STAPLES TENANTS CAST OUT ON ROAD BIG EVENTS SEND L.A. TEAMS ON TRIPS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

The most critical stretch of the Lakers, Kings and Clippers' 2003-04 seasons might as well start with an introduction. So Ferdinand Magellan, meet Kobe Bryant, Corey Maggette and Luc Robitaille.

One man went down in human history as the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe in 1522. The other three just have the misfortune this month to play for three Los Angeles professional teams that call Staples Center home.

There are many ways to describe the road-trip odyssey the teams will begin this weekend while their arena is used to host the Grammy Awards and the NBA All-Star Game on back-to-back Sundays this month.

But sports is about statistics - and one seems to sum up the three teams' trips so simply.

The circumference of the Earth, as measured at the equator, is 24,902 miles. And the combined distance the Los Angeles nomads will travel over the next two weeks while Staples Center is unavailable is 21,872 miles.

``You look at the schedule,'' said Lakers forward Devean George, whose team will leave today for Toronto to begin a seven-game, 11-day trip, ``and home games are gold and road games are purple. The whole month of February is purple.''

One month after the centennial celebration of flight, the Wright Brothers would be happy to know air travel will enable the Clippers to play in Miami; Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; Boston; Washington; New York; Minneapolis; and Memphis, Tenn. - all in 13 days.

``I can't remember ever seeing a trip this bad,'' coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``The only one that I can think of that can possibly rival it was when the Jazz were playing in New Orleans and they would be gone for the whole Mardi Gras.''

Keep in mind, the Jazz moved from New Orleans to Utah in 1979. It might feel like that long, though, since the Lakers, Kings and Clippers last played at home when they return to Staples Center beginning Feb. 17.

The Clippers' eight-game trip (not including a road game in Portland, Ore., after the All-Star break) is the franchise's longest since January 1990. The Lakers' seven-game trip, a stretch that could determine their playoff seeding, will be their longest since December 1991.

The Kings will play a total of seven consecutive road games as well, though they will make a two-game and five-game trip with the NHL's All-Star break in the middle.

``I have no idea where we're going, to be honest,'' Robitaille said. ``I know we're going on the road, but I can't tell you where I'm going to be playing next week. Sometimes you can't even remember your (hotel) room number on the road.''

It could be worse, of course. In the 1946-47 season, the Detroit Falcons of the old Basketball Association of America (forerunner to the NBA) played 13 consecutive road games, the longest streak in league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

By the next year, the Falcons had folded, though the team name later was adopted by a semi-pro hockey team in the 1990s.

(The longest road streak in NHL history, for the record, is 11 games, set by the Calgary Flames in 1987-88 while the Saddledome was being used for the Winter Olympics.)

But by modern standards, the Lakers, Kings and Clippers' trips are about as bad as they come.

``It's tough, but it's life,'' Clippers forward Chris Wilcox said. ``We get paid to do it, so it's our job to go out and do it. We can't complain about it.''

There is no common city all three teams will visit, though two of the three will spend time in Miami, Orlando, New York and Minneapolis. The trip is so long, Dunleavy said he will have to send out his dry cleaning somewhere near the end.

After all, the coach said he can't pack eight suits for the trip.

``You better bring a warm bag and a cold bag,'' added Dunleavy, who could find temperatures ranging from the 80s in South Florida to the 10s in Boston.

Then there is this intriguing possibility: If an emergency arises on the road, the Lakers and Clippers could sign a player to a 10-day contract who never would set foot in Los Angeles before the deal expired.

So don't start making a yellow jersey for the next Ime Udoka quite yet.

Critical stretch

All joking aside, the Kings and Lakers know this stretch on the road could determine how long they're staying home this summer.

The Lakers, only 7-12 on the road this season, already trail Sacramento by four games in the Western Conference standings.

They snapped a road losing streak at nine games last Saturday against the Jazz and have to work Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant back after injuries.

``We've always been a successful team on the road and in particular in the playoffs,'' guard Derek Fisher said. ``We haven't come close to that really this year. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to kind of start building some of that momentum on the road.''

