Horry Could Become Starter

Cut loose by the San Antonio Spurs in the spring, Samaki Walker soon took a telephone call from Shaquille O’Neal.

The Lakers, who swept the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, needed a power forward. O’Neal was recruiting.

“Why don’t you come down and play with a big center, a real center,” Walker recalled O’Neal saying.

On Sunday morning, having left David Robinson’s neighborhood and then rejecting a richer offer by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Walker stood among Lakers, potentially a starter for the club that will attempt to win a third consecutive NBA title.

“I think he chose the right guy to be on his team,” he said.

There are obstacles.

Because of O’Neal’s toe injury Walker will get more minutes in training camp at center, leaving the power forward repetitions to Robert Horry, Jelani McCoy, Slava Medvedenko and, eventually, Mark Madsen.

The triangle offense is complex, and there are those who believe Walker could struggle with it, particularly in the early months.

Also, the veteran Horry said he would like to start, or at least wouldn’t mind it, and that alone might win him the job.

“I’m trying to stay away from assumptions,” Phil Jackson said Sunday. “Right now I’ve got Robert Horry, who’s a legitimate all-star for me, playing that position. Whoever wants to fill in and take some minutes, either on the front end or the back end from him, is the guy I’ll be using.”

Horry’s value was late in games, when Horace Grant’s legs were heavy, and late in the season, when he defended the elite power forwards and then stepped back to the three-point arc. He made 36.2% of his three-pointers in the playoffs, 61.5% in the finals. He is also stronger and better conditioned than ever to begin a training camp.

Jackson is mulling starting Horry or Walker, depending probably on what suits Horry. Walker said Sunday he would like to start.

“You’ve got to think about it,” he said. “That’s what everybody’s been saying, but you’ve still got to earn it. You can’t come in with the attitude that something’s going to be given to you. This is a championship team. Unfortunately, I don’t have any. I look at it from that perspective.”

Medvedenko, from the Ukraine, took English classes in the off-season, and already is more involved in conversations with teammates and club personnel. The Lakers hope that translates to his game, which, offensively, is NBA ready.

“He had a little trouble today, but he’s making more of an effort,” Jackson said. “Last year I think he got overwhelmed and he’d get kind of glazed [over]. But, he’s making a much better effort to stay on top of what’s going on in our huddles, what’s going on on the floor, and the language is significant.”