Stunning Laker Reversal

It was like a sudden shot of adrenaline, rushing through the Laker nervous system, and changing everything, rapidly.

In a franchise-altering one-week span, team management initiated negotiations, opened Jerry Buss’ bank vault, and Friday was only a few contract clauses--and a signature--from announcing that the Lakers had hired Phil Jackson, the most glamorous, expensive, logical coaching choice possible.

“It did happen quickly,” Executive Vice President Jerry West conceded Friday. “It’s not done yet, but it was a fast process.”

Several sources said West first contacted Jackson’s agent, Todd Musburger, early this week, and that the sides had neared an agreement in principle by Friday morning, needing only Jackson’s final approval. The official hiring could be done as early as Monday or Tuesday.

“Something like this, something this big . . . it had to happen fast,” said one Laker source. “Or it wouldn’t have happened at all.”

And it occurred only a week after West had told most who asked that the Lakers would stick to tradition and rehire Kurt Rambis, and after many Laker sources said Buss would never consider meeting Jackson’s market value.

And now Jackson, a six-time champion with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, is preparing to arrive next week in L.A. from a fishing vacation in Alaska to agree to a four-year contract worth about $24 million. And Rambis is pushed to the side.

How did the Lakers reverse field so quickly? Apparently, by moving on instinct, by reacting to a season of tumult and disappointment, and by simply grabbing at the best chance to win a championship.

Now, West is relieved, Buss is confident, Shaquille O’Neal is excitedly calling his friends and planning for a championship future, and everybody else in the Laker universe is groggy from witnessing the drama.

On Friday, West cautioned against assuming that Jackson had already come to terms, saying, “I think everybody is putting the cart before the horse here on this one.”

But West acknowledged that the Lakers and Jackson’s agent have established “parameters” for the deal that far exceed the usual Laker coach’s salary.

“Now, it’s basically up to him to see how interested he is,” West said.

West added that he had not yet spoken to Jackson, and planned no further discussions with Musburger before the weekend.

Jackson’s interest in the Lakers, though, has rarely been in question, even dating to his final days with the Bulls.

Laker sources indicated that Musburger has already told the team that Jackson, who sat out this season and walked away from an $8-million-a-year offer from the New Jersey Nets recently, very much wants to coach the Lakers.

If the Lakers hadn’t been interested, Jackson, who had a controversial secret meeting with Knick management near the end of the regular season to explore that potential opening, had apparently been leaning toward taking another season off to help his friend former Sen. Bill Bradley campaign for the presidency.

He is scheduled to appear with Bradley at a campaign event in L.A. on Wednesday.

The Lakers have traditionally groomed coaches through their organization, a la Rambis, and stayed loyal to longtime team members.

Buss also is known for shying away from paying coaches big salaries, preferring to invest in players.

That tradition, as late as last weekend, made Rambis not only the favored candidate, but, excluding Jackson, the only one.

According to several Laker sources interviewed Thursday and Friday, this is how things changed so swiftly, how the Lakers arrived at a compromise that would satisfy Buss’ anxiety to win and West’s desire to rid himself of daily controversies:

* First, Buss was edgy, and wounded by the criticism of his recent maneuvers, especially the signing of Dennis Rodman over West’s misgivings.

With the team moving to the Staples Center next season, and a $50-million-plus projected payroll, Buss craved an immediate tide of fan support and someone who could mold a bunch of egos into a real team.

One source said that when Buss learned that West would be recommending Rambis, he appreciated the loyalty, but knew that Laker fans would not be energized.

Maybe there is a better way to go, Buss apparently indicated to West in several meetings last week, signaling that he was prepared to take a run at Jackson.

“Jerry Buss has done so many wrong things, and he wants to win back the fans,” said one source close to the situation. “Everything he did last year turned out wrong, and he got blasted for it.

“He wants the fans to know he can do something that’s dramatic and right, and the best way to do that, he figures, is to hire Phil Jackson.”

* West told people that he was following Laker tradition by supporting Rambis after such a strange season, and that he valued Rambis’ work ethic, but he had his doubts about Rambis throughout the interim period.

One of the main reasons West was recommending Rambis was because he assumed Buss would never commit to paying Jackson $6 million a year.

West has grown increasingly weary of dealing with the day-to-day grind, tending to every crisis and every coach or player insecurity, especially O’Neal’s repeated flare-ups.

“That’s what a coach’s job ought to be, right?” one source close to West said this week.

Rambis, whatever kind of contract he signed, would always be a three-game losing streak away from a potential player revolt, one more playoff sweep away from total fan aggravation.

One source said West could see the benefit in no longer being the sole force of authority in the organization, in letting someone else be the unquestioned man everybody else turned to for direction and discipline.

Someone who could not and would not be fired, no matter how many players complained--if they dared.

There never was a problem of West letting another strong, accomplished basketball man move into the picture, said one source, because Jackson respects West’s ability, isn’t demanding total player personnel power, and believes that most of the pieces are in place, anyway.

“I think anybody who thinks Jerry can’t get along with Phil is being foolish,” said one of West’s associates. “All Jerry wants to do is win championships. Obviously, Phil can help him get there.”

* West and Buss faced the reality that O’Neal, at the least, did not respect Rambis and at the most would never make progress under him.

After the Game 3 loss to San Antonio on their way to a 4-0 second-round sweep, several sources said, Rambis and O’Neal engaged in an ugly shouting incident in the locker room, when O’Neal refused to leave his locker to join a team circle, then cursed Rambis when the coach tried to coax him.

In any other moment in Laker history, sources say, Rambis probably would have been a cinch to be retained next season after his tumultuous interim reign.

Long considered future Laker coaching material, Rambis was handed a nearly impossible, continually fluid situation, and though he did not flourish in the role, neither was he lacking the potential to grow into it.

But, in swirl of competing visions and anxieties, the entire situation came down to this:

What was more important to this talented, teetering franchise--rehiring Rambis as a reward for loyal service, or pursuing the one coach believed to have the best chance of ending the Lakers’ recent run of playoff misery?

In this five-day span, the Lakers came up with their obvious--and shocking--answer.

THREE REASONS FOR THE CHANGE OF DIRECTION:

CRITICISM: Owner Jerry Buss (right) was stung by reviews, especially those of his role in the signing of Dennis Rodman.

DOUBTS: While Jerry West (right) valued the work ethic of interim Coach Kurt Rambis, he still had his reservations.

RESPECT: Buss and West knew Shaquille O’Neal did not respect Rambis (right), which had long-term implications.