Rider or Wrong, It’s a Shot

So far, so good!

Isaiah Rider’s first day as a Laker went off without a hitch. Of course, it was August and they weren’t playing. No one told him he wouldn’t be the one taking the big shot, and if the guy who was going to take it couldn’t, Rider still wouldn’t be the one.

He didn’t get upset and walk off the bench the way he did in more than one game in his Portland days, once even going so far as to wave to his girlfriend in the stands to meet him outside the dressing room.

He didn’t break up an airport waiting room, which he also did in Portland, or miss the flight here, as he did last season in Atlanta, or rip his teammates for not caring or accuse them of ratting him out to management, as he also did in his never-to-be-forgotten season as a Hawk.

Like the Lakers, the Hawks took Rider because he had only one season under contract, but he didn’t even last that long, waived five weeks before it ended.

Said Atlanta General Manager Pete Babcock of his gamble, “It was worse than I ever imagined.”

Monday the Lakers, their imaginations dulled by a summer of being turned down or watching their trades collapse, introduced Rider as their newest member, showing just how far they have come in the month since Jerry West left.

Under West, the Lakers were decidedly risk-averse, because West was nervous enough in the best of times. Every time they broke their own rule, it seemed, they were punished. In the 1980s, when straight-arrow Pat Riley was the coach, they took a flier on troubled Quintin Dailey, who was late for camp. They cut him before he could get there to tell them why.

Then there was the famous Dennis Rodman experiment, which aged West about 10 years in two months and is one reason the Lakers are now in the post-Mr. Clutch Era.

However, with Phil Jackson, a noted eccentric himself, the Lakers are now so risk-prone, they may soon resemble a penal colony. Not only did Jackson sign off on Rider after they had lunch last week--although Jackson doesn’t seem to be the one who thought up the idea--he thought about bringing back Bison Dele last season and even (shudder) Rodman, so who knows what other outlaws may ride up in the purple and gold?

General Manager Mitch Kupchak, who signed Rider as his first major transaction--well, you have to start somewhere--said he and West, his mentor, discussed it. Kupchak pointedly didn’t ask for advice and West pointedly didn’t volunteer any.

“I get the distinct impression he doesn’t want to make a decision,” Kupchak said.

“Did he say, ‘Better you than me?’ ” someone asked.

“He didn’t say it,” said Kupchak, smiling, “but he may have thought it.”

As Rider demonstrated once more Monday, he is overrated as a thug, answering questions, smiling, enthusing over his new situation, acknowledging the mess he has made of his seven-year career, vowing to do better.

The problem is, decorum has never been his problem. Showing up on time or at all or staying until the end has.

Damon Stoudamire, his teammate in Portland, once said that for all Rider’s intimidating scowls and get-off-me, Oakland-street-kid swagger, he was emotional and easily hurt. When things didn’t go Rider’s way, when he was yelled at or taken out or didn’t get the shot with the game on the line, he didn’t just sulk, he often imploded.

Then there was his problem being on time for anything--practices, flights--and the next thing you know, one of the NBA’s most talented free agents had nothing more than minimum, one-year offers. And not many of those.

“If anything, I’ve hurt myself,” Rider said. “I’ve never caused harm to others. Therefore, it’s up to me to dig myself out of this hole. . . .

“I know my role. I know where I stand on this team. I didn’t even have to talk to management. Shaq [O’Neal] is going to get a lot of touches inside and Kobe [Bryant] is young, vibrant, the new Mike.”

That was a theme that came up a lot Monday. Rider hasn’t actually hurt anyone except himself and is determined not to let it happen again.

For his part, Kupchak mused about ways to help him be on time, like finding him a chauffeur.

It has come to that, but it has been a long summer for the Lakers, who have lost or subtracted West and A.C. Green, will presumably lose Glen Rice, could lose Brian Shaw, and were foiled in attempts to land reinforcements as humble as P.J. Brown, John Amaechi, Kendall Gill, Christian Laettner and Chris Dudley. Until Monday, all they had to show for this summer was a free agent named Andy Panko, returning for his second tryout, and some guy from the Ukraine.

Well, at least Rider is a bona-fide, front-line talent. No one can deny that, but then, no one ever has.

Kupchak said they haven’t discussed remedies, in case the scorpion can’t help being a scorpion, but they don’t have to. Everyone Laker officials talked to around the league about Rider said the same thing: If it’s a one-year deal, you can think about it. Everyone knows how talented he is, and how quickly a guy with only $750,000 guaranteed can be gone.

“My guess is, he can stand it [playing third fiddle] for a year at least,” Kupchak said. “At the end of the year, he’ll be a free agent. If he finds he can’t deal with it, he’ll move on. . .

