PUTTING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

They were all in place in the fall of 1998, the five Lakers who would eventually form the core of the first budding dynasty of this millennium, but who could have seen it coming back then?

Certainly not Phil Jackson, who spent that NBA season riding his motorcycle through the plains of Montana as, hundreds of miles away, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal began to quarrel and Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Robert Horry combined to start just 27 games in 1998-99.

Jackson arrived the following summer, and since then, Bryant and O'Neal have formed a successful working relationship and Fisher, Fox and Horry stepped into starting roles.

Perhaps more important, however, while that quintet stayed in place throughout the Lakers' three championship runs, much of the rest of the roster changed. Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak deftly filled roster spots without disrupting team chemistry, and Jackson helped the players overcome obstacles each season to become champions each time.

No matter what Red Auerbach thinks, Jackson did not walk into a ready-made winning situation when he took control of the Lakers in June of 1999.

The previous season, the Lakers imploded under the weight of Dennis Rodman's antics, the budding feud between Bryant and O'Neal and the trade of popular guard Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell for Glen Rice.

Expectations were high for Jackson, fresh off six championships in eight seasons, and with West's help, he tried to mold the Lakers in his image, jettisoning dead weight such as Derek Harper, J.R. Reid and Sean Rooks and bringing in players familiar to him, such as Ron Harper, John Salley and Brian Shaw. A.C. Green also returned.

A lineup of Bryant, O'Neal, Rice, Harper and Green surprisingly won the title, even though Bryant didn't buy into the system, and Rice, a stand-up shooter, fit into the triangle like a square peg.

The Lakers won because of O'Neal's dominance and a deep bench of veterans that included Fox, Horry, Shaw and Salley and a fourth-year guard in Fisher, who found increased minutes.

That 1999-2000 ground really didn't have Jackson's stamp on it though. Rice and Green had no place in his system. Same for Tyronn Lue, a young and energetic but undisciplined guard, and Travis Knight, a plodding backup center.

Jackson found what he was looking for leading up to the 2000-01 season. He brought in another familiar face, power forward Horace Grant, to replace Green in the starting lineup, and elevated the defense-minded Fox to replace Rice.

Offseason foot surgery limited Fisher to just the last 20 games of the season, but the Lakers dominated as O'Neal and Bryant both averaged more than 28 points per game, even they couldn't seem to coexist off the court.

With Fisher back for the playoff stretch, the Lakers looked more and more like Jackson's old Bulls.

O'Neal filled the role of the dominant player (Michael Jordan), Bryant the ultra-talented second fiddle (Scottie Pippen), Fisher the perimeter sharpshooter (John Paxson or Steve Kerr) and Grant the rebounder as, well, Grant the rebounder.

The Lakers reached their apex in the 2001 playoffs, when they won 16 of 17 games. Bryant and O'Neal dominated, Fisher was deadly from 3-point range and averaged 13.4 points per game and Fox even averaged 10.0 points and five rebounds.

Even Bryant and O'Neal seemed to settle their differences, which suggested that few changes needed to be made going into this season.

Grant signed with Orlando and Lue moved to Washington, so the Lakers signed Samaki Walker for the power-forward spot and Lindsey Hunter and Mitch Richmond as the backup point guards, moves that became important because of more foot problems from Fisher.

The Lakers stumbled in the regular season because of O'Neal's injuries and the general malaise that comes with the grind of an 82-game regular season.

In the playoffs, however, O'Neal played through his injuries, Bryant dominated and Horry, starting in place of the injured and ineffective Walker, stepped up and hit several crucial 3-pointers.

There's likely to be much more change this offseason. The starting five should remain intact, and perhaps Horry will be a full-time starter for the first time under Jackson, but almost the entire bench is eligible for free agency in some way.

Jackson faced similar situations in Chicago, and each time the team was able to reload around Jordan and Pippen, bringing in veteran role players to fill holes and defer to the superstars.

Jackson's Chicago teams never won four consecutive championships, because Jordan retired before the 1993-94 and 1998-99 seasons. That won't be a problem with Bryant and O'Neal, but it could be a problem for the rest of the NBA.

ON THE MOVE

Here's a look at how the Lakers' starting lineup has evolved since 1998-99, the last season before Phil Jackson arrived. Players who started primarily at each position in the playoffs are listed (with regular-season stats):

1998-99

PF -- J.R. Reid (5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

SF -- Glen Rice (17.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg)

C -- Shaquille O'Neal (26.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg)

SG -- Kobe Bryant (19.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

PG -- Derek Fisher (5.9 ppg, 3.9 apg)

1999-00

PF -- A.C. Green (5.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

SF -- Glen Rice (15.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)

C -- Shaquille O'Neal (29.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg)

SG -- Kobe Bryant (22.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg)

PG -- Ron Harper (7.0 ppg, 3.4 apg)

2000-01

PF -- Horace Grant (8.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg)

SF -- Rick Fox (9.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

C -- Shaquille O'Neal (28.7 ppg, 12.7 rpg)

SG -- Kobe Bryant (28.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

PG -- Derek Fisher (11.4 ppg, 4.3 apg)

2001-02

PF -- Robert Horry (6.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

SF -- Rick Fox (7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg)

C -- Shaquille O'Neal (27.2 ppg, 10.7 rpg)

SG -- Kobe Bryant (25.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg)

PG -- Derek Fisher (11.2 ppg, 2.6 apg)

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ON THE MOVE (see text)