Even if the Effort Lags, a Title Wave Is Coming

I’ll be at the parade. I’ll buy Phil’s next book. I might even read it. I’ll try to convince the grocery store bagger and my daughter to name their first child--after they get married--after Kobe.

But I will never consider these Lakers truly great champions.

I KNOW, I know, it’s all about winning championships, and the Lakers will win again. Phil, the coach and former player, will have 10 fingers and 11 rings, so who knows, maybe even Jeanie will get a ring out of this, if you know what I mean.

But watching the Lakers play with heart and soul once the playoffs begin, reminds me how often they don’t play with heart and soul. Chicago, Memphis, Golden State and the first half against San Antonio....

San Antonio? When you haven’t shown up ready to play against teams you’re supposed to beat in the regular season, sometimes old habits are hard to break.

There is no penalty, of course, for losing to Chicago, Memphis, Golden State, San Antonio ... when you wind up hugging the championship trophy. That’s probably why the paying customers in L.A. don’t let the Lakers have it when they disappoint, buying into the sports cliche that it really is all about championships.

And maybe it is for the players and coaches who will be measured later in life by such standards. But for the paying customers, and those of us who make our living watching games, it should be about the anticipation, expectation and excitement that at any given moment we will see something extraordinary from a gifted athlete.

Inherent in that should be the expressed promise that we’re getting maximum effort in return for a ticket bought and attention shown. The Lakers don’t always do that. Chicago, Memphis, Golden State....

The Lakers went 15-1 during the playoffs last year after a bumpy regular season, and played this season as if they already had an automatic berth in the playoffs. They played the first half against San Antonio Tuesday night as if they’ve been given a bye to the NBA Finals. What a shock if they’re wrong.

That’s the only danger in thinking you can turn it on when you want, everyone lining up behind War Emblem in the Kentucky Derby expecting to turn it on the stretch, but it all getting away from them.

It’s all about pre-race and pre-playoff strategy, Phil is so good at what he does, he can arrange it so he’s sitting in a hot tub with Jeanie at the All-Star break instead of coaching the game.

Phil is so good he can send Lindsey Hunter and Samaki Walker out like some kind of rock ‘n’ roll warm-up act when the regular season starts, and then bring on Brian Shaw and Robert Horry for the main playoff show.

Phil is so good there is no need to go to the whip down the stretch, and secure the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. He’s so good, I’m sure he knew Dallas would take care of that for him.

If it’s all about championships, Phil should have been named the coach of the year Tuesday for pacing the Lakers and positioning them once again to win it all. He didn’t get a single vote, however, and that’s the price to be paid for making it appear as if a team is on automatic pilot until it’s time to turn it on.

Maybe if he stood up once in a while during the regular season we would feel that everyone is trying to win every game.

None of this, of course, will besmirch the banner that will be hung in Staples at the start of next season, but I will poise the same question I did on opening night this season: Why can’t the Lakers go 82-0?

The answer, I’m sure, will be the same: Why work that hard?

THE NEXT big sports issue facing Los Angeles will be the future of Dodger Stadium, which sits grand as ever after 40 years, but now lacks the gold mine inside that is stadium sports today, and that is state-of-the-art luxury suites.

Now wouldn’t it make more sense to build a baseball stadium downtown a few blocks from Staples Center instead of a football stadium? Consider the impact two well-used sports venues like Staples Center and Dodger Stadium would have on downtown development.

Fox, which is in a fix given Dodger Stadium’s popularity and traditionalists’ reluctance to mess with it, is already a partner with the Anschutz Empire in Staples Center and could expand that relationship.

That would leave Chavez Ravine available for Peter O’Malley and the NFL to develop for football.

And with new football and baseball stadiums, only one of them would have to be named after me.

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I’M HEARING now the NFL hopes to encourage Phil Anschutz to buy an NFL franchise and bring it to L.A. rather than negotiate with owners who might want to move here along with their team. I’m told they’ve encouraged Anschutz to begin with Charger owner Alex Spanos, and if unsuccessful, talk with the Saints and Vikings.

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SOME RAIDER fans e-mailed to say the team will move to L.A. after it wins its legal battles in Oakland.

I didn’t realize prison inmates have Internet access.

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CHICK HEARN bobble-head dolls will be sold at Just Sports USA stores for $25. They’ll be sold at Staples Center in Team LA for $30. Now you know why Anschutz is a billionaire.

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PENTHOUSE MAGAZINE says it’s a mistake. Those nude pictures of Anna Kournikova were nude pictures of Judith E. Soltesz-Benetton. Based on my observation, I thought that from the very beginning, although I did go back for a second look to make sure I hadn’t jumped to conclusions.

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com