O’Neal and Bryant Are Still Hurting

By the conclusion of Sunday afternoon’s practice in El Segundo, Kobe Bryant stood on the sideline reminding Brian Cook to wear his shorts higher, and Shaquille O’Neal ran the floor with some agility.

As he walked from the floor, however, O’Neal said he had “not really” experienced any improvement in his bruised left heel, and so training-camp complications crept another day closer to becoming regular-season complications.

The Lakers are two weeks and a day from their opening game. Bryant has a bag of ice strapped to his right knee, some weakness in the muscles around the knee and a preliminary hearing to attend in Colorado on Wednesday, meaning at least another practice lost. O’Neal is not healthy, and while Karl Malone and Gary Payton apparently are, they’re the ones with the most to learn, meaning not much has changed in two weeks.

Phil Jackson said Sunday he doubted Bryant would start the regular season on the injured list and even hoped Bryant would be capable of playing on Thursday or Friday night in exhibition games at Staples Center. Bryant, who had arthroscopic surgery on July 1, probably won’t play much in any case.

“From Kobe’s standpoint, he looks like he’s still pretty quick, he has some strength, he has some quickness and jumping ability early in practice,” he said.

“But as soon as he fatigues, it falls apart. It’s going to be a hard thing to call.”

After Sunday’s practice, Jackson added, “Kobe played a little bit, but his leg’s so weak he couldn’t get his shot to the basket.”

Bryant said he is experiencing progress, even in the few days since he left Hawaii, and that he was not feeling the urgency of opening night.

“I’m relatively pain free,” he said. “It’s just getting the strength back. Last year, it just hurt.”

As for the early-season impact of the injuries and the adjustments still to be made by the new players, Bryant said, “I don’t really anticipate anything either way. Just take it day to day, game to game.”

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O’Neal signed his current three-year, $88.4-million extension three years ago today, meaning he is officially eligible for another extension. Because of collective bargaining agreement constraints and Laker preferences, negotiations for the next extension could start in the range of two years for about $70 million.... Veteran forward Bryon Russell, who sprained his left ankle during the Lakers’ first exhibition game, participated in practice Sunday. Jackson said he hoped Russell would play Tuesday night in San Diego against the Phoenix Suns, but that he’d know more today.... Devean George, singled out by Jackson on Saturday for being “a disappointment” in training camp, not surprisingly had a better practice Sunday. Given Bryant’s extended recovery from knee surgery, Jackson said, “The only people I’ve chalked into the lineup as starters are Payton, Malone and Shaquille.” ... Bryant, who must be in Eagle, Colo., on Wednesday morning, said he did not know if he would attend Tuesday night’s game.