Starting Lineup Up in the Air

The strained abdominal muscle that will sideline Shaquille O’Neal for the final three exhibition games may also delay Coach Del Harris’ having to make a decision on the only uncertain starting spot, whether to use Elden Campbell or Robert Horry at power forward, because Campbell will end up in the starting lineup at center if O’Neal is unable to play opening night.

It’s also possible Harris won’t have to make a decision anyway. With most of the attention going to the choice between Campbell or Horry--a selection Harris continues to do his best to downplay--the coach also has Plan C under consideration: both, altering the lineup depending on the matchups at that position.

“I might,” Harris said. “I don’t know. I’m not going to say I’ll change from game to game and then not do it. But I’m open to either of those. I don’t really have a preference. We’ll see how it goes.”

Under that scenario, Campbell, the incumbent, would open at power forward against teams with bigger players there while Horry would get the call when the Lakers wanted to go small. Of course, that’s only part of the selection process. On nights Campbell started, Harris would then have to decide whether to go with Horry or Rick Fox at small forward.

O’Neal, meanwhile, said he expects to be ready for the opener Friday against Utah, though he has been known to be overly optimistic about injury recoveries in the past. More will be known after the next examination by Dr. Steve Lombardo, scheduled for Monday.

“A week will be good for me,” he said. “The last time [early in training camp], I just rested a day, two days. This time, a week and I’ll be straight.”

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Jerome Kersey made his return to the Forum on Friday as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics, who signed him as a free agent in the summer, but it was hardly an overwhelming emotional moment.

“I was only here for one year,” he said.

Besides, he didn’t even play the Lakers the first night back in the building where he developed into a crowd favorite last season. But it looked like the same Kersey, not counting the shaved head: he had 15 points, four rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes off the bench in a 114-73 victory over the Washington Wizards.