THE DAY AFTER

Though it seemed that way, time did not stop when the confetti rained down, the cigars were puffed and the golden trophy was handed out.

The first Laker title season since 1988 was completed a few minutes after 9 p.m. Monday.

A few exhales later, the Laker front office moved on, with a whole host of issues to confront before next week’s draft and potentially a championship-winning roster to rework.

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, only a few scattered hours after the last champagne bottle sprayed empty, Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak were at their desks in the Laker headquarters, methodically plotting a post-championship future that for sure involves Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson.

But who else?

“You know, every season doesn’t end like this,” West said. “In some respects, it’s been a fairy tale. We had a player who had a year that was indescribable in Shaquille O’Neal.

“Had a 21-year-old player [in Kobe Bryant] who you kind of shake your head at and think, ‘My God, what’s this guy going to do when he’s 23?’

“And to think of those two guys playing together for the next five to 10 years . . . It feels awfully good to have that on your side.”

So, does West believe the Lakers can win three or four more championships--duplicating or topping the “Showtime” run of five titles in nine seasons in the 1980s? Can they put together the next NBA dynasty?

“Well,” West said with his trademark cool glare, “we can if we don’t screw it up.”

Which is another way of saying that there are several interesting topics for Laker brass to decide in the wake of a championship, such as:

* With Jackson’s enthusiastic support, the Lakers will try to get as much as possible in a sign-and-trade deal for forward Glen Rice, 33, whose contract is up, whose career trajectory is down and whose wife did not calm things by criticizing Jackson in the middle of the NBA finals.

The Lakers hoped Rice would make up for other spots where they lacked consistent outside shooting--Portland, for instance, barely guarded either A.C. Green or Ron Harper in the Western Conference finals.

“It’s obvious that we’re lacking in some respects of what we like to do, basically, because of our outside shooting,” assistant coach Tex Winter said.

“We knew that Shaq would be a great post-up center for us, the apex of the triangle, but we hoped we’d get a little bit better performance from the outside to help him alleviate all that pressure that he gets.”

Asked during the finals if he expected Rice to be back next season, Jackson smiled and declined comment.

* Jackson, who delivered a title in the first season of his five-year, $30-million contract and earned a bonus in excess of $1 million for doing it (he will receive that bonus from owner Jerry Buss for each championship won, several sources said) might have a stronger hand in personnel matters.

That could mean strong interest in exploring deals for Toni Kukoc, Christian Laettner, Charles Oakley or Bison Dele--in exchange for Rice or perhaps a combination of Laker players and/or draft picks.

* Though the team won 67 regular-season games and 15 more in the playoffs, it fielded basically an unfinished lineup, starting 36-year-olds at power forward (A.C. Green) and guard (Ron Harper), and never had a strong, athletic big man to give O’Neal help against opponent power players.

Jackson acknowledged he was surprised the team got past Portland without one.

In addition to Green (the team holds an option for next season) and Harper (the team can buy him out his $2.2-million salary and he can also choose to become a free agent or retire), Brian Shaw, who was a major contributor on the court and in the locker room, and John Salley, who took on a leadership role, are free agents.

“I don’t know, but the way I figure it, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Salley said. “I think we should all come back and see if we can do this again.”

* At some point this summer, O’Neal should sign the three-year, $83.5-million extension (topping out at $30 million for 2005-06, when he will turn 35) he is eligible for and certainly earned this season.

“It doesn’t have to happen in a week or a month or two months, it just has to happen this summer,” Kupchak said, noting that Buss has already said publicly that he wants to give O’Neal the extension. “Believe me, that will be addressed.”

* With Buss’ mandate that the team remain under the projected $54-55 million payroll cutoff for the luxury tax that could go into effect after next season (the Lakers were at about $53 million for the just-concluded season), the team could look to deal some of its middle-salaried veterans.

Those moves could either be simply to reduce payroll, or to clear space to package along with Rice to land a bigger-name, bigger-salaried player.

No matter how all that shakes out, the Lakers are unanimous, in the face of this title season--they should have a more talented roster in training camp 2000 than they did when the final buzzer sounded against Indiana.

“The pressure’s always going to be on us to get better,” West said. “And we will get better in the off-season.”

Kupchak, asked if there were a need to overhaul a championship roster--around O’Neal and Bryant, of course--pointed out the ages of several key players.

“I think there’s no doubt that the safe thing to do would be to keep the team intact; you can’t be criticized,” Kupchak said. “And it’s going to take some nerve and a degree of risk to make some changes.

“It’s something this organization has not been afraid to do. You do have to be careful. You know you have something that’s a winning combination and you don’t want to tinker too much . . .

“But age becomes a factor. I think the good thing is we have two of the top five players in the NBA, and they’re young . . . and if we can do our job, which is to replace aging players and pick up a player or two with our [two salary-cap] exceptions, we can be in a position to compete every year in the playoffs.”

Harper, winner of four of the last five NBA championships, co-captain of the Lakers and the coolest head in the Laker locker room, said he would retire if Jackson felt he wasn’t needed any longer.

“Hey, I love playing for Phil,” Harper said. “If Phil says, ‘Ron, I really need you back,’ I will come back . . .

“If Phil says, ‘I don’t know,’ then I had a great NBA run. I had the best NBA run of all-time, I think. I may not catch [former Bulls’ teammates Michael Jordan] or [Scottie Pippen], they’ve got six. But I’ve got four now.”

COVERAGE

Laker Commemorative Section

Relive the championship season, from Phil Jackson’s first days as coach to the team’s streaky 67-15 record to Shaquille O’Neal’s MVP award to their victory in Game 6 of the NBA finals. Section W

Lowlights After the Highlights

In the wake of postgame celebrations turned violent Monday night, city leaders examined their response to unruly fan behavior and their plans for the Democratic Convention in August. A1