Saturday, October 6, 2001
[ HAWAII BASKETBALL ]
Chris Kamaka plays football and soccer. But yesterday his sport was basketball ... in a big way. ‘Hawaii’s team’ holds court
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comAbout 85 inches.
Kamaka, a sixth-grader at St. Patrick's School in Kaimuki, was the recipient of one of the 10 mini-basketballs autographed by Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal during a visit to Gov. Ben Cayetano's office. The 7-foot-1 star and members of the team's front office, including owner Dr. Jerry Buss, were honored by Cayetano as "Hawaii's team'' with a proclamation declaring it "Lakers Week in Hawaii.''
The two-time defending NBA champions have been in the islands since Sept. 28, working out at the Hawaii campus. The Lakers -- minus the injured O'Neal and head coach Phil Jackson -- will take on the Golden State Warriors in two exhibition games at the Stan Sheriff Center at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow and 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The games nearly didn't happen. In light of the Sept. 11 attacks, the NBA canceled all exhibition games outside of the United States, including the two Lakers-Warriors in Tokyo.
But the trip to Honolulu wasn't in jeopardy, according to Buss, because of one thing: The aloha his team has experienced during their previous training camps.
"We are happy to be back here again,'' said Buss, whose team last trained here in 1996. "I love Hawaii. There was some thought about not coming but we really wanted to be here.
"Hawaii is my favorite place on Earth and we hope that we've helped encouraged people to come back to Hawaii in some way. We were absent for a little while, for some internal reasons. We're thrilled to be back.''
Cayetano, who has been a Lakers' fan since his college days at UCLA, said he didn't have to call the team's management to convince them to return.
"They wanted to come all along,'' said Cayetano, who received a Lakers' jersey with his name and No. 1 on the back. "We didn't have to do anything."
O'Neal, recuperating from surgery on his little toe, has been sightseeing on the North Shore and working on his 'shaka.' He said he's had some pain while walking and has been swimming as part of his conditioning.
"It's beautiful here, the blue water, everything,'' said the MVP of the 2001 NBA finals, who debuted in a Lakers' uniform here against the Denver Nuggets in 1996. "We'll be back next year.''
Notes: Tickets are still available for the two exhibition games. The prices range from $10-$65 and are available at the SSC box office ... Due to new security measures, bags and backpacks will not be allowed into the arena. Purses will be subject to a search ... The Warriors arrived last night and were to open practice at the arena this morning. Golden State opened training camp Sept. 29 at home. The team is coming off a 4-2 record in the Southern California Summer League, including a 120-99 win over the Lakers ... Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson, in Montana for his mother's funeral, plans to return to Los Angeles tomorrow night. He has not yet decided whether to rejoin the team here in time for Tuesday's game. The Lakers fly home Wednesday morning.