Rice Arrives Thinking Title

Maybe it’s fitting that Glen Rice is now the Lakers’ third option, because a few weeks ago, they were his.

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Rice. . . .

Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Lakers. . . .

See how it goes in threes?

With the help of a phone call from O’Neal and the realization that a title could be had with the Lakers, Rice, who originally preferred to be traded to Miami, where he lives with his wife and newborn baby daughter Brianna, or to Orlando, where he has family, recently revised his thinking.

Thursday, at his introductory Laker news conference, a day after he and J.R. Reid were sent West by the Charlotte Hornets for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell, Rice gave voice to the Lakers’ new championship-craving mood.

“When you look at it on paper, yes, it does have championship written all on it,” he said of the new Laker lineup.

He followed that up, of course, by saying nothing is won on paper, and nothing is guaranteed come playoff time.

But judging by the grin on Executive Vice President Jerry West’s bleary-eyed face and the killer intensity on O’Neal’s, Rice’s arrival--Reid missed his flight and arrived too late for the practice or news conference--signified a significant ratcheting up of title talk.

“People are going to love this guy, trust me, they’ll love him,” West said of the three-time all-star small forward. “We haven’t had a shooter like this in a long time. This is a very special player.”

Rice said his right (shooting) elbow--he had surgery Jan. 22, which has kept him from game action this season--is “100%,” and that he expects plenty of action beginning tonight against Golden State--though Laker Coach Kurt Rambis said he wasn’t sure if he would start Rice.

“Pure,” is how Derek Harper described Rice after watching him stroke the ball during practice.

“You can tell he’s happy to be here. I think his only concern is . . . he’s an offensive player and wants to be involved, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“He’s averaged 24 points, 25 points a game, in his career. So he deserves his touches, he deserves to be an option offensively. And I think they’ve convinced him of that.”

Rambis said he has very little concern that Rice’s high-octane scoring style will clash with the Lakers’ inside-outside offensive game.

In fact, Rambis said, O’Neal suggested that he’d have no problems if Rambis wanted to start calling some fourth-quarter plays for Rice.

“He’s not only a complementary ballplayer, but he’s a go-to player,” Rambis said of Rice. “That’s one of the things that Shaq told me today, ‘I don’t have to be the guy.’ Which is exactly what I was hoping he’d say.

“We can post him up a couple times, run some plays for Kobe, run some plays for Glen, give Shaq a break, then get Shaq right back into it. You know how hard he has to work down there to get his points. . . .

“We can keep rotating it around like that.”

For Rice, a key moment occurred when O’Neal tracked him down by phone in Miami a few weeks ago, telling him that, if there was any question in his mind, he should know that O’Neal considered him the missing piece to the championship puzzle.

Rice, who said he’d already decided he wanted to be a Laker by then, said O’Neal’s words only helped cement his attitude.

“It made me feel that, ‘Hey, if the big fella wants me here, I’ve got to be here,’ ” Rice said.

If coming to the Lakers means fewer shots and a declining scoring average--he was at 22.3 last season--that’s fine with him, Rice said, if it’s leading to a title.

“I think there’s definitely enough shots available for everyone out there, not just myself, Shaq and Kobe,” said Rice, who for the second time leaves a franchise as its all-time leading scorer.

So he won’t be upset if he has to wait his turn behind Shaq and Kobe during crunch time?

“Oh yeah, I’m very comfortable with that,” Rice said. “And I’m comfortable with my chances of getting a ring, as well.”

Once he got comfortable with the idea of moving away from the East Coast--he played six seasons in Miami and three in Charlotte--Rice said all he could think about was winning a title here.

“My first thought was my family,” Rice said. “Being on the West Coast . . . that was my main concern, and I got over that.”

Rice, 31, said that he and his wife Christina plan to move to L.A. from Miami as soon as the Lakers’ schedule allows, and get Brianna to Hollywood.

“This is where she wants me to be, anyway,” Rice said of his daughter. “I think she wants to grow up and have a chance at being a movie star.”

NBA

It’s moving day for elite point guards as Stephon Marbury goes to New Jersey, Terrell Brandon to Minnesota and Sam Cassell to Milwaukee as part of a nine-player, three team trade.

Glen Rice Profile

BACKGROUND: 6 feet 8, 221 pounds . . . Originally selected by Miami Heat in first round (fourth pick overall) of 1989 draft . . . Traded by Heat in 1995 with guard Khalid Reeves, center Matt Geiger and 1996 first-round pick to Charlotte Hornets for centers Alonzo Mourning and LeRon Ellis and guard Pete Myers . . . All-Star in 1996-98 seasons . . . Career .409 three-point shooter . . . Has been sidelined all of 1999 season after having elbow surgery.*--*

Year, Team FG% FT% Reb Ast PPG 89-90, Mia .439 .734 352 138 13.6 90-91, Mia .461 .818 381 189 17.4 91-92, Mia .469 .836 394 184 22.3 92-93, Mia .440 .820 424 180 19.0 93-94, Mia .467 .880 434 184 21.1 94-95, Mia .475 .855 378 192 22.3 95-96, Cha .471 .837 378 232 21.6 96-97, Cha .477 .867 318 160 26.8 97-98, Cha .457 .849 353 182 22.3 Tot .463 .843 3,412 1,641 20.8

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