Rice Is Excited About Return

Glen Rice flew back into town Sunday, not nearly the hot commodity he’d been when he was shipped out three years ago.

Then, he was a starter on a championship team. Even if he was coming off two of the worst seasons of his career, he still was considered the NBA’s best shooter and he’d just helped the Lakers to the first of three consecutive titles.

He returned Sunday, three even less productive seasons later, the probable sixth man on a team that annually finishes out of the playoffs.

“It’s an opportunity,” said the three-time All-Star after practicing with his new team at L.A. Southwest College, where he used to train with the Lakers. “A young team, very talented, athletic. I think this team’s got a lot of potential.”

Traded two weeks ago from the Houston Rockets to the Utah Jazz in a salary dump, Rice, 36, negotiated a contract buyout with the Jazz that made him a free agent. He worked out for the Clippers on Oct. 5, then kept them in suspense until Friday, when he signed a one-year, $1.5-million contract.

Back home in Miami, he’d talked with other teams, among them the New Orleans Hornets. But he said he’d worked out only for the Clippers.

“You’ve got to go with your gut feeling,” he said of his return to Los Angeles, where he probably is remembered as much for his wife’s criticism of Laker Coach Phil Jackson during the 2000 NBA Finals as for his feathery shooting touch. “And when I came out here and worked out, I just got a real good feeling.”

Conversations with Coach Mike Dunleavy sealed the deal.

“I got a great feeling from him about what he’s trying to do here and decided, ‘Let’s give it a try,’ ” he said. “I think it’s a good fit for me.”

Speaking of good fits, Rice said his clothes are hanging a lot looser since he got serious about toning his body over the summer. He said he has lost 27 pounds since last season, thanks to a more sensible diet and a workout regimen coordinated by his personal trainer, Dodd Romero.

In 62 games with the Rockets last season, in which Rice said a weakness for cheeseburgers played a major role in his weight ballooning to more than 250 pounds, the 6-foot-8 swingman averaged nine points, the second consecutive season in which he failed to reach double figures.

“It’s been an injury-plagued couple of years for me,” Rice said of his struggles with foot, shoulder and knee injuries since the four-team trade that sent him from the Lakers to the New York Knicks in September 2000, the Lakers acquiring Horace Grant, among others.

“I got down a couple times because I wasn’t able to work out the way I wanted to. The injuries kept slowing me down. You get lost in the shuffle a little bit.”