However you rank personality traits, the ability to laugh at yourself has to be high on the list. In Vladimir Radmanovic’s case, it’s good to see that he didn’t lose his sense of humor in addition to the $500,000 subtracted from his bank account after his snowboarding mishap over the All-Star break.

We know this from an exchange at the end of Saturday’s practice. Radmanovic was one of the last players off the floor as he worked on his shooting in the hopes of returning from his separated shoulder Thursday. He stopped to answer a couple of questions about how things were going in the recovery process.

I told Radmanovic that we missed him in Seattle, where he spent the first 4 1-2 seasons of his career. Not surprisingly, Radmanovic said he didn’t really miss making the trip. The only thing Radmanovic can count on more than the rain in Seattle are the questions about the $42 million extension he turned down with the Sonics.

Radmanovic was told that it was a rare day of sunshine and record temperatures in Seattle. Alex McKechnie, the Lakers’ athletic performance coordinator and a British Columbia native, then added that the views of snow-covered Mount Rainer were spectacular.

To which Radmanovic didn’t miss a beat in saying, “Didn’t you see me coming down?” As in snowboarding down the side of another mountain. After missing seven weeks with the injury, Radmanovic probably needs to make a joke or two at his own expense.

As for his return, Radmanovic still has yet to take part in contact drills. He hopes to do that Tuesday and/or Wednesday depending on the Lakers’ practice schedule and return Thursday against the Clippers.

A couple of weeks ago, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he thought Radmanovic might have some problems launching his patented “30-foot 3-pointers,” as he described them, with the separated shoulder. Radmanovic was asked Saturday if he was having any trouble shooting the long ball.

“I think Ill be able to do that,” Radmanovic said with a grin. “Ive been working hard the last almost two months. Its not going to be easy but its definitely not going to prevent me from doing what Im supposed to do on the court.

We’ll see how quickly Radmanovic can get back into rhythm with four games left before the playoffs. He was wearing a shoulder pad underneath a compression shirt at practice Saturday.

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Whether the result of Kwame Brown’s injured ankle or Andrew Bynum’s ineffectiveness, Ronny Turiaf has been the Lakers’ fourth-quarter center in recent games. He plays well with Kobe Bryant and brings an energy to the floor but Jackson said he wasn’t considering starting Turiaf ahead of Bynum.

Jackson of Bynum’s starter minutes: “Those kind of minutes are important for us to have early to set a tone for an interior game, get something inside, see if we cant get something accomplished in there in the post early in the game. We havent been able to lately.

Kwame Brown said of Bynum’s lackluster play: “I dont think its anything else but his confidence. He had all sorts of confidence at the beginning of the season when I went out. I dont know where that went. I dont know what hes got to do to get it back. Thats what he needs. Its not his game, its his confidence.

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Smush Parker’s streak of consecutive starts is still alive. Parker is going to start his 158th consecutive game against Phoenix despite sitting the entire fourth quarter of the last two games. Jackson said he thought Parker had enough of a positive history against the Suns (I guess except for the 2006 playoffs) to warrant the start.

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Updated after Denver’s victory Saturday against the Clippers

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO–As far back as December, Lakers coach Phil Jackson can remember talking to his assistants about how the final full week of the regular season would play out for his team. Every game seemed to bring with it playoff possibilities even then.

He couldnt have been any more right as the Lakers will open a set of four games today that likely will determine their playoff direction. The Lakers will play Phoenix twice as well as Denver and the Clippers in the next six days.

“Its a great opportunity for us, Kobe Bryant said. “This is like a playoff atmosphere type of games.

The Lakers no longer sit alone in sixth place in the Western Conference standings after Denvers victory over the Clippers on Saturday night. The Nuggets and Lakers share an identical 40-36 record with the Clippers 2 1-2 games back in eighth.

The other question is which of the conferences three powerhouses – – Dallas, Phoenix or San Antonio – – the Lakers would draw in a first-round playoff series. As the sixth seed, the Lakers have been on track to face the Spurs for the better part of a month. [ep

At the same time, the Lakers could fall into seventh and meet the Suns in a rematch of last seasons first-round series. The Suns hold a two-game lead over San Antonio for the Wests No. 2 seed.

Jackson was able to joke about the conventional wisdom that the Spurs could catch the Suns because Phoenix has the more difficult schedule.

“Those people that thought they had a tougher schedule included us in the schedule, Jackson said. “I said, `Youve got to remember who we are right now. We havent beat teams over .500 in a long time. This is our challenge right now.

The Lakers will play host to Phoenix today and then play at Denver on Monday. They will meet the Clippers in a home game Thursday before traveling to Phoenix for the second game of a back-to-back set Friday.

Brown back? Jackson joked about the coaching staff setting odds that Kwame Brown would be able to overcome his sprained left ankle and play today. The consensus was that Brown would sit out his third game since re-aggravating the injury.

Brown made quite the fashion statement after Saturdays practice, wearing a pair of Gucci shoes but with a web of athletic tape wrapped around his ankle.

“I havent counted myself out yet but it still hurts, Brown said. “Ive been playing with the pain the whole time. If it improves a little more like it did (Friday) night, I can try to play (today).

