Salley Jumping at Opportunity

More than three years since his last NBA game, much-traveled 35-year-old forward John Salley says he feels the spring coming back to his legs and a Laker roster spot coming into view.

“I want to be on the squad because I’m really good at chemistry,” said Salley, whose chances improved when Travis Knight suffered an ankle injury. “I know what it takes. I’ve been there. And I want to win. I told Shaq [O’Neal], he owes me an index-finger ring. . . .

“We went over the schedule the other day, something I learned in Detroit, and the low number [estimating a season-total for victories] was 59. Because a couple years ago when Shaq got hurt, they won 62 [actually 61], and that’s amazing.”

Salley, who won two championships with the Detroit Pistons and one in Chicago under Phil Jackson, has been a constant communicator during practices, and says the younger Lakers have taken to his amiable personality.

“Shaq didn’t really have anybody to hang out with,” said Salley, who has given O’Neal some Bill Laimbeer-style tips. “Kobe [Bryant] doesn’t have anybody to hang out with. I get along with both of them. . . .

“Stars usually don’t hang out with one another. You know, Scottie [Pippen] and Michael [Jordan] didn’t hang out . . . And it’s not a problem, because it’s two different ages, two different lifestyles.”

Salley played six minutes in the Lakers’ exhibition opener in Kansas City, Mo., getting one blocked shot and two rebounds.

“He’s got the knowledge, he knows how to play the game, he’s got some knowledge of the triangle and our system,” Jackson said of Salley.

“Right now, he’s got to have some legs to be able to play in a game that’s at the competitive athletic level that goes on in the NBA . . . The exhibition games are going to kind of tell more for John than the practices will.”