'Traitor' Harris Working Against His Old Team

‘Traitor’ Harris Working Against His Old Team

By TIM KAWAKAMI

March 2, 2000 12 AM PT

Former Laker coach Del Harris popped up rather conspicuously in the Rose Garden for Tuesday’s showdown game in Portland as a new Trail Blazer advisor, and on Wednesday the Lakers had a little fun with it.

“Oh, a traitor,” Shaquille O’Neal said with a sly grin. “Traitor Harris.”

Technically, of course, since Harris was fired as Laker coach last February and his contract expired in June, and since Harris and Portland Coach Mike Dunleavy have been friends and colleagues for years, Harris helping out the Trail Blazers nothing more than interesting timing.

In the year Harris has been gone, the Lakers have undergone drastic changes--trading Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell for Glen Rice, hiring Kurt Rambis and then Phil Jackson as coach--so any tips he could pass along about his former team to Portland, as O’Neal pointed out, probably are a little outdated.

“Del probably told those guys a couple of our guys’ secrets,” O’Neal said. “But we don’t have Nick [Van Exel], Eddie and Elden any more, so . . .

“He probably only knows about me. But nothing can break me. . . . He probably just told them like personal stuff, like, if you bump this guy, he’ll get mad. . . . Stuff like that. What else is he going to tell them?”

Jackson, when asked about Harris, also broke into a smile, and called Harris “a turncoat” with a laugh.

“I’ve coached many games against Del and Mike too, so I know that there’s only so much you can contribute,” Jackson said.

“[The Trail Blazers] were well-prepared, there’s no doubt about their preparedness. They know what we’re going to run, and everything else. But execution beats that every time. . . .

“Del’s been very successful, he’s had some good successes against the triangle, particularly. He has that, and Mike has too.”

March is the hardest month for an NBA team to keep focus, Jackson said, which makes it an especially important time for the Lakers (12-1 in February) to maintain their lead over Portland and sprint to the finish.

The Lakers host Indiana and Miami on Friday and Sunday, respectively, then play the Clippers, Golden State, Sacramento and Denver before beginning their last major East Coast swing (games at Washington, Detroit, New York and Miami) on March 16.

“We know we have to get through this part of the season as best as possible, stay healthy, and then go into this mid-March, which is when all eyes turn to college,” Jackson said.

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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

*--*

Wed. Season 25 Points 27.7 17 Rebounds 14.2 5 Assists 3.8

*--*

BRYANT

*--*

Wed. Season 27 Points 22.3 6 Rebounds 6.0 3 Assists 4.5

*--*

RICE