Malone Is Coming of Age

LeBron James came to Staples Center on Thursday night in an old light blue Chicago Cub jersey, style for the moment being more critical than open, bleeding curses. He left a day further along in an NBA career of some promise and about two decades shy of Karl Malone, Malone now sure there is promise left in his 40-year-old legs.

With still a week-and-a-half left before the regular season begins, with Shaquille O’Neal in street clothes and Kobe Bryant yet to play himself into even training-camp shape, Malone, along with Gary Payton, played his first game in yellow on his new home floor.

The Lakers beat James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, 86-78, the important thing being the play of Malone (18 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists) and Payton (13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) on a team that one day will add two first-team All-NBA players.

“Not bad for an old man, I guess,” Malone said. “I represent all the 35-and-overs. It was great. I look forward to when we get our whole team out there.”

Outside of a few early boos, the arrival of James caused little stir. If James is to be the new Bryant, as sometimes advertised, well, it’ll be lost on Laker fans for a few years, anyway, as the original one plays into his prime, they presume.

With a few minutes left in the first quarter, James took a pass on the left wing and finished a break with a soaring, two-handed dunk. He flipped a delicate pass to Darius Miles on the Cavaliers’ next possession. When Miles missed the layup and Devean George rebounded it, James sneaked in behind George and took the basketball back.

James made a short fade-away jumper over Luke Walton and made a deft touch alley-oop pass to Miles in the second quarter, when he ran the point and didn’t look half bad doing it. He missed 14 of 18 shots, scored eight points and fouled out with 37.6 seconds remaining, bringing more attention than he’d received all night.

Mostly, James stayed on the perimeter, looked for teammates and defended. If he is largely invisible now, in a meaningless October exhibition game, he almost certainly won’t be for long.

Brian Shaw, who in 14 NBA seasons saw more than a few rookies go through, said the elite players would find James, just as they once found a young Michael Jordan, a young Bryant, a young Tracy McGrady. Open-floor players with big reps do that.

“The top players at that position, when a new guy comes in, you gotta go at him,” Shaw said. “He’s getting the kind of attention in the league that guys like Kobe and Michael got.”

Bryant did not play Thursday. Less than 24 hours after the conclusion of his preliminary hearing in Colorado, he did not attend the Lakers’ shoot-around in the morning, came to the arena early in the evening, but did not dress and did not sit on the bench. Phil Jackson said he had hoped Bryant could play a few minutes tonight against the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.

Shaw remembered a time when Penny Hardaway tested Bryant, when Bryant was just out of high school, and so someday James would get his too.

“They went at each other and then started talking, like, ‘When the season starts, we’ll see,’ ” Shaw said. “It’s not about wanting to embarrass LeBron. But, you gotta see what he’s made of.”

On the topic of James, Malone said he had other things to occupy him. Among them, O’Neal hasn’t played in more than a week, Bryant hasn’t played at all, and it appears the Lakers are going to get more frail before they get healthy.

“I don’t have any curiosity with him at all,” Malone said. “I don’t know. To me, I’m still wondering what an autograph is. It don’t do anything for me.

“No disrespect. I’m just not curious. I have curiosity for this team.”

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Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said he had talked recently with O’Neal’s agent, Perry Rogers. They are expected to negotiate O’Neal’s two-year contract extension. On a maximum deal, the Lakers could save several million dollars if they completed it before July 1. They are not expected to offer the maximum.... X-rays on center Jamal Sampson’s left finger were negative.