George Is Challenged to Perform

A month before Devean George’s third NBA season, Laker management still gasps at his talent. He runs and leaps with the best in the league, particularly among those who stand 6 feet 8 or better. That said, most of his running and leaping has come in summer leagues, training camp or garbage time.

He played 593 minutes last season. Mike Penberthy played 851.

So George, whom Laker officials once hoped would come out of tiny Augsburg College and follow the same path to versatility the 6-7 Scottie Pippen took from Central Arkansas, stands on the verge of his second annual make-or-break season, dreaming of playing time.

“This is the year,” Coach Phil Jackson said recently, “he’s got to show his worth as a player.”

By Oct. 31, the club must decide to pick up or decline the 2002-03 option on George’s contract. It would be mildly surprising if they guaranteed next season, which would be his fourth. But there are four weeks between now and then, and there is all that talent to consider.

“I know I can play in this league,” George said recently. “If they don’t pick up the option, I know I can play somewhere. I’m concentrating on this year.”

George said Laker coaches have told him he must “play every minute like it’s my last.”

Asked if that meant they believed he wasn’t playing hard, he said, “I guess so, yeah.”

Asked if they were right, George respectfully lowered his eyes and said, “I don’t want to say. Well, obviously, I’m not if they feel I’m not. But I know what I’m capable of doing.”

There are times, the soft-spoken George acknowledged, when he has been frustrated. He believes he requires playing time to develop. But these are the Lakers, and minutes go to the producers.

“I understand, I’m on the best team in the league,” he said. “Time is hard to come by.”

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The Lakers were off Wednesday, so they spent the day scattered on beaches, pool decks and golf courses all over Oahu.

The respite, only four days into camp, served two purposes. The club owes players three off days before the regular season. The Lakers started camp early because of their trip to Japan, which was canceled. And Jackson hoped to get at least one out of the way before Kobe Bryant returned from Philadelphia.

Bryant, who attended the funeral of his grandfather, John Cox, on Tuesday, is expected to arrive in time for today’s early-evening practice.

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Russ Granik, deputy commissioner of the NBA, is no stranger to ring ceremonies. At least twice in recent years, with Commissioner David Stern attending international openers, Granik has stood in, according to a league official.

With Stern in New York and New Jersey on Oct. 30, and assuming the Lakers don’t reschedule their celebration, Granik could pass out the rings at Staples Center.