Rice Has Doubts About Fitting In, so He’s Keeping His Option Open

Though Glen Rice said things are getting better and that he has an open mind about the future, he acknowledged Tuesday that, since coming over in a trade, he has at times wondered if the Lakers were the best fit for him.

“That thought has crossed my mind,” Rice said. “If I can’t fit into the system here, if it’s not going to help the team, it’s not going to help me, yeah, it’s a possibility that I probably should be someplace else.

“But things happen like that, and you just hope that things work out. . . . You’ve just got to stay positive. If it’s not going on the offensive end, I try to play the best defense I possibly can, since nobody around here thinks I can.”

The Lakers can exercise a $7.1-million option on Rice for next season, which Rice said he could accept. But he also said he would like a contract extension that nullifies the option.

He added that he wants to wait until the off-season before seriously pondering 1999-’00.

After a discussion with Coach Kurt Rambis about his role, the Lakers’ clear-the-air team meetings last week and a solid 22-point effort in Monday’s victory, Rice said he just wants to fully realize his chance to help the Lakers.

“I knew coming here in the beginning that, coming from Charlotte, where I was pretty much the primary scorer, the go-to guy, I knew I was going to have to sacrifice that a little bit,” Rice said.

“I didn’t realize that I was going to have to sacrifice as much as I have been lately, as far as, throw away the post-up game, throw away the dribble penetration moves and just stand out there and become a spot-up shooter when the ball is thrown out. I didn’t realize it was going to go to that extreme.

“So, I got frustrated. I mean, I’m human.”

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Rambis repeated that whether the Lakers end up with home-court advantage against the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff matchup isn’t as important as whether the Lakers are playing good basketball.

“I’m sure it’s an advantage,” Rambis said. “But is it going to destroy the other team that doesn’t get it? I doubt it.

“I don’t see Houston wallowing in self-pity if they don’t get it, and I don’t see us doing it, either. Both teams figure that they’re going to have to win on each other’s home court, anyway.”

Rambis kept the veteran players at the Great Western Forum only for a video session of Monday’s game, then remained with the younger players and third-stringers for some three-on-three workouts.

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Shaquille O’Neal, battling down to the wire with Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson for the scoring title, remained blase about the chase.

“I actually hope Allen gets it,” said O’Neal, who won the title in 1994-95 and trails, 26.61 to 26.47 with one game left. “He’s been playing well, helping out his team. He’s a hard worker. A lot of people don’t know him off the court like I know him.”

And what about the most-valuable-player voting, in which O’Neal is expected to finish no higher than fifth?

“They know who the baddest big man is,” O’Neal said. “Everybody wants to say Alonzo Mourning’s the MVP, but I will run through Alonzo Mourning time in and time out.”

TONIGHT vs. Portland 7:30, Fox Sports West

* Site--Great Western Forum.

* Radio--KLAC (570 AM).

* Records--Lakers 30-19; Trail Blazers 35-14.

* Record vs. Trail Blazers--1-2.

* Update--While vying for the No. 1 playoff seeding themselves, the Trail Blazers have been there for the worst of the Lakers (a 27-point loss April 13 in Portland), for the resurgence (the 108-89 Laker victory last week), and now for the finale. “We’ve been through the most [distractions], I would say, of anybody in the league,” Derek Fisher said. “And we’re still talking about finishing fourth in the West, and going into the playoffs as a team that people still respect and fear.”

Tickets--Sold out.