Buss Didn’t Expect to Lose Bryant

Laker owner Jerry Buss was a lot closer to losing Kobe Bryant than he realized during last summer’s free-agent period, Buss said in a wide-ranging radio interview Thursday.

Buss said he assumed Bryant would retire a Laker before understanding late in the process that Bryant had serious thoughts about leaving. Only after Buss shared his vision of a return to Showtime-type basketball did Bryant sign a seven-year, $136.4-million deal, Buss said in an interview on Fred Roggin’s show on KMPC (1540 AM).

Among other things in the interview, Buss acknowledged that fans were reluctant to make an emotional commitment to the current version of the Lakers, but he implored patience, saying the franchise would, if necessary, free up enough cap room “so that we can get whatever free agent is out there.”

Buss also said he read the tell-all book of his former coach, Phil Jackson, and said it was “90% accurate,” although there were some details with which he disagreed.

Buss devoted part of the interview to discussing Bryant, who wavered between signing with the Clippers and the Lakers, a decision made in the waning hours leading up to the start of the free-agency period in July.

“I think he had really kind of made up his mind somewhere during the year that he was going to leave,” Buss said. “I don’t think I really recognized that. I always thought Kobe would be a Laker for life. Having dealt with guys like Magic [Johnson] and [Michael] Cooper, I guess I assumed that. When I told him what kind of team I wanted, what kind of exciting basketball I wanted to play ... Of course Kobe wanted to play the same kind of basketball and that’s how we got together.”

Buss also discussed the trade of Shaquille O’Neal and said he missed O’Neal’s personality, but that business took precedence.

“I keep looking at Chicago. They haven’t won a game, they haven’t come close to the playoffs for seven years,” Buss said. “Quite honestly, that was because they didn’t make any trades while they had an opportunity. They let their team get older and decayed. I just don’t want to do that. I think it’s a very tough thing to break up a winning combination, but if you want to stay up top, you have to trade while you have something worth trading.

“I really enjoyed having Shaq here all that time. He’s a lot of fun. The feeling I had was that whole five-year situation with Phil and the disagreements between Kobe and Shaq, I think it had just run its course. It was time to start fresh. When I go now and see this refreshing atmosphere with this new team, I think I made the right decision.”

As he did in a conference call with reporters in July, Buss reiterated that Bryant did not mandate the departure of O’Neal or Jackson.

“I could protest until my dying day ... I will swear to you, absolutely positive, at no time did Kobe ever, ever say, ‘I want Shaq gone’ or ‘I want Phil gone,’ ” Buss said. “We never, ever had those kind of discussions.”

Buss’ current Lakers are 5-4 heading into tonight’s game against the Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns.

“The [fan base] doesn’t know what kind of team we have and so they’re reluctant to make a big emotional commitment until they kind of understand what’s going on,” Buss said. “I think they don’t know whether they’re cheering for an underdog, a contender, a middle-of-the-road contender.”

And if there are more changes necessary?

“We will free up enough cap space so that we can get whatever free agent is out there,” he said. “On the other hand, who knows? We may trade. This team may be really good on its own. We will position ourselves so any of those options were available.”

Unlike Bryant, who said he would not read Jackson’s book, Buss said he found the book to be entertaining, although not fully accurate.

“I enjoyed reading it,” he said. “Phil was a remarkably gifted man in a lot of areas.”

*

Bryant could not suppress a smile when asked about his pass-first mentality in the first half of Wednesday’s victory over the Clippers.

“Last year I’d do it in the first half and it’s, ‘I’m sabotaging,’ ” he said. “I do it this season to start the game where I don’t take a shot and it’s, ‘Wow, great leadership.’ ”

TONIGHT

at Phoenix, 6, Ch. 9

Site -- America West Arena.

Radio -- KLAC (570); KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 5-4; Suns 6-2.

Record vs. Suns (2003-04) -- 3-1.

Update -- Forward-center Amare Stoudemire is averaging 27.6 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Suns.