Buzz Wears Off, Team Wears Thin

Who says $10 million still can’t buy something in this town?

It bought a bowl full of Staples Center seats Thursday, filling an arena that had too long been too quiet.

It bought Jack and Denzel and Barry Bonds and one of those sisters, Something-or-another Hilton.

It bought a buzz that left town last year on a Diesel, buying it back on the shoulders of an old man built like a boxcar.

As the Lakers showed Thursday in the official return Phil Jackson, $10 million can buy love.

But can it buy time?

That is the question, and that is what Jackson and the Lakers clearly need after a home-opening 122-112 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The fans will initially return because they trust the work of the coach who is being paid $10 million a season to recreate his three championships here.

But eventually, the only thing they will trust is their eyes.

And although people in the building are once again “beautiful,” the basketball is not.

That was Zen, this is now.

“They are obviously a better team than we are” Jackson said of the Suns, who, without injured Amare Stoudemire, were supposed to be at least an even match.

Not here, not now. Not against a baffled Laker defense that allowed the Suns to shoot 51 percent while forcing just nine turnovers. Not against a learning offense that made just a half-dozen of 23 three-point attempts during an undisciplined comeback attempt.

Jackson was cheered plenty before the game, but, in the end, it’s not about him, and he knows it.

“The fans come to watch the players, not the coach,” Jackson said.

“They may admire the coach’s strategy, but they come to watch the play.”

Although Jackson’s fingerprints on the Lakers once resembled art, so far they look like mostly a collection of smudges.

At one point Thursday, the floor was filled with Lakers named Laron Profit, Devean George, Chris Mihm, Aaron McKie and Sasha Vujacic.

There was a time when Jackson’s Lakers wouldn’t have given important minutes to any of those guys.

“That group is still learning each other,” he rationalized.

The lack of Laker depth was one reason the Suns went on a 10-0 run to start the second quarter and an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter.

On the second night of back-to-back games, having not arrived in town from Denver until 3 a.m. Thursday, the Lakers looked like, well, they looked like the exhausted Nugget team that they beat in that season opener.

Which didn’t stop Jackson from ignoring the coincidence and complaining about it, working his way back into game shape.

“That’s a question for the NBA,” he said. “How can you stand up to back-to-back games in a situation like that?”

Jackson, for one, is standing up more in his return, because even the most laid-back star in L.A. can’t take this sitting down.

Standing, too, is Kobe Bryant. The best early thing about Jackson’s return is that it has put Bryant in a position to be a smart leader, and, for a second consecutive game Thursday, he did just that.

Bryant is playing so hard for the man who once ripped him, bygones are not only bygones, bygones are jumpers and steals and effort.

How hard is Bryant working to regain his image as one of the game’s greats? Hard enough that he’s willing to wear -- let’s be honest here -- the ugliest tights in any ballet class.

He ran the floor and harassed the ball and found the rim and generally gave the Lakers their best and most consistent effort Thursday, all while wearing leg-warming black tights atop white high tops.

He even fought the Suns better than his big men, whacking Raja Bell across the face with an elbow once and clutching Kurt Thomas into a prolonged jump ball.

Thirty-nine points, seven rebounds, and who says an aerobics instructor can’t be MVP?

The other revelation Thursday was this young guard from the New York City streets named Smush Parker, who is already a hero for one reason.

Laker fans who love to chant “Ooooo” now have a new target.

From McAdooo, to Coooop, to Luuuuue, to Luuuuuke, to Smuuuuush.

Surely he’s heard this from fans before, right?

“No,” he said, smiling. “But Luke Walton told before the game that they would do it, so I was ready.”

Hey, it works, and so does the kid, flying around the court like Derek Fisher’s little brother.

At one point, chasing down a loose ball, he landed at Nicholson’s feet, Smush flying into the Cuckoo’s Nest.

“That’s the first time I’ve met Jack Nicholson, when he helped me up,” said Parker, who scored 21 points.

There are already “Smush” signs being toted in the crowd, and Smush hands being placed in MVPs’ faces, seeing as he had three steals from Steve Nash.

During one loud minute of the third quarter, Parker had a fast-break slam and made a three-pointer. He followed by bricking a couple of three-point attempts, typical of what could be a wild six-month ride.

“You learn from this,” said Jackson, $10 million ultimately not being enough on this night to fund his return to gory, er, glory.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.