honest with you, I would love to have Dennis right now,” Bryant said. “I would love to. Winning cures everything.

“If we don’t drop these two games, he’s still here. I think he did a good job with this team as far as his preparation, his energy, his effort. But we’ve got to move on. . . .

“I haven’t talked with [O’Neal] about it, so I don’t know what’s going on in his head. I don’t know what he’s thinking. . . . [But] from the comment he made earlier in the season, wanting a ‘thug power forward,’ he would be disappointed.

“Because that thug left.”

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Does Laker management at least acknowledge that firing Harris and trading Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell AND signing Rodman was too much turmoil after a 61-victory season?

“We had not won a championship in a bunch of years,” Kupchak said. “Last year, even though we had an incredible year, it didn’t end well. So it’s not like we’re breaking up a championship team. . . .

“I don’t think you can say we’re breaking up a championship team. We made some changes to a team that didn’t get us to where we wanted to get. . . . We are trying to put this team in a position to compete for a championship.

“And sometimes you have to roll the dice.”

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Does this mean Rodman’s career is finally over?

Let’s put it this way: Twenty-eight teams refused to sign him before his latest Laker episodes.