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Trading places Fox understand's Rice's feelings of frustration
Posted: Tuesday June 13, 2000 11:45 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Rick Fox could take Glen Rice's remarks personally. He chooses otherwise. Rather, Fox can identify with his teammate, knowing how it feels to lose playing time, so he understands the well-documented frustration Rice is feeling and expressing these days. Fox started all 95 games the Los Angeles Lakers played two years ago in his first season with them -- 82 in the regular season and 13 in the playoffs. Now, the 6-foot-7, 242-pound forward is playing as a reserve, behind Rice, as the Lakers try to win their first NBA championship since 1988. "A lot of us were starters," Fox said Tuesday, mentioning Robert Horry and Derek Fisher as other former first-stringers now coming off the bench. "In each year, in each case, it's different. "We've been guys who have accepted our roles on the team." Fox lost his starting job at the beginning of the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season when he was forced to sit out the first three games because of a sore right foot. He was replaced at that time by Kobe Bryant, and, later in the season Rice, who was acquired in a trade with Charlotte. At that stage, Bryant moved to the backcourt. However, it was Fox, not Rice, playing nearly all the fourth quarter in Sunday night's 100-91 Indiana victory that cut the Lakers' lead over the Pacers to 2-1 entering Wednesday night's Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse. Fox wound up playing 21 minutes in the game; Rice played 27. Each scored seven points. Acknowledged to be a better defender than Rice, Fox also played the majority of the final quarter two nights earlier, when Rice scored 21 points in helping the Lakers beat the Pacers 111-104. When asked if Rice"s complaints were a distraction, Fox replied, "Only if we let them be." And about possibly taking the remarks personally, since Fox is getting the playing time Rice is losing, Fox said: "The only thing I take personally is a loss the other night to the Pacers, that's as personal as it gets for me right now." "We have nothing but love for Glen and he has nothing but love for his team, we know that," Fox added. "It's not the first time a player has expressed a desire to play, and it won't be the last. The focus is still to win a championship." Jalen Rose, who scored most of his 21 points in Game 3 against Rice, said Fox was the more defense-minded player of the two, but added, "Glen Rice is a better player, in my opinion." "I'm not going to point the finger at Glen," Rose said. "I haven't run across too many players who I think can stop me." Fox seemed to do a pretty decent job. Fox, who played his first six NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics, passed up higher offers from other teams to join the Lakers and remain with them, earning $1 million in his first season and $1.75 million in his second. Those decisions were made, he said, because he saw championship potential. Last summer, shortly after his 30th birthday, Fox signed a six-year contract worth an estimated $25 million to stay put, a decision he says now he has absolutely no regrets about, starting job or not. And since Rice becomes a free agent this summer, perhaps Fox will get his position back next season. Fox, who grew up in the Bahamas, played at Warsaw High School in Indiana before attending North Carolina and playing under Dean Smith. "For the 15 years I've been in the United States, everything has revolved around basketball for me," Fox said. "It all started in the state of Indiana. If I win a championship in this state, I'm going to run down to the RCA Dome (where the Indianapolis Colts play) and let a lot go."
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