Buss Gets His Letter of Credit -- or Is It Blame?

Dr. Jerry Buss

c/o Los Angeles Lakers

Staples Center

Los Angeles, Ca.

Dear Jerry,

Over the years I’ve written your friend, Donald T. Sterling, to offer my help. I think we’ve made progress and can make even more if Donald starts reading my letters before he has the servants line the birdcage with them.

I haven’t written you much because you didn’t look like you needed help, until recently.

First, about your lottery party. I’d suggest calling Donald to see about caterers, parking attendants, etc. Or how about you guys getting together and doing one event?

This would be good experience in case you need to do it alone next season, because you’re likelier to be in next year’s lottery than Donald is.

I’m serious. Everyone around here acts as if this season is a surprise or a temporary inconvenience. This is who you are without Shaquille O’Neal -- and will be for a while. You don’t have surplus talent anyone wants in trade, or cap room until 2007. The prospects available where you’ll draft this spring aren’t likely to make an immediate impact.

These days, denial is a river that runs through Lakerdom. Everyone thinks there’s a savior out there and if it’s not Phil Jackson, how about Jerry West or Pat Riley? Jerry and Riles will be here April 11 when you honor your 1985 champions and the theme will be, “Won’t one of you come back and save us?”

West has another season left on his Memphis contract. Beyond his commitment to the Grizzlies, his son, John, started on a high school team that won a state title when he was a sophomore and he’s going into his senior year.

In any case, West would never come back above Mitch Kupchak, his friend. It would be nice if you could hire Jerry as a consultant when he moves back here after he finishes up in Memphis, but that’s a long way off.

Riley is about to become a 20% owner of the Heat and insists he won’t coach again. No one believes him but last spring when you invited him out for dinner and it was clear he could have had the Laker job, he wasn’t interested.

We’re not hearing much about Phil since it doesn’t look like he’ll come. The Knicks are still running around in circles as everyone back East calls your daughter, Jeanie, for updates. The New York Post had her putting Phil on the plane for Gotham last week. The next day ESPN’s Dan Patrick called her, perhaps to see if Phil had had any new thoughts in the last 24 hours.

Phil loves New York, and another good thing about the Knicks, they’re not in the West. On the other hand, there’s everything else.

You have a better team than the Knicks. On the other hand, you are in the West and then there’s everything else.

I know you had injuries and close losses, but that’s what also-rans always say. Good teams, as you may remember, win the close games also-rans are always moaning about losing.

To quote Chuck Daly, one of the shrewdest men who ever worked in this league: “You are what your record says you are. No better. No worse.”

In the bad news, you’re likely to fall further next season. The Timberwolves will be better without Latrell Sprewell and contract issues. The Clippers will move up if their guards don’t all go down again. The Warriors got better the day Baron Davis arrived.

The important thing all along was rebuilding -- the word your people won’t use. In the really bad news, not much got rebuilt.

The sight of Kobe Bryant was enough to persuade Lamar Odom to give him the ball and go to the other side of the court. Maybe Lamar can grow into a partner for Kobe as Scottie Pippen did with Michael Jordan, and maybe it’s asking Lamar to change his basic nature.

Kobe presents a unique challenge. It’s easier to rebuild around a superstar than to try to find one -- but Kobe’s not your ordinary superstar.

Trying as hard as he is to put his world back together, there is still so much he doesn’t understand, which is why he’s such a lightning rod for resentment.

He doesn’t understand that no one else is as bulletproof as he is. He steamrollers teammates without knowing he’s doing it.

He’s still at a career-high 6.0 assists a game but sure enough, when things went south he took over, going from 18 shots and 7.1 assists a game in February to 21 and 4.1 in March.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if he gets it exactly right. As currently constituted, you’re still not even good enough to make the playoffs.

Last week the Miami Herald’s Dan Le Batard wrote that Lamar and Caron Butler still call their old teammate, Dwyane Wade, telling him how hard it is to get the ball from Kobe. Said Wade: “It might have come up.”

Kobe doesn’t know about this and wouldn’t believe it if someone told him. He doesn’t understand there are two versions of reality, the one people say to his face and the other one.

Embattled for two seasons, he would rather believe the press is still hounding him, as when he took Chucky Atkins’ word that the press made it look as if Chucky had ripped him.

Actually, The Times’ Mike Bresnahan was doing an innocuous story, asking players what moves should be made. Chucky snarled about Kobe being the GM loud enough to alert every writer in the dressing room, so everyone hurried over and got it.

The next day Chucky said the press was trying to divide us, etc., completing a rare hat trick. In one week he ripped Frank Hamblen, claiming they would have made the playoffs under Rudy Tomjanovich. Then he ripped Kobe. Then he ripped the media.

That made Chucky zero for three. In his defense, he is one of the Lakers’ few pleasant surprises and just may be upset that his allotment of three-point shots is down since Rudy left.

Kobe is your cornerstone, but he not only isn’t the GM, his feelings are barely a consideration anymore. The way is clear for Phil to return, whether Kobe wants him or not. Kobe’s choice, Larry Brown, isn’t even on your list. The day Kobe re-signed was the day the organization stopped worrying about his every whim.

You’ve got two problems. One is long-term: Who do you need to get back into contention and how do you get him?

The second is short-term: What do you do for the next two seasons until you have cap room?

The second is just as important because the only way Kobe can regain any standing is to win games.

If Yao Ming was making his decision this summer, do you think you would have a chance?

Do you think you would have had a shot with Shaq in 1996 if you weren’t already a 53-win team? You barely got him, as it was.

Brown is the one remaining rainmaker, and last week’s rumbles out of Detroit further suggested he’ll be available. Larry can coach Kobe, who looks up to him. Otherwise, Kobe is going to run the program, as he does now.

Your people say you can’t afford Larry-type money for someone who can’t win you a title in two seasons and may not be here after that, but someone will have to explain that to me.

You gave Rudy $6 million worth of severance to go with the $3 million he earned, just to be nice. Projections of your team’s annual profits are in the $25-million to $50-million range.

Besides, Larry can fool you. He stayed at Kansas for five years and in Philadelphia, with Allen Iverson, for six. At 62, he really is getting close to that last job he always talks about and this has been home for him for years.

It now appears that if Phil and Riles turn you down, it’ll be some bright young assistant or a college name like Roy Williams. College coaches keep foundering because NBA players look down on them and an untested assistant is always a shot in the dark.

Good luck, you’ll definitely need it. I don’t know if the Clippers can become the Lakers, but the Lakers are looking more and more like the Clippers.

Mark Heisler