Harper Has Surgery on Left Knee

Laker guard Ron Harper will be out at least a month after undergoing surgery Wednesday to remove bone chips and pieces of a partially torn meniscus from his left knee. Doctors also discovered evidence of arthritis.

Harper, 37, will be reexamined in about two weeks. Coach Phil Jackson said he expected Harper to sit out the rest of the regular season and perhaps the first round of the playoffs. It could lead to a critical decision regarding the playoff roster, which must be set before the playoffs and cannot be altered between series.

Jackson predicted that Derek Fisher would maintain his starting spot into the postseason, even if Harper returned.

“It’s very difficult, first and foremost because Ron’s a player who’s challenged by the task of coming off the bench,” Jackson said. “To start him after missing this amount of games, it would almost be a change. To have him come off the bench would be difficult at best. There’s a lot of things that go into this. It’s very disappointing.”

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Jackson insisted Wednesday that his relationship with Kobe Bryant is absolutely fine, that it is growing, and he intimated there were no long-term troubles there.

A story in Wednesday’s Chicago Sun-Times left a different impression.

“The other day I said to Kobe, ‘What’s the problem?’ ” Jackson told columnist Rick Telander. “He said, ‘The game’s too boring for me. The offense is so simple. It doesn’t display my talent.’ I said, ‘I realize that. But we’re trying to win games with the least amount of things going wrong, the fewest injuries, the least fatigue.’ He said, ‘But it doesn’t give me what I have to have for my game.’

“Kobe’s having a hard time with the triangle offense this year. Not last year. Last year he could hardly wait to get to the spot on the floor where Michael Jordan had been. He wanted to be Michael. But it’s a different team this year. We don’t have a Scottie Pippen for him, the guy who allowed Michael to be Michael. That’s the cross Kobe has to bear.”

Jackson then added, “Someone told me that in high school, Kobe used to sabotage his own games. So the game could be close. So he could dominate at the end. To sabotage the team process, to be so self-centered in your own process--it’s almost stupefying.”

Said Bryant: “That’s ridiculous. I’m not even going to respond to that.”

Jackson said that recent on-court disturbances with Bryant might not reflect their total relationship, however.

“It’s not butting heads at all,” Jackson said. “We had one interchange on Monday night. He was upset at his teammates. I told him he had no right to be upset with his teammates. He made the pass from up in the air. That wasn’t even contentious.”