Star wars likely to ruin Lakers’ winning script

Here are the highlights. On Friday, Shaq said Kobe might want to pass more and shoot fewer jumpers until his legs are strong enough to take and make jumpers. Kobe answered, ‘‘I know how to play my guard spot. He can worry about the low post, and I’ll worry about the perimeter.’’

On Sunday, Shaq lowered the boom, saying, ‘‘As we start this new season, (stuff has) got to be done right. If you don’t like it, you can opt out next year. If it’s going to be my team, I’ll voice my opinion. If he don’t like it, he can opt out. … Just ask Karl and Gary why they came here. One person, not two. One. Period. I’m not telling him (Bryant) how to play his position. I’m just telling him how to play team ball.’’

I know what you’re thinking, that Kobe and Shaq do this all the time, argue and fuss in public and then Jackson comes in and works his magic and the two biggest stars in the game kiss and make up and the Lakers keep winning. But this seems so much more confrontational, even personal.

At a time when he is quite literally fighting for his life, Kobe Bryant is not going to take kindly to being told by Shaq, essentially, to get out. Repeatedly, Kobe has said he will ‘‘opt out’’ of his current deal and test the free agent market after this season. And now Shaq is calling Kobe’s bluff, before the season even begins.

It’s not that they’ve hated or even disliked each other, but each likes getting under the other’s skin. But as is often the case with these things, the horseplay got too rough. Now, feelings are bound to be hurt. Suddenly, the locker room may not be big enough for the two of them.

One reason Kobe has been flirting with free agency is that he wonders if he can go elsewhere and win a title without Shaq. Likewise, Shaq would like nothing more that winning a championship this season without Kobe.

Kobe believes an out-of-shape Shaq was ungrateful last year when Kobe carried the team on his back in late February and early March. Shaq believes Kobe is an elitist and aloof kid who has been handed everything and, as of right now, isn’t physically prepared to step into his usual role as the NBA season begins.

Suddenly, the debut of LeBron James doesn’t seem so important. For mostly the wrong reasons, the Lakers are the story of the NBA season. And Jackson isn’t so certain about the ship as it prepares to set sail. ‘‘It’s a role that’s totally uncharted,’’ he said Friday night, before the latest Shaq-Kobe dustup. ‘‘This one is filled with all kinds of things that could go on and a whole lot of suspicions and hopes.’’

And it’s increasingly possible that this will be the last season that Jackson, or whoever is coaching the Lakers, will field a team with Shaq and Kobe on it.

The Lakers, with Jackson at the wheel, have a way of getting back on course, of fighting one day and hugging the next and not really suffering any great repercussions. And with Malone and Payton excited about the prospect of winning that elusive NBA championship, perhaps this is just one more squabble that Shaq and Kobe can put to rest when the lights are turned on tonight and there is an opponent on a basketball court.

But with each outburst, it’s beginning to feel more and more serious, as if they genuinely don’t want to play with one another, that what we’re about to watch, instead of being a prelude, is quite possibly a finale.(LA Times-Washington Post)