This Team Isn’t Hard to Read

Phil Jackson frequently gripes about media access, which he views as excessive.

When it comes to disturbing the placidity of his basketball team’s holy place, Jackson is quite put off if he is not the one flinging the skipping rock.

As the Lakers try to mend a fractured season in time for the playoffs, Jackson’s “More Than a Game,” by Charley Rosen, will follow Shaquille O’Neal’s “Shaq Talks Back” to a bookstore near you.

It won’t look good if Jackson is becoming a little richer and a little more famous off last season just as this one is ending because the Lakers did not play themselves into home-court advantage.

But the first paragraphs of “More Than a Game” are slipping out. Reached by telephone at his home near Woodstock, N.Y., late last week, Rosen refused to confirm a passage of Jackson’s book that depicted a miffed O’Neal standing in a team meeting and--surprise--saying mildly unflattering things about teammate Kobe Bryant. O’Neal apparently said Bryant was playing selfishly.

Turns out, it’s in there, of course, which might annoy Jackson if it weren’t Jackson who handed the skipping rock to Rosen in the first place.

“We’re going to be fine with this,” Jackson said of the book proliferation. “Guys are enjoying each other’s company, having a good time. This is a very loose and light team. I’ve been around a lot of teams that are much more serious, have much more friction in the group than this team is. This team has a lot of fun. More fun than they should have, probably.”

*

Greg Foster was fined $5,000 for verbally abusing an official and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his disagreement with Golden State’s Marc Jackson on Sunday night. Jackson was fined $2,500.

TONIGHT

vs. Toronto, 7:30

Fox Sports Net, TNT

* Site--Staples Center

* Radio--KLAC (570)

* Records--Lakers 40-19, Raptors 33-28.

* Record vs. Raptors--1-0.

* Tickets--(800) 462-2849