Season Was a Turn-Off From Start to Finish

It was a great night for the paying customers in Staples Center, a reminder to athletes everywhere they cannot turn it on and off whenever they choose, and thereby render 82 regular-season games a waste of time.

The gifted must punch the clock like everyone else.

Or as San Antonio’s David Robinson put it after knocking off the defending champs in the second round, “The way we had played all year long, we had established a nice rhythm, so I felt we were going to play well. We had played so well, even on the road, and for such a long time, I thought we would win.”

The Lakers also thought they would win and blustered so repeatedly after stumbling through much of the season -- by their own account saving themselves for another championship run that went flat more quickly than one of Robert Horry’s three-point shots.

Coach Phil Jackson did every darn Medvedenko thing he could to work his magic, but the Lakers’ tank came up empty in the biggest quarter of the season, and now we’ll see if the championship swagger is replaced by the hunger to reestablish themselves as champions. They might even play every game in November as though it really matters who wins and loses.

“Actually, I’m ready to get started right now,” Kobe Bryant said.

I’d feel a lot better if it was Mitch Kupchak who said that.

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SOMETIMES I wonder what Bill Dwyre does as sports editor of The Times. I’ve even given thought to calling him on the golf course and asking him, but I know this, he has nothing on the GM of the Lakers.

What has Kupchak done since replacing Jerry West?

I might not have this exactly correct, but I believe he has brought in Greg Foster, Tracy Murray, Isaiah Rider, Mitch Richmond, Lindsey Hunter, Samaki Walker and made Devean George very rich.

The Lakers won two titles with Kupchak in charge of the talent that West gave Jackson, but holy Manu Ginobili and Keon Clark, watching San Antonio and Sacramento compete now with rosters that run so deep, it’s apparent the Lakers have not kept up with the teams they must beat.

Throw in a Laker team that didn’t think gaining the home-court advantage in the West was crucial to winning the conference title, and you’ve got your recipe for Laker disappointment. It was a great three-year Laker run, but cut short by their own doing, and now the fun comes watching the championship quest begin anew.

I believe the Spurs caught Shaquille O’Neal’s regular-season attention. “The home-court advantage is very important,” he said when asked if the team might put more effort into playing better during the regular season.

And I like what I heard from Jackson. “We talked sincerely [after the game in the locker room] about making correct steps from the beginning of our season to the end, which places us in a position to win,” he said.

I just wish I knew for sure Kupchak was awake.

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THE LAKER Girls came out dancing in “Frida” T-shirts to advertise the release of the movie on DVD. Can you picture Salma Hayek, the star of the movie, dancing in a Frida T-shirt? (I can.)

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DENZEL WASHINGTON, Laker fan and great actor, was sitting courtside wearing a New York Yankee cap. I guess he wasn’t at Dodger Stadium the other night for Cap Night.

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JACK NICHOLSON not only stayed until the game was over, applauding the Lakers’ accomplishments at the end, but he waited more than 10 minutes for ABC to complete interviews with Robinson and Tim Duncan before following them off the court. I don’t believe he has plans on following them to the next series, though.

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WHAT DO Steve Blass, Rick Ankiel and Horry have in common? Ask any one of them to take aim at the Pacific Ocean and it’s a good bet they’d miss.

“You couldn’t try to go two for 38” from three-point range, but that’s what Horry did in 12 playoff games.

A crowd of reporters stood around Horry in the Laker locker room after the game watching him dress. When he was done, they quizzed him on his performance and then he sat alone before his locker. It appeared he was missing his shoes, in keeping with his playoff performance.

“I flat-out [stunk],” Horry said. I listened closely, but no one spoke up to disagree.

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THE GAME was held up for a short time with 5:52 to play and the Lakers losing by 20 so ABC could show Jim Gray’s taped interview with Jackson. Obviously there was no reason to save it for the next game. I was just relieved to see that Gray didn’t press the guy as he did Pete Rose; Jackson has been through a lot lately.

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LAFFIT PINCAY, horse racing’s all-time winning jockey and maybe L.A.’s all-time best athlete, is going to make an appearance at Hollywood Park tonight as honorary chairman for an Evening at the Races on behalf of the Pediatric Therapy Network. Pincay, who recently announced his retirement because of a neck injury, will be joined by other jockeys to help PTN, a nonprofit organization providing therapeutic services for children with special needs and disabilities. If I was going to the races tonight, I know I’d make a point of finding Pincay and asking him whom he likes in the next race -- if he doesn’t know, no one will.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Jeremy Indes:

“They kicked you off ‘Around the Horn?’ All your negative publicity about the show in your column is what got me to actually watch the show sometimes.”

Next time when I tell you something is awful maybe you’ll believe me and not waste your time looking for yourself.

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