Errant O’Neal Likes Chances

Shaquille O’Neal has a theory about these things they call free throws that actually cost him plenty in time and effort and distraction.

They can be awkward and sometimes violent, he said, but give him a basketball and a crowd and some solid derision, and he’ll knock them down.

The Laker center has converted 30.6% of his free throws in the preseason, so they’re a topic again because there is only a week before the season starts and there is no knee bend or vertical rotation or parabolic arc to speak of.

Recently, Laker Coach Phil Jackson called it his No. 1 concern in the Lakers’ attempt to repeat their championship.

“To me, it’s about nothing,” O’Neal said. “Everyone has a weakness in his game. But, time in and time out when I need to step up and hit it, I do it. You want me to shoot 60 or 70%. My life has not been based on percentages. When I concentrate, I hit them. When I need to hit them, I hit them. I’m never going to shoot 80%. But when I need to hit ‘em, I’ll hit ‘em.”

This much is true: He made 52.4% of his regular-season free throws, he was the league most valuable player and the Lakers had the best record in the league. He made 45.6% of his playoff free throws, he was the finals MVP and the Lakers got a big trophy.

O’Neal shrugged. See?

“Not many guys had a perfect game,” he said. “Michael Jordan had a perfect game. Larry Bird had a perfect game. I have a dominant game. I don’t want to be the best player in the game. I want to be the most dominant.”

He is without peer in the dominant department, and now he has the confidence that comes with the championship.

“I think he’s determined at a certain level to repeat [the championship],” Jackson said. “I know this, he came back in better condition than he was last year. The determining factor is how well he shoots free throws. That’s where his attack, his approach, his receptivity, all that we talked about in post-season, after the championship game, a few days later, about his receptivity to becoming a better free-throw shooter, come in. That’s going to be a critical factor this year.”

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Jackson predicted Monday that Isaiah Rider’s first season in Los Angeles would be “an unfolding drama over the course of the year,” but took exception to the observation that he’d already coached a similar personality in Dennis Rodman.

“There’s no comparison,” Jackson said. “Dennis played with a certain sense--an arrogance--about him. It usually was toward the referee. It could be toward an opponent. It rarely was against his own team or his own teammates.”

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Forward Horace Grant will have X-rays taken of his swollen right thumb today when the Lakers return to Los Angeles.

Team trainers told him he could have strained a ligament Sunday night when his thumb tangled in Danny Fortson’s jersey.

Though the thumb looked bad Monday, Grant said he didn’t expect to miss any time in the regular season. He did not dress against Sacramento, a 118-111 loss at Thomas & Mack Center. Robert Horry started at power forward and Rick Fox at small forward.

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If NBA Commissioner David Stern rules Joe Smith a free agent, the Lakers will offer Smith their $1.2 million exception.

Other teams, including Miami, expected to be granted an injured player exception, will offer Smith far more money.

The Lakers hope Smith would sacrifice salary for his best chance at an NBA title. It would appear to be a long shot.