If You Ask O’Neal, It’s a Fancy Matchup

Enough of the Kobe Bryant-Michael Jordan comparisons, Shaquille O’Neal said in the aftermath of the Lakers’ 103-94 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.

“They are two different cars going down the 405 [freeway],” O’Neal said. “One is a 2002 [Mercedes] Benz, the other a 1991 Benz. They are both excellent cars and they both get great mileage, but they are different years.

“Now I’d like to see a 26-year-old Kobe go against a 26-year-old Michael, but you can’t go back in time. That would be like comparing me to Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar].”

And how would O’Neal fare against Abdul-Jabbar, his predecessor as a dominating Laker center?

“I couldn’t stop his sky hook,” O’Neal said. “He would get his 30 [points]. But so would I.”

And how about the rebounding matchup?

“I think I would win that.”

*

Attention, Ron Harper: You may not be on the Laker roster. You may not be in game shape. But don’t get too relaxed because, with the start of the stretch run, you remain just where you’ve been all season, in the back of Coach Phil Jackson’s mind.

Harper retired last season after 15 years in the NBA. But Jackson can’t quite let go of a cool, competent veteran guard who runs the triangle offense as though he invented it, who plays the kind of defense that brings a smile to a coach’s face and who can get the attention of young players the way no coach can.

So Harper is 37. So what? That makes him two years younger than Jordan, who turns 39 Sunday.

Jackson has no immediate plans to try to lure Harper, who played for him for four years in Chicago and two with the Lakers, out of retirement. But ...

“We’ve always anticipated that that is going to be a possibility,” Jackson said of a Laker comeback by Harper. “We haven’t spoken since the start of the season, but we’ve exchanged voice messages. Right now, everybody is healthy and everybody is doing the job. Ron is not part of our plans unless something happens.”

But, as Jackson well knows, something always does.

TONIGHT

at Seattle, 7, Channel 9

Site--KeyArena.

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 34-13, SuperSonics 25-24.

Record vs. SuperSonics--1-1.

Update--There hasn’t been a home-court advantage in the series this season. The Lakers lost at Staples Center to the SuperSonics, 104-93, but won at Seattle, 107-92. The Lakers were happy to get a victory against the SuperSonics wherever they could find one after having been swept in last season’s four meetings. Seattle is only 12-16 in its own conference, 7-7 at home.

Steve Springer