COOKE LEFT INDELIBLE STAMP : FAMED REPUTATION IN SPORTS NURTURED IN LOS ANGELES.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Deputy Sports Editor 

Jack Kent Cooke might have won three Super Bowls as owner of the Washington Redskins, but it was his blustery fusion of sports, show biz and high finance during 15 years in Los Angeles that helped revolutionize an industry.

Cooke, who died Sunday at age 84, traded for Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and drafted Magic Johnson as owner of the Lakers from 1965-79. He brought hockey, the sport of his native Canada, to the beaches of Southern California. And when he didn't get the building he wanted to house those teams, he blasted the stodgy Coliseum Commission and built the Forum in Inglewood.

``I first met him in 1965 when he bought the team,'' longtime Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn said Sunday. ``I didn't know him before that, but I went to the press conference. One of his statements was, `You people all think I'm a fool to pay $5 million for a basketball team. One day, you'll all say how smart I am.' ''

Cooke sold the Lakers, Kings and Forum 14 years later to Jerry Buss for $67 million, but not before securing the draft rights to Johnson in a trade with the then-New Orleans Jazz. The Lakers went on to win five titles with Johnson, but it was Cooke's blending of All-Stars Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor in the late 1960s that created pro basketball's first glamour team.

``Jack Kent Cooke, when he bought the team, it was a very critical time for the franchise and for professional sports,'' said West, now the Lakers executive vice president. ``This was seemingly the first step for building his sports empire.''

Cooke never enjoyed much success with the Kings, once claiming that the half-million Canadians in L.A. moved here because they didn't like hockey. But he acquired Marcel Dionne, who anchored the high-scoring ``Triple Crown'' line with Dave Taylor and Charlie Simmer and finished his career with more than 700 goals.

Most of the stories about his days with the Kings are comical and not very flattering. The first event ever played at the Forum may have summed up the experience, a 2-0 Kings loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 30, 1967.

His business savvy, though, was never questioned.

``He made a lot of money with everything he touched,'' said Rogie Vachon, the Kings former goalie and now the club's director of hockey operations. ``As an owner he was pretty much hands on. He was certainly involved. If he was not happy with a player he wouldn't hesitate to bring players into his office and read him the riot act.

``He brought me in a couple of times. He told me once how brilliant men use a certain percentage of their brains. And if you do that you'll be successful. I don't know what he meant by that.''

Cooke was married five times and many believe his then-record $49 million divorce settlement with first wife Jean forced him to sell his sports empire in Los Angeles. The presiding judge in the divorce was Joseph Wapner of People's Court fame.

Cooke rebounded quickly, purchasing the Chrysler Building in New York City and taking over daily operations of the Redskins from Edward Bennett Williams.

He won Super Bowls in 1983, '88 and '92, each with a different quarterback.

``He was one of those rare people who was a tough guy, a super-smart guy, and he was always better when things were at their worst,'' said Joe Gibbs, who coached the Redskins from 1981-1993.

Much of his final years was taken up trying to build a new stadium for the Redskins.

Despite offering to pay for the building, he endured nearly a decade of rejection by citizens' groups and local governments before reaching agreement to build a $160 million, 78,600-seat complex near Landover, Md. It will open this season.

``Jack Kent Cooke made a major contribution to the Southern California sports scene when he built the Forum in 1967, and I know he was looking forward to the opening of his new football stadium in Maryland this fall,'' Dodgers president Peter O'Malley said. ``I admired his vision, and he will always be remembered for his impact on professional sports.''

Cooke wanted the stadium finished in time for the 1997 NFL season. For that to happen, a Washington beltway interchange was built on the tightest time schedule. Cooke even coined a postmark for the venue - Raljon - after his two sons, John Kent Cooke and the late Ralph Kent Cooke.

``These things can be done if you put your will to it,'' Cooke once said. ``This was proved when I built the Forum, which they said would take 78 weeks; it took us 52 weeks.''

On his thousand-acre farm in Virginia, Cooke raised several successful horses, including Flying Continental, trained by Jay Robbins, who works out of Santa Anita. His last horse, the filly Antespend, also had a local trainer, Ron McAnally. It won two Grade I stakes races and is racing Thursday in Lexington, Ky. McAnally said Cooke turned down previous offers of more than $1 million for the horse, although it is now up for sale with the rest of the thoroughbred operation.

``I saw him at the Kentucky Oaks, the day before the Kentucky Derby, last year,'' McAnally said. ``He was with his wife and his son. He was so proud of his son, he told me how much he looked like him. He mentioned the reason he was in this was because he did it more for his (late) son Ralph, who was interested in horse racing.''

Jack Kent Cooke, who also owned the Daily News, will be best-remembered in Los Angeles for the Lakers, Kings and the Forum.

``There was a lot of stories,'' West said. ``He was so eloquent, you wanted to take the dictionary and find out what the hell he said. He wanted to win sometimes more than the players did. He certainly left a legacy in L.A.''

CAPTION(S):

7 Photos

Photo: (1) Jack Kent Cooke in 1994.

(2) Kings media guides from the period of Cooke's ownership.

(3) Cooke, right, reveals plans to build the Forum. Architect Charles Luckman is at left.

(4) Washington quarterback Joe Theismann, left, and Cooke celebrate after the Redskins' 1983 Super Bowl victory.

(5-6-7) Lakers' Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (pictured playing against Chamberlain at Milwaukee) and the Kings' Marcel Dionne are some of stars who came to L.A. under Cooke's tenure.

Daily News File, Associated Press

Photo Illustration: Nathaniel Levine/Daily News