Rider Pays Price for Late Arrival

Isaiah Rider was benched for the first half and fined by the Lakers when he arrived nearly one hour late for Tuesday night’s game against Indiana.

“No excuses,” Rider said. “Stuff happens. Life goes on.”

Rider, who made a habit of tardiness during stops in Minnesota, Portland and Atlanta, arrived at Staples Center just before 7 p.m. for a 7:30 game.

When pressed to explain the behavior, Rider said, “Go ask Phil [Jackson]. Get all the questions and ask Phil. I’m not even tripping.”

Jackson appeared willing to let it go with the fine and limited minutes. Rider played four minutes against the Pacers.

“We know this is a problem,” Jackson said. “We know that being late is a problem for him. We want him to make some behavioral changes and we’ll see how it goes. We have our antenna up now. He’s got to be prepared.”

Witnesses said Rider and General Manager Mitch Kupchak had a heated conversation after the game, apparently regarding Jackson’s handling of the incident.

Kobe Bryant said he doesn’t believe Rider’s problems be a distraction

“I think everybody knew he’d have some ups and downs,” Bryant said. “It’s not going to be a smooth ride. I hate to say it, but it’s like Dennis Rodman. Sometimes they have their own agendas.”

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In the four games before Tuesday’s, Rider played 80 minutes, took 23 shots, scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds. Mike Penberthy played 97 minutes, took 28 shots, scored 43 points and had eight rebounds.

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A year ago, Shaquille O’Neal told everyone he did not care about the NBA scoring title. Then he won it. Then he admitted, actually, that he had wanted to win it all along. Such a kidder.

Now that he has his championship ring, his three MVP awards (NBA, All-Star game, finals, same season), and his scoring title, O’Neal has said, really this time, that his ego does not require him to score more points than everyone else on the planet.

Apparently as a result, O’Neal entered Tuesday night averaging 25.2 points, which had him seventh in the league behind, among others, Bryant (26.9).

That would seem to be the plan.

“I hope so,” Jackson said. “There’s always a lust to score. You guys then say, ‘Well, why aren’t you scoring?’ and there’s an emphasis on why you guys think he’s not playing well if he’s not scoring. What we tell Shaq is, ‘We can win without you scoring.’ That’s a big plus. Last year, he had to score and he had to play defense, he had to rebound and he had to block shots. This year we can still win without him having to score 30 points. That’s important for us to know that and for him to have confidence knowing he can expend his energy in other parts of the game.”