Rider Adjusting to His New Role

At the end of his longest week as a Laker, Isaiah Rider stood Sunday night before his locker, joked about his new, garish headband, and predicted that he would be ready when the Lakers needed him.

Rider, who averaged 18.1 points in his seven-year career and 19.3 last season with Atlanta, played two minutes Friday against San Antonio.

In Sunday’s 99-97 win over Dallas, Rider played 26 minutes, scoring 11 points.

“It’s part of being professional,” Rider said. “Right now, I feel like I’m ready to go, that I’m ready to contribute. The coaching staff maybe feels a different way, but that’s OK. Even if I don’t play a lot, it’s a long season. I want to stay positive.

“Things will work out. I’m going to be a big contributor. I wish it had happened right away, but maybe it just wasn’t supposed to be that way.”

A role player for perhaps the first time in his life, Rider averaged 20.2 minutes and 8.1 points in his first 17 games. It is possible, Rider said, that the combination of learning the triangle and his role has caused him to play timidly.

“They want me to be more natural and loose,” he said.

Rider and the organization appear to have managed the first crisis. He was very early for the game against the Mavericks. His mood was upbeat. His words were promising. And the coach talked as if he understood.

“I wouldn’t want him to be happy about it,” Jackson said. “I wouldn’t want any of my players who don’t get the opportunity to play to be happy. I want them to understand.”

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Rider was talked into wearing the headband, he said with a laugh.

“I didn’t have the courage,” he said. “Devean [George] put it on and I said, ‘OK, I’ll wear it.’ ”

And so the golden headbands with the horizontal purple stripes were born. George and Rider wore them Friday against San Antonio.

Teammates have taken to calling each of them “Saturn,” so it does not appear the fad will spread.

“That’ll be the day,” Kobe Bryant said, smiling. “I’m cool. I’ll pass, man.”