Another Laker Has Surgery

Brian Cook became the second Laker to undergo surgery in recent days after an urgent procedure Monday night to repair an open dislocation of a joint in his right thumb.

Cook was involved in a freak accident Monday while playing a pickup game at the Sports Club LA in West Los Angeles. The thumb on his right hand -- his shooting hand -- was torn open after he hit the backboard while blocking a shot.

“I blocked the shot and the ball went out to half court,” Cook said Tuesday. “My thumb pretty much did too.”

Cook had a pin inserted into the thumb and will wear a splint for about three weeks. He will begin playing in about eight weeks and is expected to fully recover by training camp in early October.

The surgery was performed at Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center by Dr. Steven Shinn, a hand specialist with the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group.

Cook, 25, averaged career highs of 7.9 points and 3.4 rebounds last season, his third in the NBA. The forward is under contract to the Lakers for one more season at $1.8 million, after which he would become a restricted free agent.

Cook, who also averaged a career-best 19 minutes per game last season, will have to work for more playing time following the recent acquisition of free-agent Vladimir Radmanovic, a forward who also scores mainly from the perimeter.

“My spirits are high,” Cook said. “They said I won’t have any problems getting back. I’ll be able to work on other stuff in my game. I can still work on my legs, get quicker, and I can work on my left hand. This is going to make me ambidextrous.”

Last Saturday, Lakers guard Kobe Bryant underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to clean out scar tissue and loose cartilage. Bryant is expected to be out eight to 12 weeks and could miss the start of training camp.

Cook has had hand problems before. Two years ago, he broke his right pinkie in a game against the Dallas Mavericks, and earlier in his career he had surgery on the ring finger of his left hand.

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Jim Cleamons, who came in with the first Phil Jackson regime and exited when it splintered two years ago, was re-hired by the Lakers as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons with the New Orleans Hornets.

Cleamons, 56, has been an assistant coach under Jackson on six championship teams -- the Lakers in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and the Chicago Bulls in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He was part of Chicago’s 1995-96 staff but left two weeks before the Bulls won the title to become Dallas’ head coach.

The Lakers were interested in re-hiring Cleamons last summer, but he was under contract with New Orleans and the Lakers were denied permission to talk to him. His contract with the Hornets expired this summer.

“It is a great fit,” Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. “He’s really an extension offensively on the court and I think Phil considers him the one person most familiar with the way he likes to conduct a practice.”

Like most NBA teams, the Lakers have evolved over the years from employing small staffs -- a head coach and an assistant or two -- to football-like staffs of seven or eight assistants.

Cleamons joins Frank Hamblen, Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw as full-time assistants. The team also has special assistant coaches Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Craig Hodges, and consultant Tex Winter.