Record keeping: The Lakers would have to win five of their last six games just to match last seasons 45-37 record. That was the worst record of any Jackson-coached team, which led to a question about whether this season has been his most trying.

“It hasnt been the kind of season where everythings a downer for us, Jackson said. “We had a really good three months when we started the season. We played well. We felt good about ourselves.

“My goal is to get them back playing where they were the first 40 games. Theyve still got an opportunity to do that, so were trying to be real optimistic about it.

Also: Jackson will keep Smush Parker in the starting lineup despite benching him in the fourth quarter of the last two games. Jackson said Parker was “responsive at practice . . . Jordan Farmar will pull double duty and play in the development league again Thursday . . . .Vladimir Radmanovic is hoping to return Thursday from his separated shoulder.

Even if he is playing his final games as a Laker, Smush Parker is still going to be much-needed come playoff time. He’s going to draw (most likely) either Tony Parker or Steve Nash in a seven-game series, and I highly doubt Phil Jackson would entrust a rookie guard in Jordan Farmar with those minutes in his first taste of the playoffs.

So the fact that Parker’s spending fourth quarters on the bench isn’t a positive development. It’s on Parker to find a way out of this funk . . . and he’s shown he’s not exactly the best at “resetting himself,” as Jackson puts it, whether that’s in a game or falling into a black hole against Phoenix in last season’s playoffs.

Here was what advice Kobe Bryant said he would give Parker: “You’ve just got to stay with it. Everybody goes through ups and downs but you’ve got to stay with it. You’ve got to get in early, work on your game, work on your shots, try to get your ryhthm back by working extremely hard on the practice floor.”

Parker’s comments giving up trying to read Phil Jackson in the wake of his fourth-quarter benching against the Clippers also caught Bryant’s attention. His response might have been one of the most dead-on things he has said all season.

“At this point in time in the season, you want to focus on what’s really important, which is us,” Bryant said. “It’s not a particular individual or not getting minutes or whatever it may be, but understanding that what Phil’s going to do, he’s going to do what’s right for the team.

“That’s what he’s going to do. It’s his job as a coach to make sure the ship is moving in the right direction. Us as players have to understand that it’s nothing personal. We’re on the same team. We’re in this thing together.

“He’s going to make decisions that are appropriate for us to win ballgames. If we can understand that and put our egos aside, we’ll be fine.”

Jackson was irate in the second quarter when the Lakers came out of a timeout trailing 53-43 and Parker simply lost his handle on the ball and watched it skip out of bounds in front of the bench. Total mental lapse. The Sonics got a Mike Wilks jumper at the other end to go up by 12 points, which was their biggest lead of the game.

“I wanted Smush to come out, get an opportunity to prove himself and to play tonight,” Jackson said. “Things didn’t go well for him either shooting or the playmaking aspect of it. So I figured it was time to make a change out there and Jordan came in and played well.”

Parker said after the game that winning was the only thing that mattered and that he and Jackson talked a little before the game. “Jordan did a great job off the bench,” Parker said. “He came in and gave the team a spark and coach played him because he deserved to be out there.”

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Jackson was less than pleased with the Lakers play near the end of the second quarter. He brought Bryant and Parker back with 4:49 to play (Cook was forced to play center with Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf in foul trouble) and the Lakers promptly gave up a 16-4 run to fall behind by 12.

The Sonics did a good job of hitting the 3-pointers and running out for the dunks that energize their team. The Lakers couldn’t even get a timeout called to stop the run; Lamar Odom was stripped by Earl Watson as Jackson walked on the court in anticipation of the dead ball.

All Jackson could do was stand there as Watson flipped the ball of the backboard to Chris Wilcox (32 points, 18 rebounds) for a dunk. “We had about a three-minute breakdown in the end of the second period that changed that ballgame,” said Jackson, who had talked to his team about burying themselves with big deficits.

* * *

Odom hit a couple of long jumpers to start the game and went on to finish with 20 points and seven assists. Jackson cited Odom’s play on defense in holding Rashard Lewis to nine points (which is 13 below his season average) on 4 of 14 shooting.

Odom also was part of a funny moment four minutes into the first quarter when he scored as part of a three-point play. He lost his gum, however, at the line to shoot the subsequent free throw. It was scooped up by one of the referees and tossed to the sideline before any player could ruin a pair of Nikes.

A less funny moment: Odom bricked two free throws at the end of the first quarter, which prompted Jackson to yell, “Jesus!” from the bench. Did I mention that there is a convention of athiests at my hotel in Seattle? Today’s featured event was a keynote speech: “Does it matter if Americans hate athiests?”

* * *

You wouldn’t want to overlook the shots Brian Cook hit early in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers their first lead of the second half. Cook actually wound up shooting a technical free throw when the Sonics were called for defensive three seconds and Bryant was sitting on the bench.

Cook, a 75 percent free-throw shooter this season, missed the shot in the unfamiliar role. He came back, though, to hit two big 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Cook had to play some center because of foul trouble and shook off a 2-of-8 first half.