“The question is, if he’s late, what does that do to the team? Once you get past that, he’s one of the most talented players in the league.”

Not only that, Rider is here. At this moment, that counts a lot for your NBA champion Lakers.

Let’s just say it looks like it’s going to be a title defense to remember.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Rider’s Troubles

Isaiah Rider has had a history of problems since he was selected fifth overall in the 1993 draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He also played with Portland and Atlanta, before the Hawks let him go in the middle of last season:

1996

* Oct. 13--Spent time with friends the previous night in Oakland, then missed the Portland Trail Blazers’ shoot-around when he went to the wrong gym.

* Oct. 27--Missed the Trail Blazers’ team bus to Corvallis and failed to show for Portland’s final exhibition game.

* Oct. 30--Cited in Clackamas County, the Portland metropolitan area, for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Deputies seized the marijuana, a soda can converted to a pipe and a lighter from Rider, who was in the back seat of a car in Lake Oswego.

* Nov. 1--Suspended by the Trail Blazers for the season opener for having missed the Oct. 27 exhibition game.

* Dec. 10--Missed Portland’s shoot-around and did not start against Orlando. Had words with Coach P.J. Carlesimo.

* Dec. 11--Walked out of practice.

* Dec. 12--Suspended by the Trail Blazers for home game against Vancouver.

1997

* March 4--Created a disturbance at Flightcraft Inc., adjacent to Portland International Airport. Showed up late for the team’s charter to Phoenix, then shouted obscenities at Flightcraft employees, spit in one worker’s face and at another worker, and smashed a company cellular phone.

* April 4--Reached financial settlements with Flightcraft Inc. and three workers. Because of the settlement, the Multnomah County district attorney chose not to pursue criminal charges against Rider, who was facing allegations of misdemeanor criminal mischief and harassment.

* May 22--Convicted of marijuana possession in Oregon, paying a $500 fine.

* Aug. 20--Pleaded no contest in Alameda County, Calif., to possessing illegal cellular phones with intent to defraud. Put on 18 months’ probation, ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution, up to $3,500.

* Oct. 3--On the first day of training camp, suspended by the NBA for the first two games of the regular season, one for the Oregon marijuana conviction, one for the no-contest plea in California.

* Oct. 14--Cited for speeding and driving without a valid Oregon license.

* Oct. 21--Flight attendant complained that Rider was verbally abusive when told his flight from Oakland to Portland would be late because of fog. Missed the shoot-around later that day in Spokane, Wash., and was fined and pulled out of the starting lineup.

* Nov. 3--Missed practice the day before his return from the league’s two-game suspension.

* Nov. 22--Suspended by the NBA for three games for spitting on a fan during halftime of a game at Detroit.

* Dec. 9--Missed practice after scoring 21 second-half points in a win over the Lakers.

1998

* Feb. 10--Late for pregame meeting and pulled from the starting lineup against the Lakers. Walked out of the Rose Garden with 7:17 remaining after having words with Coach Mike Dunleavy. The Lakers then cut a 25-point deficit to five before Portland won, 117-105. Suspended by the Trail Blazers for one game.

Feb. 11--”We can go 40 miles down the road, and they’re probably still hanging people from trees,” he said in a lengthy interview outside the Trail Blazers’ practice facility.

* April 1--Suspended for a game at Utah after missing most of practice the day before.

1999

* Feb. 27--Suspended by the NBA for one game and fined $2,500 for coming off the bench during an altercation in Charlotte, N.C.

* March 19--Suspended for one game and fined $7,500 by the NBA for kneeing and shoving Sacramento guard Jon Barry. Also cited near the Rose Garden for driving without a license, driving without insurance and “speed racing” at 1 a.m.

* March 31--Suspended for one game by the NBA for going into the stands during a game at Golden State. It was his 12th game missed by suspension in three seasons with Portland.

* Oct. 5--Rider gets off on the wrong foot with the Hawks by arriving late for training camp when he refuses to board a smaller plane to Chattanooga, Tenn.

* Nov. 16--Suspended for one game against Charlotte after missing a practice.

* Dec. 29--After a 116-89 home loss to Indiana, Rider sat on the court for 10 minutes, then launched into a profanity-laced tirade directed at his teammates, whom he said were laughing on the bench.

* Dec. 30--Less than 24 hours later, he missed the flight for the team’s next game in Detroit and was suspended for that game.

2000

* March 17--Waived by the Hawks after repeated clashes with teammates, coaches and management. He opted for his release from the club rather than a three-game suspension for missing a team shoot-around.