Jackson Gets Two Thumbs Up From Lakers' Big Two

By TIM KAWAKAMI

June 17, 1999 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Still not quite ready to address the media, the Lakers’ Big Two passed along their pleasure by proxy Wednesday.

Shaquille O’Neal, in Washington, D.C., for a business venture, talked to new Laker Coach Phil Jackson and team executives and told them he was very pleased by the new hire.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant showed up at Jackson’s hotel, went up to his room for a quick talk, and also indicated his approval to team executives.

“He was bubbly excited,” said General Manager Mitch Kupchak when asked about O’Neal’s reaction.

And Bryant?

“He lives here, and he made a point to get here,” Kupchak said. “That was all him. He’s intrigued by the whole thing. . . .

“You have to be versatile to play for Phil Jackson, and our most versatile player is Kobe.”

One Laker figure who did not have to give his views second-hand was part-owner and one-time coach Magic Johnson, who showed up for the news conference and offered his heartiest support for the Jackson hiring.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of changes,” Johnson said. “They’re going to start to play with each other. . . .

“One change is that we are going to play together as a team, and finally Los Angeles will get a team that will play hard. . . . All of the things [Jackson] said are things that we need. We’re going to play defense.”

And Johnson said he had no worries that Jackson could fashion a champion without the services of Michael Jordan.

“He’s a winner,” Johnson said. “He’s going to be without Michael. So what? Pat Riley has done well without me and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar].”

For Executive Vice President Jerry West and Kupchak, Jackson’s hiring addresses the biggest void on the Lakers: a lack of leadership.

“If you lose, there’s always chemistry problems,” West said. “Maybe we just weren’t good enough, maybe we weren’t able to take that next step, maybe we weren’t mature enough.

“We feel that this is the area that he’s really going to help us. He’s going to make these people believe in each other, he’s going to make them trust in each other and I think you can see in his comments, he’s a very, very confident guy.”

West said that O’Neal--who made his end-of-season unhappiness with interim Coach Kurt Rambis well known--will most benefit from Jackson’s ability to shift away from putting everything on one player’s shoulders.

“There’s an enormous amount of pressure on any one player, especially someone his size, to be expected to beat a team by himself,” West said. “It’s frustrating, it’s hard work. And I think he wants to be known as a complete player, and this certainly will help him a lot.

“I think the emphasis will still be on him to be a scorer, to be more of a leader, but more important, I think he will enjoy playing where every night if he goes out there, if he doesn’t do it, he [doesn’t have] to face a battery of questions, ‘You weren’t so good tonight.’

“I think it’s a lot easier when your teammates share in it and everyone sort of shares the credit. I know he’s going to be really happy with this.”

Staff Writer Jim Hodges contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Changing of the Guard

How Los Angeles Laker coaches have fared in first season compared to previous one. Three won titles:

1966-67 Fred Schaus: 36-45

1967-68 Bill van Breda Kolff : 52-30

1968-69 Bill van Breda Kolff : 55-27

1969-70 Joe Mullaney : 46-36

1970-71 Joe Mullaney : 48-34

1971-72 Bill Sharman: *69-13

1975-76 Bill Sharman: 40-42

1976-77 Jerry West: 53-29

1978-79 Jerry West: 47-35

1979-80 Paul Westhead: **51-18

1980-81 Paul Westhead: 54-28

1981-82 Pat Riley: ***50-21

1989-90 Pat Riley: 63-19

1990-91 Mike Dunleavy: 58-24

1991-92 Mike Dunleavy: 43-39

1992-93 Randy Pfund: 39-43

1993-94 Randy Pfund: ****27-37

1994-95 Del Harris: 48-34

1997-98 Del Harris: 61-21

1999 Kurt Rambis: *****24-13

* won championship; ** won championship, took over after 9-4 start by Jack McKinney, who was hurt in bike accident; *** replaced fired Westhead after 7-4 start, won championship; **** Bill Bertka (1-1) and Magic Johnson (5-11) finished season after Pfund was fired; ***** Rambis finished season after Harris (6-6) was fired and Bertka (1-0) coached one game

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Coaching Changes

Teams that have changed coaches since the start of the 1999 season with former coach and replacement:

CHARLOTTE HORNETS

Old: Dave Cowens

New: Paul Silas

****

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Old: Mike Fratello

New: Still Open

****

LAKERS*