McKie’s Absence Affects Rotation

PORTLAND, Ore. — Call it the Aaron McKie effect.

Through no real fault of his own, other than a severely strained quadriceps tendon, the 12th-year guard has missed 44 games and set off a chain reaction in his one season with the Lakers.

His absence since the first week of December has meant more minutes for Kobe Bryant, a weaker exterior defense and a less experienced backcourt, particularly in late-game situations.

It has also forced the Lakers to look for additional backcourt help even though the trade deadline passed last Thursday. The availability of veterans Penny Hardaway and Tony Delk was discussed internally (Delk since signed with Detroit), and the Phoenix Suns’ waiving of Jim Jackson on Wednesday was noted by the organization. Former Clipper Rick Brunson is also available.

“We’re out trying to help this team whatever way we can,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We’re happy with our players and we want to see them have success, but yet we know that there are players out there that can help us, and if we have that opportunity, we have to help ourselves.”

None of the players are shoo-ins to sign with the Lakers, much less help: Hardaway’s physical condition is somewhat of an unknown, Jackson has been with 11 teams in 14 seasons and Brunson played only four games this season with Seattle.

But the Lakers will continue looking as long as McKie’s return remains unclear. Teams can add unsigned free agents until April 20, the last day of the regular season.

Said Jackson: “If we knew Aaron could come back and we could count on him, we wouldn’t be as concerned as we are looking at having to go through the rest of this season and the playoffs with this really young guard crew.”

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Ronny Turiaf became a national story by playing for the Lakers seven months after open-heart surgery. Now his celebrations from the bench after deserving Laker baskets are making nightly highlight shows.

He has two mainstays, the six-gun shooter and the Antoine Walker shimmy “with my Caribbean style,” said Turiaf, who compares himself to the Cincinnati Bengal receiver who unveiled creative end zone exclamations after every touchdown.

“I’m just trying to get my teammates loose,” Turiaf said. “I think I’m the Chad Johnson of basketball.”

Jackson seems OK with it, for the most part.

“This team has some deadbeats on it anyway, and the coach is one of them,” Jackson said wryly. “It’s good to have some people out there enthusiastic about the game. But there’s a certain amount of energy that you release when you do things like that. It’s nice to save that for the game.”