On Guards: Round Two Will Be a Duel With Suns

Shaquille O’Neal, not exactly a disinterested party in either case, set the scene with subtle strokes and a knack for foreshadowing the most scintillating conflict.

So, the Lakers open their Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns today at Staples Center?

Gee, O’Neal noted, that means that Lakers’ rising superstar Kobe Bryant and former O’Neal teammate Penny Hardaway will spend plenty of time scampering all over the court against each other in what is at least one giant man’s favorite matchup of the best-of-seven series.

Even as most of the media attention turned to O’Neal and Hardaway’s sometimes-strained relationship together and the what- could’ve-beens of the early 1990s Orlando Magic, O’Neal had another idea.

“Penny has always been a fabulous player,” O’Neal said Saturday, about 16 hours after the Lakers finally finished off the Sacramento Kings in Game 5 at Staples. “It’s going to be a fun series.

“I think the Penny-Kobe matchup is going to be a very exciting matchup to watch.”

O’Neal has implied in the past that Bryant enjoys playing and defeating Hardaway, especially after Bryant scored a then-career-high 38 points (33 in the second half) against Hardaway last season, when the Lakers rallied to beat the Magic.

Hardaway, who was traded to the Suns last summer, is six years older than Bryant, is a near physical carbon copy, and was considered an heir to Michael Jordan a generation before the same expectations were tossed onto Bryant’s shoulders.

Injuries this season short-circuited the Suns’ hopes that Hardaway and Jason Kidd would form one of the deadliest, most-versatile backcourts in league history.

But, with Kidd’s surprise return from a broken ankle for the Game 4 clinching over San Antonio last week, suddenly, “Backcourt 2000,” as they were nicknamed, is together again to threaten the Lakers.

“Him with Jason Kidd, that’s an unbelievable backcourt,” O’Neal said. “That’s a historical backcourt.”

Bryant, for his part, said he had no extra incentive against either Kidd (whom he will defend) or Hardaway (who will probably defend Bryant) other than the fact that they are great players positioned in the Lakers’ postseason path.

“I think I’m more so looking forward to guarding Jason, because he’s such an all-around great player,” Bryant said.

Would he consider Hardaway and Kidd to be the best starting guard combination in the league?

‘I don’t know, because I haven’t played against them yet,” Bryant said. “On paper, yeah.”

Though the Lakers swept the regular-season series against the Suns, 4-0, it was hard to get a read on the guard matchups because Bryant missed the first because of his broken hand, Hardaway missed the second because of a foot injury, and Bryant missed the fourth because of a one-game fighting suspension.

Kidd played only in the first two games, and the only member of the four expected starters at guard to play all four was Ron Harper.

O’Neal and other teammates, deeply aware of Bryant’s burning competitive spirit and determination to become the greatest player ever, smiled and suggested that this is certainly a matchup Bryant embraces.

“I think Kobe’s kind of moved beyond making anything a personal one-on-one vendetta,” forward Rick Fox said. “But I’m sure he’d like to see us as a team outshine the Suns, and if at the same time that means his putting a staple in the game in some fashion with the matchup of marquee players at the same position, the same size . . .

“There are certain guys in this league that have come before him that he’s followed and watched and idolized at a younger age. He has a desire to knock them off and put them as a notch on his belt.”

And maybe that Orlando eruption last season was a sign of it, even if Bryant won’t quite utter the words?

“Yeah, he’s quiet about that,” Fox said. “But he definitely has those thoughts.”

Said Brian Shaw, a teammate of O’Neal and Hardaway’s in Orlando: “I think Penny was a player that Kobe, when he was in high school, he looked up to.

“I know when he was in high school, his father brought him to a couple of the games. And he really admired Penny and Penny’s game. And I’ve heard him say that before.

“I’m sure that’s something he’s looking forward to.”

Asked to compare playing with Hardaway to playing with Bryant several seasons later, O’Neal agreed that the two had similar styles, but different on-court demeanors.

“When I played with Penny, Penny always looked for the pass first,” O’Neal said. “Kobe’s a little more aggressive about trying to score.

“But Penny always looked for the pass. He used to pass too much, sometimes.”

It was Hardaway’s low-key nature, in fact, that probably led to the stories that he and O’Neal disliked each other during their time together in Orlando and after O’Neal left to sign with the Lakers in 1996.

Both Hardaway and O’Neal said they never had any real problems together.

“Shaq and I were just two totally different people,” Hardaway said last week. “He was an outgoing, music, movie type of guy. I was more inside, or playing golf, or whatever. That was it. We never hung out off the floor, but we got along well on the floor, and that’s all that matters.”

Said O’Neal: “There was never a feud between me and him. I never said anything to Penny and Penny never said anything to me. . . .

“Penny goes his way, I went my way, but we’re still good friends.”

When Hardaway, a free agent at the time, was looking around for a new team last summer, he called O’Neal and asked if the Lakers might try to fashion a sign-and-trade deal with Orlando that would furnish Hardaway with a maximum-salary contract.

“He wanted me to sign with the Lakers,” Hardaway said. “But I was asking for too much money.

“Jerry West wasn’t going for that. He didn’t think I was worth it. There were a lot of teams out there that didn’t think I was worth the max. And that drives me every day.”

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Read It and Sweep

A look at the season series between the Lakers and Phoenix Suns:

* NOV. 15: Lakers 91, at Phoenix 82--Shaquille O’Neal scores 34 points and grabs 18 rebounds as Lakers pull away in second half.

* DEC. 29: at Lakers 103, Phoenix 87--Lakers complete a 14-1 December with easy victory, as O’Neal scores 27 points to go with 19 rebounds.

* March 24: at Lakers 109, Phoenix 101--O’Neal had 40 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers held off a late Phoenix charge.

* APRIL 4: Lakers 84, at Phoenix 83--O’Neal scored 32 points, and Robert Horry had 11 rebounds off the bench. The Lakers won when Cliff Robinson missed a three-point shot with time expiring.

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NBA PLAYOFFS

TODAY’S GAME 1

PHOENIX AT LAKERS

2:30, Channel 4

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COVERAGE

SUNS NOT READY TO SET

With Jason Kidd back, Phoenix is playing much better and looking forward to its series with the Lakers. Page 11

CENTER OF ATTENTION

O’Neal may carry the Lakers, but there will be days when teammates have to step up, Mark Heisler writes. Page 12

PACER DUO DYNAMIC

Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose scored 40 points apiece as Indiana routed Philadelphia, 108-91. Page 12

ZEN AND NOW

Phil Jackson came of age in the ‘60s, and what he learned then has helped him turn the Lakers around. Sunday Magazine