LAKERS NOTEBOOK: FOX WELCOMES PRACTICE AS RETURN TO NORMALCY.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

HONOLULU - Rick Fox spent the past two weeks as most Americans did. Glued to CNN. Absorbing the devastation in New York. And finding himself, as the days wore on, mired in a somber state.

Then it was time to move on and search for that ``normalcy'' thing. But for Fox and other NBA players, there was no workplace in which to find solace, no routine to reclaim. No practices to attend, no games to play.

So when, at long last, training camp opened here Saturday on the University of Hawaii campus, Fox embraced it. Double-day practices and all.

``I was a zombie for about three days, and I tried to get back in the gym just to conduct my life the same way,'' Fox said. ``It had a different meaning to it. I know I'm happy to be in camp, because it just in some way gives a sense of normality. It's like, you're grateful to CNN for the coverage, but how much can you take?''

Getting back to triangle drills and layup lines and weight lifting felt like a relief - ``in some cases for our own sanity and rejuvenation out of that depressing state that I think everyone was in,'' he said.

Fox and wife Vanessa Williams, a New York native who now lives in Chappaqua, N.Y., have made donations to the relief efforts. And they did their part to boost the flagging theater-district economy as well last week. For their anniversary, Fox flew to New York, and the couple attended a showing of ``The Producers.''

But Fox saw a much different Manhattan than the one he and his wife know so well.

``You're so used to people coming to a (traffic) light with a screeching halt and pulling off like they're trying to race to the next one. And there was none of that,'' he said.

``And everyone just seemed to be pretty somber. It was quiet. No horns. Not one horn. ... I've spent a lot of time in the city, and to me it was more like Warsaw, Indiana, you know?'' said Fox, who attended high school in Warsaw.

He wanted to visit the former site of the World Trade Center towers, but authorities have restricted access, and Williams preferred not to see it.

``I had seen so much, watching on television, I wanted to go down and get the feeling for myself,'' Fox said. ``It's just so much of history for us now.''

--Aloha: When the NBA canceled the Lakers' exhibition games in Japan, the team reconsidered whether to train here. But owner Jerry Buss loves Hawaii, and coach Phil Jackson felt coming to the island was the right thing to do.

``This is an auspicious time for us to be going to a state that's suffering from its No. 1 industry being down,'' because the terrorist attacks have stifled tourism, Jackson noted. ``For us to still be (practicing here), being demonstrative tourists ... I think is a good sign.''

--Strange days: The Lakers held their first practice Saturday morning, but the back-to-back champions hardly looked the same. No Kobe Bryant (in Philadelphia for his grandfather's funeral). No Shaquille O'Neal (sidelined by a sore toe). And no Derek Fisher (recovering from foot surgery).

No big deal, said Jackson.

``Coaches like anybody who will pay attention when you ply your trade,'' he quipped. ``They'll make it up. Camps are really not for those guys as much as it is for the players that are new to our system ... or players that we hope to get some experience that have been young and inexperienced from past years.''

Jackson is putting his players through double-day practices this year. Last October he opted for longer, single-day practices and the Lakers started the season out of shape and unprepared to defend their title.

--Notes: Bryant is expected to join the team here by mid-day Thursday and could participate in the afternoon practice session. ... Among the observers at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday was retired former Lakers exec Jerry West.

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Photo: RICK FOX

Before training camp began, he had no way to find solace from the terrorist tragedy.