MIRROR, MIRROR; DODGERS, LAKERS: CAN BIG-LEAGUE CLUBS HAVE TWIN PSYCHES?

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Is it the smog again or has the Los Angeles sports scene turned into a big blur?

Lakers. Dodgers. The most major of our major-league franchises. Can you tell one from the other anymore? And can you tell one year from the next?

Are you sure those were the 1999 Lakers who faded into history by losing to the San Antonio Spurs the other day, or could they have been the '98 Lakers or the '97 Lakers?

How do you distinguish these underachieving Dodgers from the underachieving Dodgers of last season and the underachieving Dodgers of the season before that?

Let's test.

Here are some statements uttered by Lakers and Dodgers - and Lakers and Dodgers observers - in the past few years. Try to match each with the speaker and the team under discussion.

The quotes:

1. ``We don't trust one another yet. That's the only thing we're missing.''

2. ``We have to learn how to win here.''

3. ``They (are) splintered by clashing personalities that couldn't pull together for each other when the going got tough.''

4. ``(The players) have to learn to trust each other.''

5. ``I don't think we're that far away, with (the talent) we have here.''

The speakers:

a. Magic Johnson, on the '96 Lakers.

b. The Daily News, on the '97 Dodgers.

c. Jerry West, on the '97 Lakers.

d. Kevin Malone, on the '99 Dodgers.

e. Kurt Rambis, on the '99 Lakers.

The matches:

1, a; 2, d; 3, b; 4, e; 5, c.

Players change. Coaches change. Managers change. GMs change. Owners change. The teams' personalities never seem to change.

The Dodgers are always high on talent but low on desire. Always.

The Lakers are always high on talent but low on teamwork. Always.

The Lakers and the Dodgers are good enough to win if only they acquire the intangibles. They never do.

Hello, desperation, our old friend.

These indeed are desperate times for L.A. sports fans, now that the Lakers are out of the playoffs, the Dodgers have sunk to third place, and neither team has won a championship since both did it in 1988.

Our best hope for winning a professional title anytime soon probably rests with that yet-unborn NFL franchise.

The most frustrating of all the frustrating aspects of the Lakers' and Dodgers' parallel futility is not that they keep falling short but that they keep falling short for roughly the same reasons, year to year and team to team.

When Derek Harper called a players' meeting during the regular season, he implored his Lakers teammates to ``look in the mirror.'' Did they see themselves or the Dodgers?

Did Shaquille O'Neal see Kevin Brown - his opposite number, the number being $100 million, each a superstar in his own right but so far a flop at the winner's role of making teammates better?

Did Kobe Bryant see Raul Mondesi - each an ultimate bundle of talent, each limited by his own self-confidence?

I remember reading that by age 33, one is pretty much stuck with his or her personality, bad habits and all. A theory dreamed up by a 32-year-old chain smoker, no doubt.

Maybe it applies to sports franchises, too. They develop personalities that can't be shed even as the teams are made over on the surface.

The Los Angeles Dodgers turned 33 in 1991; the following season they won an L.A.-low 63 games, and they've been trying to get over that ever since. The Los Angeles Lakers turned 33 in 1993; by the following year they'd had two losing seasons in a row, and they've been trying to regain their self-esteem ever since.

Maybe it's an L.A. thing, the old accusation that our teams take on the personality of their fans, slow to get interested and quick to head for the exits.

Hey, it makes as much sense as any of this.

I thought this was a figment of my imagination until I came across a quote from Malone, the Dodgers' general manager, seeming to endorse the idea that a weird brand of institutional memory is at work.

``It's going to take time to change some of the lingering attitudes of yesteryear,'' Malone said. ``There's a reason the Dodgers haven't won for 10 years, and you can't change that in only 30 games.''

Exactly how those attitudes of yesteryear endure is a mystery perhaps best solved by a psychiatrist. You could imagine the coaches and veterans of '96 handing down bad thoughts to the youngsters of '97, who become the coaches and veterans of '98 and pass the disorders on to the veterans and youngsters of '99. . . .

Except for the fact the dysfunction of the past few years has persisted even as the Dodgers and Lakers went through some of the most complete personnel turnovers in their histories.

What's the answer?

I don't know, but I did glance up at the Forum Club tunnel during the Lakers' Game 3 loss to San Antonio and notice Jerry West chatting with none other than Kevin Malone. Maybe they were discussing a group rate on an exorcist.

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Dodgers Category Lakers

1988 Last title 1988

2 Playoffs since 10

0-6 Playoff record 47-41

93-69 Best record 63-19

1991 Season 1989-90

Third Avg. Place Third

10 1/2 Avg. GB 8 1/2

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1--Color) no caption (Dodgers player)

(2--Color) no caption (Lakers player)

Box: DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE (See text)