It’s Not Injury That Hurts Murray

Tracy Murray, his 11th season in the NBA cut short by an ankle injury that doesn’t hurt, sat courtside Friday night in a suit he would not change out of and shook his head.

“I’m not going to discuss this,” he said, almost inaudibly, and he stood up and left.

Murray was put on the Laker injured list on Friday, injured, Coach Phil Jackson said with a wry grin, “while he was walking into the training room to talk to me,” presumably about the assignment. Rookie guard Jannero Pargo, who had served 42 games on the same list with a knee injury that didn’t hurt, came off. Murray must spend at least five games on the injured list.

Jackson said he hoped Pargo could help handle some of the league’s quicker guards and push the ball up the floor, some of the things Tyronn Lue did for the Lakers two seasons ago as a backup for Derek Fisher.

“We’re looking for someone who can give us a little of that hound dog,” Jackson said.

Murray is less a hound dog than a (three-)pointer. He came home to the Lakers in the draft-day deal with Toronto that also brought Kareem Rush hoping to pull defenses off of Shaquille O’Neal with his perimeter game. He was a 39.1% three-point shooter in 10 previous NBA seasons.

In 59 games, Murray got on the floor 32 times. He did not play in 13 of the last 18 games. He made a three-pointer on Dec. 28 in Denver and hadn’t made one since, in 13 attempts. Like Mitch Richmond before him, Murray did not get much of a chance with the Lakers, in part because Jackson seemed to believe he was a liability on defense and because the Lakers have Rick Fox, Devean George and, at times, Kobe Bryant at small forward.

“Maybe I’ll get into that at some other time,” Jackson said, adding, “I’m sure he wanted to do well.”

Instead, it is Pargo who will have the chance to play himself onto the postseason roster, Pargo who will dress and be a part of it, and Murray who will watch.

“You feel bad for a guy because of how many years he’s been in the league,” Fisher said. “Everybody really wants a chance to play and compete. So, I’m sure it’s going to be difficult for him.”

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Jackson, who on Thursday had a second procedure to break down pieces of his kidney stone, said he felt a little better Friday. “It is what it is,” he said, smiling. “You think, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t even have had it checked. Don’t let those medical guys get ahold of you.’ ” ... O’Neal went into Friday night’s game 219 points short of 20,000. He should become the fifth youngest -- after Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- to get there, and the 28th overall.