Lakers Drop Anchor Right on His Career

Ahoy, Commodore, permission to leave the ship?

Cedric Ceballos didn’t turn out to be a superstar after all, merely an extended rental. He averaged 22 points his first season, nicknamed himself “Chise”--short for franchise--helped reestablish the Lakers’ credibility, then went for a houseboat trip and sailed off the end of his Laker career.

Friday he was returned to Phoenix, whence he came. Jerry West taketh, Jerry West returneth for a refund.

Ceballos is lucky West cooled down before finding him a new gig. When Ceballos left last season and returned with a lame excuse and a barely audible apology, West would rather have put him to work in the Forum Club kitchen than put him back in the lineup.

Of course, there’s the little matter of the players the Lakers are getting back.

Robert Horry? Isn’t he the guy who threw the towel in Sun Coach Danny Ainge’s face? Does West think Del Harris’ face needs wiping too?

Joe Kleine? Isn’t he the guy who fainted here during the national anthem last season?

When upright, Kleine is experienced, takes up a lot of room and will return to his best role--backup center--or in other words, nice knowing you, Sean Rooks.

Horry is the key. He’s 6 feet 10, runs the floor like a greyhound, is among the best shot-blocking small forwards in the NBA and he’s a lifetime 36% three-point shooter.

By reputation, he isn’t as bad a guy as his recent misadventure made him look. He had a niche in Houston, but he was just a guy in Phoenix. He didn’t play very hard either. He was finished there before he tossed the towel at Ainge. As much as he disliked being a Sun, the Suns disliked having him.

“It’s hard, coming from the situation we did into that one,” Sam Cassell, Horry’s teammate with the Rockets and Suns, said last week.

“He knew what he was supposed to do in Houston. He knew his role. But what is he there? A small forward? There are two or three of those. A power forward?

“It’s not all Phoenix’s fault and it’s not all Robert’s fault. It’s just a tough situation. I’m sad it happened.”

Thursday, Horry apologized to everybody in sight--”the coaches, the training staff, everybody”--with one exception: Jerry Colangelo. Colangelo happens to be the Suns’ managing partner. With indignation running high in Phoenix, he lamented that he couldn’t suspend Horry longer than two games without having to fight the union.

Leaving Colangelo off the list was either idiotic or a stroke of genius. Horry got his ticket to ride, but he should fall down and kiss the ground for the combination of circumstances that made him a Laker. Colangelo would have rather traded him to a god-awful team, one that plays where there’s ice and snow the year round.

It’s up to Horry to show the Lakers he’s a good enough guy to keep. Like Kleine, he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. West is thinking about getting below the salary cap by 1998 and won’t be giving out gratuitous long-term deals.

Ceballos was a skinny kid from left field whose burning ambition got him from Dominguez High to Cal State Fullerton to the NBA. From his first day as a Laker, though, he was off to himself, and finally, he just sort of disappeared into the mist.

Management liked things the way they were when he was out, with Eddie Jones moving up. The Lakers want better outside shooting, better defense at the “three” to help them run and better attitude. There already were reports of skirmishes behind the scenes, with Ceballos impatient to return.

Friday, the Lakers turned him loose. As cruises go, it didn’t turn out to be a world tour, simply one of those weekend deals to Baja and back. Bon voyage, and better luck in your next port.