Any team but the Lakers - SPORTING CHANCE by Joaquin M. Henson

It’s a wide-open race for the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship and from what I see in my crystal ball, the Los Angeles Lakers won’t repeat this season.

Sure, coach Phil Jackson is in a class of his own. And so is Shaquille O’Neal who last campaign, picked up MVP trophies in the All-Star Game, regular season, and Finals. But Jackson, who’s a master at playing mind games, may be overplaying his hand as Tinseltown’s self-appointed savior. The Zen guru wants it all — Lakers owner Jerry Buss may wind up in the doghouse before long. Jackson has begun his climb to the top, dumping his wife of long standing for Buss’ Playboy-posing daughter Jeanie who’s conveniently the Lakers’ Executive Vice President of Business Operations.

As for Shaq, he reported for training camp 20 pounds less than he did two summers back. He’s fresh from inking a three-year contract extension with a price tag of $88.4 Million. Howard Beck of the Los Angeles Daily News said by the end of the deal, Shaq will have pocketed about $209 Million from the Lakers — that’s a whopping annual average of $21 Million. Shaq’s the highest-paid player in the NBA and will pull in $32.4 Million in 2006. That’s not all. O’Neal will be eligible for another three-year extension in 2003. All that moolah may blunt Shaq’s competitive edge.

At least, O’Neal is generous. He celebrated the signing of his extension by spending $150,000 on 22 Rolexes for teammates and the Lakers staff. The lucky recipients included free agents and rookies trying out for the team. Also wearing a new watch is trainer Gary Vitti who came to Manila with former Lakers guard Michael Cooper a few years back. Additionally, O’Neal plunked down $1,800 to lease a sports utility vehicle for rookie Mark Madsen who used to drive a 1981 van.

Of course, Shaq must keep his teammates happy. He’ll always remember disgruntled ex-teammate Glen Rice who considered it "a big sacrifice" to just wait for kickouts since the Lakers almost exclusively look for O’Neal on offense.

All that largesse, unfortunately, isn’t translating into an improved foul shooting touch for O’Neal. In the preseason, he shot less than 35 percent from the stripe. In fact, the Lakers posted a 3-5 record, 0-4 at the start, and hardly looked invincible.

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Jackson is starting Rick Fox, Horace Grant, Shaq, Kobe Bryant, and Ron Harper this year. His second unit players include Devean George, Greg Foster, and Isaiah Rider. Derek Fisher is out for the season after foot surgery but Jackson never liked him anyway. So Brian Shaw should get extra minutes at Fisher’s spot.

Harper, who collected three title rings in Chicago, isn’t optimistic of the Lakers’ chances. "It’s tough, it’s tough," he said in his usual stutter. "It’s not easy. Even though we had a great year, that doesn’t mean anything. This is a new start, some teams out there added some guys and we’re gonna need to improve our game. Just because we were good last year doesn’t mean we’ll be good again."

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The Lakers inaugurate the 2000-01 season against Portland on the road tomorrow. The Blazers are tipped to crowd Jackson’s boys at the top of the heap. Last year, Portland took the Lakers to a Game 7 before yielding in the Western Conference Finals. This year, coach Mike Dunleavy recruited Shawn Kemp, Dale Davis, and Will Perdue to rotate on Shaq plus Arvydas Sabonis, Steve Smith, Damon Stoudamire, Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace, and Greg Anthony are back to make things tougher for Jackson.

Other West title threats are San Antonio, Sacramento, and Utah. The Spurs didn’t make it beyond the first round of the playoffs last season because Tim Duncan was out of commission. Now, the Big Easy is healthy and David Robinson can’t wait to bring the Spurs back on the throne – their reign lasted only a year. Derek Anderson and Danny Ferry are key additions to Gregg Popovich’s cast.

The Kings will miss Jason Williams for five games due to a drug-related suspension but once the blond bomber returns, expect Sacramento to kick up a storm. Rick Adelman will lean on Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, and Bobby Jackson to perk up things. The Jazz picked up Donyell Marshall, Danny Manning, and John Starks to beef up Jerry Sloan’s tried-and-tested nucleus of Karl Malone, John Stockton, Bryon Russell, and Greg Ostertag. If Utah doesn’t reach the Finals this year, either Sloan goes or the Malone-Stockton partnership breaks up.

Dallas was a pleasant surprise in the preseason, compiling a 6-2 mark. Owner Mark Cuban is determined to shake up the Mavericks and Don Nelson has done a good job rebuilding his roster. Newcomers include Howard Eisley, Loy Vaught, Christian Laettner, Courtney Alexander, and Ed Najera. Returning are Mike Finley, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shawn Bradley. But unless Cuban fires Nelson, the Mavs are destined for another losing season — they’ve missed out on the playoffs the last 10 years.

What about Seattle? The Sonics dug themselves into a deep hole by welcoming Pat Ewing to the Land of Microsoft. As critics say, Seattle is perfect for Ewing because he likes Star-bucks (as in big money) and moves like the Space Needle. Vin Baker is another reason why the Sonics can’t get ahead. Throw in trash-talking, volatile Gary Payton to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

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In the East, New York and Milwaukee should slug it out for supremacy. Jeff Van Gundy is the East’s best coach, not Pat Riley. Skeptics can’t imagine Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston and Glen Rice playing on the same floor. Leave it to Van Gundy to make things work. Luc Longley (once he’s reactivated), Travis Knight, and Felton Spencer are role players who’ll fortify the interior. Larry Johnson and Kurt Thomas will be Van Gundy’s frontline bangers. Marcus Camby won’t bang but he’ll finesse his way to big numbers, if he’s healthy.

The Bucks are solid behind Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, Tim Thomas, and Sam Cassell plus new recruits Jason Caffey and Lindsey Hunter. Milwaukee is a bomb waiting to explode and George Karl is the detonator.

Orlando zipped to a league-best 7-1 mark in the preseason. So what? Doc Rivers shouldn’t have been named Coach of the Year last season. The Magic didn’t make the playoffs, remember? Rivers’ problem is how to make Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady play beautiful music together. The sad reality is they probably can’t. Rivers will be caught in the middle of an ego struggle.

Miami would’ve been a shoo-in for the Finals but Alonzo Mourning is gone. Brian Grant, Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and Tim Hardaway will take Riley to the brink then the Heat will cool down the stretch.

Indiana lost starters Rik Smits, Davis, and Mark Jackson then shipped out Chris Mullin. Isiah Thomas is on Larry Bird’s hot seat. He probably won’t be as good a coach as he was a player. Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose (once his left wrist heals), and Austin Croshere are back but the Pacers won’t return to the Finals.

When the smoke finally clears, it won’t be the Lakers sitting on top of the NBA. It’ll be either the Knicks or the Blazers.