BUSS WON'T TRADE 'MY SON' OWNER WANTS BRYANT TO STAY; O'NEAL WILL GET HIS EXTENSION.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

Jerry Buss, celebrating his silver anniversary as owner of the Lakers, has long viewed his team as an extended family, his players as surrogate sons. Rarely have they caused him so much anguish in such a short span of time.

One was arrested this summer on charges of sexual assault. The other has rather publicly and profanely complained about the lack of a contract extension. Then they turned on each other, turning the first week of the NBA season into a bad soap opera sequel.

None of this, however, has changed Buss' generally cheery outlook about his star-stocked team. Nor has it caused him to re-think the partnership between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

Bryant might leave as a free agent next summer, but he will not be traded before then, Buss said.

``Lets go back to the family situation. I'm not about to trade my son,'' Buss said Sunday night. ``Kobe is probably going to end up on a level that maybe only two or three players have ever achieved. And I want to be around to see him when he reaches his peak, which is still many years away.''

Over the course of the 30-minute chat, Buss laughed often and offered easy reassurances on every lingering issue this season.

O'Neal will get his contract extension, he said, and ``I'm sure that when he signs, he'll be the highest-paid player in the league.''

Coach Phil Jackson, whose deal expires next summer, also will be extended, Buss added, and ``when Phil signs, he'll be the highest-paid coach in the league. What more can I say?''

The only member of the Lakers family beyond Buss' generous reach is Bryant, whose travails this summer caused more anguish than anything the franchise has endured since Magic Johnson's 1992 announcement that he was HIV-positive.

``I felt a lot of pain for him,'' Buss said of Bryant, who in July was charged with rape. ``It was similar to a father experiencing just tremendous pain for the problems his son was having.''

The club has stood steadfastly by its 25-year-old superstar, even making the controversial decision to use Staples Center for Bryant's July 18 news conference, when he declared his innocence.

Buss contrasted Bryant's troubles with Johnson's, which he said was ``probably the saddest day of my life.''

``Magic announced a fact,'' he said. ``This announcement (of charges against Bryant) hasn't even been shown to be remotely factual.''

As energized as Buss is by the addition of Hall of Fame talents Karl Malone and Gary Payton, he concedes that the Fab Four arrangement could be a one-year wonder. Malone, Payton and Bryant can all become free agents next summer.

``I certainly hope - you can put that in capital letters if you like - that Kobe re-signs,'' Buss said. ``And I guess my basic feeling is that this is where he belongs. Playing your whole career in one location, especially in front of fans that absolutely adore him, why trade that known quantity for something unknown? So I have faith that when it comes time, Kobe will re-sign.''

Dallas owner Mark Cuban has criticized Lakers management for failing to contain the Bryant-O'Neal feud, and he's also suggested that Bryant should not play this season because of his legal troubles.

``Mark is publicity-hungry,'' Buss said. ``And I think he's learned that if he says something noncontroversial, he doesn't get quoted. So I think he probably sits around and thinks of all the controversial things he can possibly imagine. And then says them. I think he just enjoys it.''

But the fragile partnership between Bryant and O'Neal will endure, Buss predicted.

``My first two children were both boys, and what I went through with them was so much more serious than these other two brothers fighting,'' he said with a laugh. ``If you raise children, you get kind of used to these things. ''

That said, he also dismissed O'Neal's tantrum over contract talks, which included O'Neal yelling, ``Pay me!'' in the middle of an exhibition game.

``Shaq is funny. You guys haven't heard all the other things he shouts at me sometimes,'' he said.

Buss said the extension talks were ``not a priority thing'' because O'Neal is under contract through 2006. ``But I expect it to be done rather shortly.''

In Jackson's case, Buss said it was a matter of hearing from the coach himself that he wanted the extension. That discussion didn't take place until late August, after both returned from summer vacations. Buss said he and Jackson could have already completed a deal if they were negotiating directly, rather than through agents and lawyers.

``I could never turn down the winningest coach in history,'' Buss said.

Buss excitedly described the Lakers' pursuit this summer of Malone and Payton. He even asked the league if he could fly Payton and his wife to Venice to lobby them (the league said no).

``I've probably had my eye on Gary Payton for as long as he's been playing,'' Buss said, but he doubted the Lakers could sign him, much less acquire two future Hall of Famers at once. ``I mean, how lucky can you get? Malone and Payton? Come on.''

``Just to see them in the uniform like that is exciting to me,'' he said. ``Win, lose or draw, I think this is going to be a great, fun year for me.''

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

BUSS