Brown, Arenas Meet Again on Opposite Sides

Gilbert Arenas will play tonight against former teammate Kwame Brown.

“Who?” Arenas said Monday. “No. 54? Oh, he’s not at my position, so I don’t really care. That’s the Lakers’ decision. That doesn’t really have anything to do with me.”

Arenas, the Washington Wizards’ All-Star point guard, has been at odds with Brown since May, during what otherwise would have been a happy time for the Wizards: their first playoff appearance in eight years.

But Brown, selected No. 1 overall by the Wizards in 2001 and traded to the Lakers in August, skipped practice during the playoffs because he thought he would physically hurt Arenas, who had told Wizard Coach Eddie Jordan not to insert him into a playoff game, according to Brown.

Brown was suspended for the rest of the playoffs and, three months later, was traded to the Lakers for Caron Butler and Chucky Atkins.

The teams play tonight in Bakersfield in an exhibition game. Brown said he would shake hands with Arenas before the game. Arenas said he would do the same.

“This ain’t no Shaq-Kobe thing,” Arenas told the Washington Post. “It’s going to be a handshake: ‘Hey, what’s up, how are you doing? Let’s play.’ ”

Brown, who averaged 7.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in four seasons with the Wizards, said he probably should have chosen actions other than the ones that led to his departure.

“I put the ball in their court by not being professional,” he said. “I let anger cause me to do something that was not professional. If something’s not going your way, you’ve still got to hold up your end of the bargain. I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. That’s the only thing I would have done differently.”

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The other parties invited to tonight’s reunion, Butler and Atkins, are on the periphery of the Wizards’ starting five.

Atkins will be Arenas’ backup this season, although he started two exhibition games that Arenas sat out because of a groin injury.

Butler has been competing with Jared Jeffries for a starting spot and probably will fill a sixth-man role if he doesn’t beat out Jeffries.

Butler and Atkins say they have maintained contact with several Lakers.

“Any time you go to war with certain people, that relationship carries over,” Butler said. “Regardless of the business aspect, you know, trades or whatever, you still have those relationships.”

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Phil Jackson, coach, author and all-sports analyst, gave his thoughts on the Angels’ playoff collapse.

“They faced a real horrendous schedule and under a lot of duress just couldn’t meet the pressure,” Jackson said. “The energy they got from one bad call just overwhelmed them, but it’s time for the people of L.A. to realize it’s basketball season.”

Jackson, who used to draw paychecks from Chicago Bull owner Jerry Reinsdorf, said winning the World Series would mean more to Reinsdorf than the six NBA titles won by the Bulls in the 1990s. Reinsdorf also owns the Chicago White Sox.

“He’ll value one World Series ring more,” Jackson said. “He thinks baseball. He doesn’t really think basketball, but he does think baseball.”

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Veteran forward-center Corie Blount, slowed by a sore left foot, will not play tonight. X-rays on the foot were negative.... Jackson will speak at a “Basketball 101: Understanding the Triangle Offense” fund-raiser Wednesday at Staples Center at 5 p.m. Also scheduled to speak are Laker assistants Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw and team consultant Tex Winter. For tickets, call (213) 236-2361.