With Others in Limbo, Grant Figures to Be Busy

As Karl Malone vacillates between returning and retiring, and Vlade Divac’s back fluctuates between hurting a lot and hurting a lot more, Brian Grant’s role with the Lakers grows considerably.

If Malone decides to call it a career, Grant would inherit the power forward spot anchored by Malone last season. Or if the herniated disk in Divac’s back doesn’t cooperate by the time the regular season begins, Grant could be the Lakers’ starting center Nov. 2 against the Denver Nuggets.

Grant remains noncommittal -- “I’ll play whatever [position],” he said -- but the Lakers expect to get plenty of power minutes from the 6-foot-9 Grant, who is undersized but not undervalued.

Grant, 32, has tendinitis in both knees that forced him to miss numerous practices with the Miami Heat. But he has sat out only six games over the last two seasons, averaging 9.6 points and 8.6 rebounds.

“He is healthier than 90% of the players in the NBA,” said Grant’s agent, Mark Bartelstein. “He gets a little soreness, but I have 30 clients, and all of them have soreness. The one guy I wouldn’t worry about with injuries is Brian.”

That’s probably a good thing for the Lakers, who will need all they can get out of Grant, especially if Malone’s knee forces him to retire in the next couple of months.

Grant, in his 10th NBA season, was initially stunned to receive the call that he would be one of three players going to the Lakers in the Shaquille O’Neal trade. Grant and his wife have four children, making any move difficult, let alone one that would span more than 2,500 miles.

“He was happy in Miami,” Bartelstein said. “His family was settled. They were in school and had friends. Basketball players make a tremendous amount of money and nobody’s asking them to feel sorry for them, but his family had to pick up and move the family across the country.”

Grant has adjusted to Los Angeles and found a suitable home in Studio City, although he said the transition would be that much smoother if one last piece fell into place.

“I don’t have Karl’s phone number, but I wish I did. I’d love to call him and tell him how much it’d mean to me to be playing alongside of him,” Grant said. “He was the perennial All-Star power forward I looked up to. I understand if he’s got to retire, but if he does come back, I’ll be one of the happiest guys on the team.”

*

As the Lakers began training camp Tuesday at the University of San Diego, there’s another theme besides replacing O’Neal: Replacing Phil Jackson.

After practice, Coach Rudy Tomjanovich was asked if he felt “Phil Jackson’s ghost.” Tomjanovich, mildly amused, looked in the direction of the person who asked the question and squinted into the TV camera lights before deflecting the question.

A day earlier, he provided a more entertaining answer.

“I’m that dummy who if you’re at a concert, who wants to go on after Frank Sinatra,” Tomjanovich said. “The guy was fantastic, probably the best coach of all time. It’s going to be a tough act to follow, but there have been some hit songs after Frank. That’s what I’ve got to shoot for.”