New Daddy Fox Back With Team

Still wearing his hospital I.D. bracelet and still dazed by the experience, Rick Fox rejoined the Lakers a few hours before Tuesday’s Game 4 after flying to New York to be with his wife, Vanessa Williams, for the birth of their daughter, Sasha Gabriella, on Monday afternoon.

“I didn’t think I realized how much of it was weighing in the back of my mind--a lot of the concern is obviously having a healthy baby,” Fox said before the game.

“Once the baby was here . . . and hearing my wife say, ‘Look, I know it’s important to you and the Lakers and the city, and besides, we want to play you guys in the finals’--she’s a Knick fan--’you better get there if you can.’

“Her unselfishness as a wife and a mother should be recognized. She was the one that pushed me out the door and wanted me to get here.”

Fox spent the night in New York with his wife and baby, then boarded a 7:30 a.m. EDT flight to get back in time for the game.

“You normally would take a sick day on any other circumstance,” Fox said, “but if we don’t win this game tonight, I would be pretty sick watching it on TV. . . .

“Being here is just an opportunity, if needed, to help in some fashion. I’m sure if I’m hurting us, [Coach Phil Jackson will] take me out, if I’m helping, he’ll leave me in.”

Jackson said it has been obvious that Fox, who was scoreless in the Lakers’ Game 3 defeat Sunday before leaving for New York that night, has been off his game.

“He was distracted--I don’t want to talk for him, but he obviously had one foot on the plane,” Jackson said.

Jackson said it would be hard to predict how sharp the backup small forward could be for Game 4, but he decided not to use Fox much and the Kings evened the series.

Fox played only two minutes and didn’t score.