Solution Centers Around One Man

If it’s Shaquille O’Neal’s team, then it’s Shaquille O’Neal’s turn.

We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s scintillating stretch of basketball when he carried the Lakers back into the 2003 playoff picture. Now it looks as though Bryant won’t even be able to raise a celebratory toast, as the Lakers disclosed that the sprained shoulder he suffered Monday would probably land him on the injured list next to Karl Malone.

There’s only one player who can lessen the impact of two all-stars going down, one player who can prevent a season that began with visions of greatness from slipping into mediocrity. O’Neal needs to strap the Lakers to his back, the way Bryant did last year.

Of course, that would require O’Neal to step onto the court.

He hasn’t played since he limped to the locker room with a strained right calf in Seattle on Jan. 2. He hasn’t given an indication of when he will play again. He didn’t practice or talk to reporters Tuesday.

Coach Phil Jackson said O’Neal had medical clearance to return.

If it doesn’t happen tonight against Denver, it needs to happen Friday at Sacramento.

With Bryant and Malone out for two to three weeks, this is a Laker team in dire need of a confidence boost (the players are too wise to put much stock in back-to-back home victories over Atlanta and Cleveland, two of the worst road teams in the league). Nothing picks up their spirits like the sight of No. 34 in the paint.

You can go through the schedule and try to pick out the tough games in that stretch, but let’s face it: They’ll all be tough for the Lakers without three of the Big Four.

There are those who have been around O’Neal long enough to doubt the severity of this injury. They see it as an opportunity for a mini-vacation, or a way to stick it to an organization that has dragged its feet on a contract extension.

This is his chance to prove them wrong. It’s his chance to win back a Laker fan base that has grown increasingly weary of him.

If, as O’Neal claims, Malone and Gary Payton joined the Lakers at discount rates to play with him, it’s his chance to repay them.

Only O’Neal knows how much his calf muscle hurts and how restricted he will be if he tries to play now. And if he is convinced that more strain now could do even more damage, or cause other injuries in an attempt to compensate for this one, then he is wise to sit out.

This isn’t about wisdom, it’s about a message.

Maybe Bryant was foolish to return to the game Monday night with his shoulder so badly injured that he had to play one-handed. Maybe he was brave -- but after all, what’s bravery but foolishness for a good cause? The point is, he was out there, willing to at least give it a try.

O’Neal can’t be afraid to look foolish. Even at his current state, 65.292%, by the estimate he gave Monday, he would be your first pick over any other center in the league.

“I think he understands we definitely need him out there to play to present the best opportunity for us to win,” Jackson said. “But he knows that if he comes back and he’s not right, it’s not going to do any good. It’s just going to bring another injury around or bring something else that’s not right for him. He’s got to make that decision himself. He’s been medically cleared now and it’s his opportunity now to come back on his own. I can’t project what Shaq is going to do in this injury situation.”

It was around this time last year -- Jan. 29, to be exact -- that Bryant kicked off the greatest stretch of his career. He scored 40 points against the Phoenix Suns, the first of a 16-game streak during which he scored at least 30 points, which included nine consecutive games when he went for 40 or more.

One theory for why the increased output from Bryant didn’t produce the usual eye rolls or hidden-message comments from O’Neal was that Shaq didn’t mind Bryant relieving him of the heavy lifting during the dry part of the season.

O’Neal and the Lakers learned last year that they couldn’t just blow off the regular season. He came back in better shape this training camp, and early on exerted more effort on the defensive end than any of his teammates had seen before.

The theme of the day seemed to be all-stars. The Lakers currently are without three of theirs. And Jackson implied that they might not be back at full strength until after the league’s best players come to Staples Center on Feb. 15.

“Hopefully we can get these players back on the floor after the All-Star break,” Jackson said. “It looks like that’s about the duration it’s going to take for our team healthy and playing together.”

Now let’s consider the all-star effect of O’Neal. It’s no coincidence that Nick Van Exel made his lone All-Star appearance and Eddie Jones played in two of his three All-Star games when they played with O’Neal.

Kareem Rush should get most of Bryant’s minutes. Rush has made 21 of 45 shots and averaged 12.3 points in the last four games. Imagine what he could do with the wide-open shots that O’Neal’s presence creates for his teammates. I’m not saying Rush should hold off on the vacation plans for the second weekend in February, but you get the idea.

Jackson didn’t seem too concerned about the lack of playing time his four all-stars have had together. So far the Lakers have played only 20 games with O’Neal, Bryant, Malone and Payton in the starting lineup (they won 15 of them). It looks as though that number will remain the same until the midpoint of the season.

They have already demonstrated that they can play well together. And the Lakers of 2000-2001 showed that as long as a team gets its head straight by early April, it can put together a championship run.

But the Lakers also learned from last year’s experience that it’s difficult to win it all with a low playoff seeding.

If O’Neal doesn’t get back on the court, that seeding could be planted this month.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/Adande.