He’s Adjusting by Seat of His Pants

Mitch Richmond grabbed a basketball and took a seat on the scorer’s table next to the Sacramento King bench.

Maybe it was instinctive, the natural tendency toward what feels comfortable. The sight of him there Sunday was brief reminder of the way it used to be: Richmond, with the rock in his hands most of the time, hooping it up as the best player the Kings had.

Richmond spent the prime of his career here, from 1991-98, putting up his usual 22 to 23 points a night, topping out with a career-high average of 25.9 points a game in 1996-97. Once you got past Michael Jordan, Richmond was as good as any shooting guard in the league.

Richmond was very good and the Kings were very bad. They made the playoffs only once in his nine years here, taking one game from the Seattle SuperSonics in 1996.

It’s hard to say what would have sounded like the more farfetched concept then: the Kings participating in the Western Conference finals or Richmond sitting on the bench--anybody’s bench--and simply watching them, wishing he could get so much as a floor burn.

You could say Richmond played a bigger part in the Kings’ getting here than the Lakers’. He was traded to the Washington Wizards in 1998 for Chris Webber, now the Kings’ top player.

And ever since Richmond came to Los Angeles as a free agent last summer his role has steadily diminished.

He did not play in 18 of the 82 regular-season games because of coach’s decision. He averaged only 11 minutes and 4.1 points when he did see action and shot a career-low 40.5%.

He hasn’t removed his warmups once during the Lakers’ first nine playoff games.

“Coming here, I thought I’d play 20-25 minutes a game and go from there,” Richmond said. “It hasn’t happened.”

The Lakers thought he could add some scoring punch to their reserve corps and give them eight to 10 points a game. That hasn’t happened either.

He hasn’t always looked comfortable in the triangle offense. His 36-year-old legs lack spring. Probably the saddest moment of the season, the time when you knew it just wasn’t there for him, came in San Antonio in March. Richmond knocked down a pass near the sideline. He tried to grab the ball, but instead he toppled over and fell.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson didn’t tell Richmond he wouldn’t have a role in the playoffs. He didn’t tell the media, either, as he did when he said he was “not very comfortable” playing Slava Medvedenko or Mark Madsen.

But it became pretty clear pretty soon in the first-round series against Portland. Jackson has relied heavily on Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher in the backcourt, with Brian Shaw off the bench and the occasional appearance by Lindsey Hunter.

“As I look at it now, I think he’s gone with a comfort level,” Richmond said. “I look at the guys that he’s playing, the bulk of the minutes. It’s the guys that have been here, the guys that went to the championship, the guys that have been in that situation that he feels comfortable with at that time.”

Jackson said it’s also a matter of circumstances.

“Because of the amount of pressure we’ve faced defensively, we need a ballhandling, playmaking kind of guard,” Jackson said. “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to play Mitch, but so far we haven’t had a real opportunity to play him where it feels comfortable and he’s got a comfort zone where he can play at.”

The Lakers haven’t even had a blowout victory to get him some minutes in garbage time.

Richmond would gladly accept a championship ring, which would make it all worthwhile. But he’d rather earn it.

“You want to participate in some way, if it’s one minute or two minutes,” Richmond said. “Dive on the floor and get a loose ball or something. You want to say that you meant something.”

For now, the most positive thing Richmond has done is not be a negative. He still has a great attitude, and he even makes jokes about his lack of playing time. It doesn’t hurt that the Wizards bought out his contract for $10 million, which is why he had no problem signing a one-year deal with the Lakers for $590,000.

Kobe Bryant calls him “the ultimate professional.”

“There have been guys in the past who have made [not playing] a distraction,” Bryant said. “He hasn’t done it. We’ve never even talked about it, never even had to address the issue. He just continues to be a professional, continues to work hard and if Phil needs him to go out there in the game and perform, he’s going to be ready to do it.”

There aren’t any banners in Arco Arena to commemorate anything Richmond or the Kings did while he was here.

He can look around and remember, though, remember when those crowds were cheering for him.

“What has carried me to this point, smiling, cheering the guys on, is what I did accomplish earlier in my career, what I know I still can do if I get the opportunity,” Richmond said. “I can’t sit up here and lie to you and say it’s not difficult not being a part of it, knowing that I can contribute.”

He was the rookie of the year with the Golden State Warriors in 1989, when he came into the NBA pumping in 22 points a game. He was the best player on a court full of All-Stars one February day in 1995. He’s one of the top 25 scorers in NBA history. But most fans haven’t seen much of him because his teams weren’t playing in May. And now that he’s finally on a championship contender, he’s a non-factor.

He has never had it all together all at once. It’s why he has a hard time deciding which uniform he identifies with most closely.

“I spent the bulk of my career [in Sacramento],” he said, before he quickly switched back to his first three years, the Run-TMC days with Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. “And I had some great times at Golden State. That’s where the fun was, really. Just going out and lacing ‘em up and having a good time.”

Perhaps he hasn’t worn his final jersey. He said he wants to play next season. First, he’d like to play this season.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com