* * *

Two areas of concern for the Lakers: They did give up 109 points to a Seattle team playing without Ray Allen. The Lakers went zone late in the third quarter and watched Damien Wilkins hit a 3-pointer against it. They jumped a screen-and-roll with Farmar and Odom and still wound up watching Earl Watson hit a 3-pointer.

But the Lakers were able to come up with the stops they needed late. They also found a way to win despite getting outrebounded 50-31. You could see Jackson screaming for anyone to just grab the ball.

* * *

The Lakers’ schedule is absolutely unforgiving the next week with two games against Phoenix and rematches with the Nuggets and Clippers. “We want to go into the playoffs with some type of rhythm, with some type of energy,” Bryant said. “So we’re looking forward to these upcoming games.”

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

SEATTLE–There was nowhere to go but down for the Lakers in the first half of Friday nights game against the Seattle SuperSonics, when they couldnt even call timeout without coughing up the ball and giving up a rim-rattling dunk to Chris Wilcox.

As sunny as it was outside Key Arena, it was grim inside for the Lakers, who fell behind by a dozen points and facing the prospect of ceding sixth place in the Western Conference standings to Denver with six games left in the season.

It took 46 points from Kobe Bryant – – 31 in the second half – – and a pair of grown-up performances from youngsters Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf for the Lakers to escape with 112-109 victory in what might as well have been a must-win game.

There were issues to address for sure – – starting with whether Farmar will supplant Smush Parker in the starting lineup – – but the Lakers were able to move forward after disappointing losses to the Nuggets and Clippers this week.

It was a victory that only grew in magnitude after word circulated in the Lakers locker room that Denver had upset Dallas. The Lakers still lead the Nuggets by a half-game for sixth and are two games ahead of the eighth-place Clippers.

“Were just going to have to keep on going, keep on pushing, Turiaf said, “because the guys behind us, I can guarantee you, theyre getting into fifth gear.

For the second consecutive game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson sat Parker the entire fourth quarter. Farmar finished the game on the floor and was joined by Turiaf as starting center Andrew Bynum went scoreless with four fouls in 12 minutes.

It was hard to argue as Bryant credited Farmar and Turiafs energy with turning around the night. Farmar hit a 3-pointer after entering in the third quarter, took a charge, threw a full-court outlet pass to Luke Walton and came up with a key steal late.

His performance was greater than his final line in the box score – – 3 points, 1-of-2 shooting, 2 assists – – and will force Jackson to consider whether the Lakers might be best served with Farmar starting in place of Parker.

Asked if the job was open, Jackson answered: “I havent said that and I wont answer your question. Parker has started 157 consecutive games, one of the longest such streaks in the NBA.

Farmar, who was sent to play for the Lakers development league affiliate to get minutes this week, said his only goal was to stay on the floor and help his team win. He laughed when asked if he would welcome the chance to start.

“Without a doubt, Farmar said. “Thats what my ultimate goal is to be a starting point guard here. Whether its Sunday, next year, two years, three years from now, however long it takes, Im working to try to get to that goal.

Parker made just 1 of 5 shots and had five turnovers in 24 minutes. Jackson wanted to give Parker the chance to redeem himself after his fourth-quarter benching Wednesday against the Clippers. Instead, Parker sat the last 16 minutes of Fridays game.

In addition, Parkers comments at practice Thursday about giving up trying to read Jackson were not taken well by his teammates, if Bryants words after the game were any indication.

“At this point in time in the season, you want to focus on whats really important, which is us, Bryant said. “Its not a particular individual or not getting minutes or whatever it may be, but understanding that Phils going to do whats right for the team.

“Its his job as coach to make sure the ship is moving in the right direction and us as players have to understand that its nothing personal. Were on the same team. Were in this thing together.

The Sonics tied the game 103-103 with 1:55 left as Earl Watson went crashing into Turiaf and earned a trip to the foul line. Turiaf ended up the worse for wear as Watson caught him in the mouth with an elbow.

Bryant answered with a 20-footer over Damien Wilkins and Watson. Then came a series of defensive plays as Farmar stripped Rashard Lewis, Turiaf came up with a steal and Walton forced Nick Collison into a tough shot with 25.3 seconds left.

Bryant finished with 46 points on 13-of-27 shooting and went 19-of-24 from the foul line. He scored 20 points in the third quarter and was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul by Collison on the fast break.

There was no showdown for Bryant against Ray Allen, his sometime nemesis, as Allen is done for the season with bone spurs in his left ankle and will undergo surgery today. The Sonics also lost Luke Ridnour to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter.

But Seattle took advantage of a mental letdown by the Lakers to build a 12-point lead in the second quarter. Even when Jackson wanted a timeout, Lamar Odom lost the ball to Watson, who raced ahead and set up Wilcox for a dunk with a pass off the backboard.

The Lakers were able to recover, however, and wont find another soft spot on the schedule for a while. They will play Phoenix twice as well as Denver and the Clippers in the coming week, when the games will be played at a fever pitch.

“It all depends upon us winning, Jackson said. “Who (wants) to back into the playoffs? We want to win. We want to do what we have to do to play ball so that were playing well. Its not about who else does what out here, although thats important.