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Knowing his role Richmond hopes Lakers are still hungry
Updated: Monday July 23, 2001 11:33 PM
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- After years of being the focal point on below-average teams, Mitch Richmond would rather be a role player on a championship club. The six-time All-Star, who signed last Friday with the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers, gave that impression Monday during his get-acquainted press conference at the team's training facility. "You want to be in that situation where you're playing for something," said Richmond, a 13-year veteran who has been to the playoffs only three times and hasn't played in a postseason game since 1996 with Sacramento. "They definitely have a championship team here already, and you just want to add to that. I've never gotten out of the second round of the playoffs, so it's something that I really want to change. I've been taking a lot of vacations in June." With Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant among his new teammates, that doesn't figure to be an issue for Richmond -- whose 21 career playoff games are two fewer than the Lakers needed to win the first of their back-to-back titles. "They have two of the best players in the game, and that can definitely help me in my process of coming in here and contributing," Richmond said. "It's not that I have to come in and overhaul a team. I just need to try to fit in and be a part of something that's special."
Richmond also comes cheap by NBA standards, having signed a one-year deal at $1 million. He was offered much more by other contending teams, but he felt the Lakers were the best fit. So do the Lakers. "Mitch is a tremendous asset because of all his skills -- his leadership, his understanding of how to play within a system, his ability to defend people, his toughness, his tenacity, his ability to score and create his own shots," assistant coach Kurt Rambis said. "He's a hard worker and a dedicated professional. I know he will be trying exceptionally hard to garner his first championship, so he's going to be enthusiastic. And that's exactly what we'll need -- somebody who will help start everybody on the right foot when we get to camp." Richmond, 36, was limited to just 37 games last season because of knee injuries. Last month, when the Wizards bought out the final two years of his contract for $10 million, the Lakers put the free agent at the top of their wish list -- again. Three years ago, the Lakers tried to work a trade with Sacramento for Richmond. But it never materialized, and Richmond instead went to Washington in a deal that sent forward Chris Webber to the Kings. The Lakers are his fourth NBA team, and the only one that has given him a legitimate shot at a ring. "He's never played with a guy like Shaq in the middle, and somebody like Kobe who can take a lot of pressure off of him," Rambis said. "So he's going to have a lot more open looks than he's ever has in his entire career."
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