LAKERS NOTEBOOK: MALONE'S KNEE LOOKING BETTER.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

OAKLAND - Karl Malone reported significant improvement in his injured right knee Tuesday and avoided a first-ever trip to the injured list.

Instead, the Lakers placed Jannero Pargo on the injured list and activated rookie forward Brian Cook. The moves represented an optimistic compromise - giving the Lakers another big body while Malone heals, without committing Malone to a five-game absence.

The Lakers remain hopeful that Malone, hobbled by a sprained medial collateral ligament, will miss only three games. Malone stayed in L.A., where he received treatment from trainer Chip Schaefer.

``He's improved dramatically enough for the trainer, Chip Schaefer, and Mitch (Kupchak) to feel there's a possibility he would not sit for five games, that he'd be ready to go after two or three games,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ``Out of hopes that might happen, we decided we'd activate Brian but disable Pargo.''

Cook, the team's first-round pick in June, missed the first 25 games of the season after suffering a fracture-dislocation of his left ring finger. Jackson said he probably wouldn't see much action, but he wanted him available all the same.

``We're relatively small,'' Jackson said. ``We know that from when Slava (Medvedenko) was out early in the season that if we get to a situation where someone's in foul trouble, or if anybody has an injury, God forbid, we'd be very small.''

--On pause: Pargo went the on injured list with what the team called patellar tendinitis in his right knee. His real ailment is a lack of opportunity, the result of the offseason signing of Gary Payton.

A pleasant surprise after he signed as a free-agent rookie last season, Pargo became a steady member of the rotation in the playoffs. But he's stuck now behind Payton and Derek Fisher.

``Nothing I didn't expect,'' he said of being deactivated, and the reduced minutes. ``I knew coming into this year that it would be like that. ... I'm not fine with it. I'd love to be out there playing, but I just have to realize that I have two good players in front of me and just accept it as a learning experience.''

--Worm hole: Dennis Rodman's desperate attempt to become relevant again has led him to the ABA's Long Beach Jam, but he'd prefer to be wearing a Lakers uniform. Rodman contacted Jackson recently, though a reunion is beyond unlikely.

``I told him that we have a bunch of young kids that are looking for a break and we have a full roster,'' Jackson said. ``To make a move wouldn't even be a possibility for us. We would have to eliminate somebody from our team, and that's not something we were planning on doing right at this time. It wouldn't be fair to us, it wouldn't be fair to him.''

However, Jackson came away from the conversation believing Rodman, his charge for three seasons in Chicago, might yet return to the NBA.

``I would hate to bet against it,'' he said. ``He's just really a terrific athlete. I asked him what's his level of performance, and he said he got out and played against some guys, not NBA players, but just to see what his reaction to the ball was, how it felt playing, if he felt like he was able to stay with a game and stay up to the tempo of a game. And he said he felt great, he felt like he was right back in the groove of it.''

--Also: Anyone examining the throwback uniform promotion Tuesday needed a degree in quantum physics to go with an old media guide. The Lakers wore their bright blues 1965-66; the Warriors wore their 1966-67 uniforms with ``The City'' emblazoned across their chests and cable cars on the back, symbolizing when they were the San Francisco Warriors. ... Staples Center officials are asking that fans arrive early for upcoming games because of heightened security measures.

Howard Beck, [phone]

howard.beck(at)dailynews.com

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KARL MALONE

Lakers forward won't be put on the injured list for the first time in his career.