Lakers’ West Rejoins the Fray

Jerry West dropped out of public view late last week, on purpose, leaving the Laker bonfire for others to tend.

Chasing and then signing Dennis Rodman. . . . Firing Del Harris. . . . Promoting Kurt Rambis. . . . Being asked about Eddie Jones-Glen Rice trade rumors. . . . After all that, West reasoned, it was better to step away, not take reporters’ calls, and come back refreshed.

“Been a little crazy here lately,” West said Tuesday, during the team’s voluntary workout at the Great Western Forum. “I was away for a couple days. Get away from the craziness of this business. I think it kind of helps to step back and look at things in a different perspective.”

And what has he seen?

The Lakers’ executive vice president didn’t deny that he’d had misgivings about signing Rodman, but called him a basketball genius, praised what Rodman has accomplished with the Lakers so far, and said the Lakers aren’t considering his stay as short-term.

But, despite the four-game winning streak and a friskier attitude under Rambis, West acknowledged there are plenty of unresolved issues, with three more big games coming up--at home tonight in a rematch against Phoenix, whom the Lakers beat Monday; at home Friday against Seattle, and at Utah on Sunday.

“We’re in a honeymoon right now, OK?” West said of Rodman and Rambis. “We’re hopeful that we’ll continue to build onto some of these last four games.

“We have a tough week here and I think by the end of this week, we’ll have a little bit better idea of how we shape up and [if] we are making some improvements. . . . We’re hopeful that that’ll be the case.”

West had a blunt response when asked if the Lakers’ recent success might decrease the possibility of agreeing to Charlotte’s trade offer of Rice, B.J. Armstrong and J.R. Reid for Jones and Elden Campbell.

“Fellas, that is exactly why sometimes you need a break from your job--questions like that,” said West, who said he felt terrible for Jones, who has heard trade rumors for most of two seasons. “I’ve told you before, if we think we can improve our team, we’ll try to improve our team.

“But to say that there’s something imminent, that’s absolutely a hundred miles from home base.”

The trade deadline is March 11, and there are persistent reports that the Lakers are considering the deal, pending the status of Rice’s injured elbow and the possibility of signing him to a contract extension.

“Listen,” West said, “until we do something, I refuse to talk about it or not talk about it, OK?

“We’re trying to do things in a workmanlike manner here. But everyone speculating on something certainly doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. There may not be any interest in doing anything around here.”

The main reason he wasn’t 100% sure about signing Rodman, West said, was that he wanted to keep his young and sometimes-distracted team from the speculation and manic reporting that follows Rodman wherever he goes.

“If there was a displeasure on my part, it was just with everything that was going on here,” West said of the Rodman pursuit. “Every day in the paper, it wasn’t about us playing basketball, it was about us trading something or trading someone. . . . And then his uncertainty.

“Those are the things that are most annoying in this league. It’s hard enough to get things done without having the pressure on you to walk in and push a button and have something done. It’s more difficult when we have to read about it in the newspaper.”

But since the two-week negotiations ended and Rodman got into a Laker uniform, West says Rodman has been a joy to watch, fighting for rebounds, asserting leadership and adding a noticeable jolt of electricity.

“To say a coaching change would do something like that, I would never believe that,” West said. “To say that there’s been a little bit different infusion of energy, I think for sure.

“But I think a lot of that comes from one person, and that’s Dennis Rodman. People like that can be a coach’s best friend. . . .

“He’s brought a tremendous positive piece to a puzzle here. I think one of the things that’s probably most surprising when you watch him play is, he is a leader. He does it differently. . . .

“You know, geniuses come in all different shapes. And as a basketball player, he has a genius to rebound but he also has a genius to play the game, and that’s a pretty good combination.”