Barkley in Los Angeles? Fat Chance

The Lakers won’t have any interest in Charles Barkley, thin or not, Coach Phil Jackson said Thursday.

Barkley confirmed this week that he is considering a comeback, even if pal Michael Jordan is not. Although the Lakers would appear to have front-court needs--Horace Grant is in the final year of his contract and there is no clear replacement--Jackson did not hesitate.

“We’re in a situation to move forward,” Jackson said. “Our team has to move ahead. We’ve got two young players we think are going to be good players in this league. They need an opportunity to play.”

Rookie Mark Madsen has played limited minutes and rookie Slava Medvedenko has been on the injured list nearly all season.

Jackson typically likes to have older players, but he shook his head.

“Charles is a great player,” he said. “Not for us, I don’t think.”

*

Isaiah “J.R.” Rider will be activated in time for tonight’s game against the Washington Wizards, Jackson said. His role is undetermined in a suddenly crowded backcourt.

Derek Fisher returned from the injured list Tuesday and Kobe Bryant returned from his sick bed Thursday. Brian Shaw has played well in the absence of Ron Harper, who could return in another week or so.

“There’s a very good chance we could use him,” Jackson said of Rider. “Brian’s been playing a lot of minutes.

“I’ll probably go real slow to start with and see how it goes.”

Jackson described Rider as “upbeat” during his five-game suspension for failure to comply with the league’s anti-drug program.

*

Appearing fit and rested, Bryant played 48 minutes against the Detroit Pistons as the Lakers went to overtime for the third time in four games.

He was ill for four days, sitting out two games. He said he’d done very little.

“Just bed,” Bryant said. “Just being in bed.”

He added that it felt strange to be on the court again.

“It’s weird, tough to get a feel. It’s like I gotta get used to my feet again. I’m not used to laying around.”

*

Fisher, who played 37 minutes Tuesday night in his first game in nine months, on the morning-after soreness: “It was nothing that a couple of Advil couldn’t cure.”

He said there was no unusual soreness in his surgically repaired right foot after he’d scored 26 points.

Bryant, who sat out the first 15 games of last season, watched Fisher on television and said he knew what Fisher was experiencing.

“You realize how much you miss the game,” Bryant said. “You play with so much love.”

*

Fisher received a few congratulatory telephone calls, but his perspective might have been better than the performance itself.

“Everybody’s excited and happy to have me back,” he said. “But I’ve been in this league for five years [and] as many calls as I got saying that, you can get just as many about how bad you played the next night. But, definitely, it was an experience I’ll never forget.”

When Tuesday night’s game was over, Fisher ran the length of the court to hug the Boston Celtics’ Paul Pierce, who’d scored 42 points.

“The way he felt was the same way I would have felt if we had lost the game,” Fisher said. “I just wanted to let him know I appreciated the effort he gave.”

TONIGHT

at Washington, 4:30 PST

Channel 9 (5:30)

* Site--MCI Center.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 43-21, Wizards 16-48.

* Record vs. Wizards (1999- 2000)--1-1.

* Update--The Wizards have won two in a row but before that lost by 32 points at Boston. Richard Hamilton, who scored a career-high 40 in a 103-96 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, averages 16.4 points. Mitch Richmond averages 16.2 points. Jahidi White averages 7.6 rebounds.