Unfinished Is Word on Facility

The new Laker headquarters and practice facility at El Segundo, which the team had hoped would be ready by the start of the season, is still under construction, but the builders have indicated it may be well enough along for at least a partial Laker move-in some time in December.

Until the $24-million facility--which also will serve as the headquarters for the Kings--opens, the Lakers will remain at the Great Western Forum and continue practicing mainly at L.A. Southwest College.

General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who checked on the site with Executive Vice President Jerry West on Wednesday, said the team hasn’t been overly put out by the construction delays.

“You just have to make sure we have a backup facility,” Kupchak said Thursday. “We’ve got relationships with several entities, including Southwest.”

Coach Phil Jackson said having a single home base for the players is key.

“When they have to change practice sites from the Forum to Southwest to this to that, and now to adjusting to the Staples . . . we need to just get a basic place where we’re working at getting our stuff done in a concerted effort unified to one mind and we’re thinking together,” Jackson said.

“By and large, I think the idea of not having their own practice facility and having to move around and change their practice site all the time has given them a little bit of an out for coming in and working every day in a real concerted effort to kind of build the kind of conditioning and strength that a team has to have for an 82-game season.”

Kupchak said the new facility will give the Lakers “a level playing field” with the other NBA teams that feature practice sites at headquarters.

“Certainly, there’s an advantage in a big city with travel to have a [centralized place for] rehabilitation, a state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pool, weightlifting room, the accessibility of your own court to work before and after practice,” Kupchak said.

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Kobe Bryant had the hard cast removed from his right hand Thursday, and it was replaced by a protective splint after it was determined the broken bone is healing on schedule, a team spokesman said.

Bryant, who has been working in noncontact drills and shooting with his left hand, is still expected to miss three more weeks of action.

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The Laker second unit, which was a major concern during the exhibition season, has provided some life and point production during the team’s 2-0 start.

Against Vancouver on Wednesday, forward Rick Fox scored 15 points and had three rebounds and three assists, and guard Brian Shaw scored 10 points and had four assists.

And, in perhaps, the most pleasant surprise for the Lakers, John Salley grabbed five rebounds, backing up both center and power forward, after getting six points and four rebounds in Utah a night earlier.

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The Lakers did not practice Thursday but will practice today at Southwest before leaving for Saturday’s game at Portland.