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George Has a Rough Day

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Times Staff Writer

Devean George’s day was no easier than the rest of his year has been.

He was activated Thursday after spending the season on the injured list and flew out from Los Angeles to join the Lakers for their game against the Denver Nuggets.

It could have been a day to remember for the Laker forward, whose return from off-season ankle surgery was delayed nearly four months because of a series of complications, but he arrived at the hotel and was told there were no rooms available.

He called a Laker official and figured out the problem. He was at the wrong hotel. The Lakers didn’t stay at the same place they did last year.

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George didn’t have time to go to the correct hotel. He arrived on time for the game and had eight points in 16 minutes.

“A little rusty, but I felt all right,” he said. “Just getting my wind, that’s about it.”

George took the roster spot of Brian Cook, who was put on the injured list after sustaining a sprained right hand at practice Wednesday. Cook was injured when Caron Butler tried to strip him of the ball. X-rays were negative, but Cook could be sidelined two weeks.

The injury to Cook leaves the Lakers with four small forwards and only three big men: Chris Mihm, Brian Grant and Slava Medvedenko.

“We have a real glut at the small forward and this just adds more to it,” Laker Coach Frank Hamblen said. “It’s just kind of the cards we’ve been dealt, so you just go with it.”

George had off-season surgery in July on his left ankle and was initially expected back in mid-November, but the muscles in his upper left leg atrophied while the ankle was immobilized for a month in a walking boot. He also developed tendinitis in his left knee.

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Detroit Piston Coach Larry Brown, who has been mentioned as a possible coach of the Lakers next season, reiterated that Detroit would be the last stop in his lengthy career.

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“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but this will be my last professional coaching job,” Brown told Booth Newspapers of Michigan. “This is it. I have absolutely no interest coaching any other professional team than the one I have right now in Detroit.”

Brown is in the second year of a five-year, $30-million contract, although the Pistons and Brown had moments of tension earlier this season. Piston executives wanted Brown to play young center Darko Milicic more often, but Brown went with veterans. Brown also irritated Piston officials in January when he said his dream job would be to coach the New York Knicks.

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