No Trade Means They Can Relax

By HELENE ELLIOTT

Feb. 26, 2000 12 AM PT

The NBA trading deadline passed Thursday without the Lakers making one of the rumored trades involving Glen Rice--or any other deal. “But that still doesn’t mean I’m talking,” said Rice, who stopped talking to reporters about a week ago.

However, his teammates expressed relief Friday at knowing there won’t be any major changes.

“I think it takes a lot of pressure off everybody except Shaq and Kobe, because they’re not going anywhere,” Robert Horry said. “It takes a lot of pressure off other guys. They can relax. They don’t have to worry about this rumor or that rumor. . . .

“We don’t know if they wanted to do anything, but you can just go ahead now and find your niche in this team the best you can.”

Ron Harper said he believed Rice may have let the rumors affect his game, but he told Rice not to fret over events beyond his control.

“Some guys do [get jittery],” Harper said. “The main thing I told him to do is while he’s here, go out and do the best job he can do and let you guys [reporters] write whatever you’re going to write.

“I told him I hope he’s here, and the main thing is to go out and play basketball.”

Coach Phil Jackson said he didn’t mark the passing of the deadline but said he spoke to players last week and advised them not to focus on what might happen.

“You can’t just sit and hold your breath and wait to exhale at the trading deadline,” he said. “You just have to play the game.”

He also said he sensed players’ relief at seeing the team remain intact.

“It’s very natural,” Jackson said. “You don’t want to have to move. It’s a psychological aid to Glen and our team as far as those things go. But we still can’t stop thinking about helping the team. Our shooting from outside and our rebounding has to improve.”

Harper, who started his fourth consecutive game Friday after coming off the bench at Orlando last Friday, said the Lakers “grew up” in experiencing a 3-6 slump after their 16-game winning streak. They now have a 10-game streak.

“I think we learned as a basketball team that every night we need to go out and play basketball. There were nights where we didn’t have nice games,” Harper said. ‘We got off to that great start and you start believing the hype. The main thing is we saw what we can improve on.”

However, he’s low-key about their recent success. “Streaks don’t mean anything to me,” he said. “It’s nice to get eight, nine games in a row, but it’s a long year. The key prize is to play until June. You can win all these games and if you lose in June, you’ll be mad.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TRIPLE PLAYS / The Big 3

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice have been the driving force behind the Lakers’ success. How they fared:

O’NEAL

*--*

Fri. Season 28 Points 27.9 15 Rebounds 14.2 6 Assists 3.7

*--*

BRYANT

*--*

Fri. Season 17 Points 22.0 6 Rebounds 6.0 5 Assists 4.5

*--*

RICE