The Lakers' trip will be highlighted by a potential NBA Finals preview against Indiana (Monday) and an ESPN-televised meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (Wednesday).

For O'Neal, the trip will feature a game in Orlando (Feb. 8), where he played four seasons with the Magic, and in Houston (Feb. 11), where he will match up against Rockets center Yao Ming.

Even so, it will be just the beginning of life on the road for the Lakers, who play 18 of the next 23 games away from Staples Center.

``We approach it with the understanding that it really is going to set the tone for February and March, which are huge months for us on the road,'' forward Rick Fox said. ``It's a big stretch for us to establish some form of consistency and confidence when we step into an opponent's arena.''

The Lakers' challenge on the road is twofold. If they play well enough, they can remain in contention to win home-court advantage for a round or more in the playoffs. If they don't, they still will need to prove they can win a seven-game series away from home.

All things considered, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said this week he would consider a 5-2 trip a success.

For the Kings, meanwhile, the road stretch will be crucial just in making the playoffs. Even after weathering a 14-game winless streak, the Kings still are tied with the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames for the Western Conference's final two playoff spots.

``We have to have a good trip,'' Robitaille said. ``You lose a couple of games, you find yourself in 10th or 11th place, and you don't want to have to catch three teams.''

Added center Eric Belanger: ``It's important that we go .500. We want to win every game we play. But if we could go .500 or above on this trip, that would be great.''

The Kings' trip will include games in St. Paul, Minn. (Feb. 10) - about an hour from coach Andy Murray's home; Columbus, Ohio (Feb. 11) - where the team will face 19-year-old sensation Rick Nash; and New Jersey (Feb. 15) against the defending Stanley Cup champion Devils.

But the Kings aren't about to complain. In November 2002, the team touched down in seven different states and provinces on an eight-game, 17-day trip.

``This is nothing,'' Belanger said. ``We actually don't think the schedule is that bad this year.''

Blame Britney Spears

The three Staples Center tenants can thank the scheduling of the country's two biggest events for sending them on the road. The Grammy Awards traditionally are held a month before the Academy Awards, which were moved from March 23 to Feb. 29 this year.

The NBA All-Star Game, meanwhile, typically is held two weeks after the Super Bowl, which will be played for the second time ever in February this year. That left the Grammys and NBA All-Star Game for back-to-back weekends in the same building.

``We've been planning for it forever,'' said Brenda Tinnen, Staples Center senior vice president for event and guest services. ``What we do is great big events.''

The Grammys will be Staples Center's second-biggest production after the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and will require some 250,000 pounds of lighting, spokesman Michael Roth said.

So when Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and the White Stripes take the stage to perform (lip-sync?) Feb. 8, the Lakers will have been exiled to Orlando and the Clippers to New York.

The load-in for the Grammys began almost as soon as Friday night's Lakers-Timberwolves game ended. Setup for the All-Star Game begins about 24 hours after the Grammys.

``It may look a little odd on the calendar for people who don't know everything that's going on with the building,'' Tinnen said.

For the players, however, the next two weeks will be a blur of hotel rooms, late-night flights, back-to-back games and time-zone changes. For fans, it will be a struggle just to keep up with what city their team is playing in on a given night.

Even with charter planes shuttling them around the country, life on the road gets old after about a week. Not to mention the Clippers already had to play two games in Japan to start the year.

``You never know when it's going to hit you,'' said Clippers forward Quentin Richardson, whose team hopes to go 4-4 on the trip. ``Sometimes it doesn't hit you. Sometimes you're ready just to get back to your own house, sleep in your own bed.''

Matt Winick, the NBA's vice president of scheduling and game operations, said there are no rules - either written or unwritten - regarding how many consecutive road games is too many.

In February 2002, for example, the Utah Jazz played nine consecutive road games, broken up by the All-Star break, while the Delta Center was being used for the Winter Olympics.

``It all depends on the building,'' Winick said. ``If they can't play at home, they have to play somewhere. They have to go on the road when there's not a building we can utilize.''

Tinnen added that booking Staples Center for two consecutive weeks during the season is about the maximum that can be done.

Meanwhile, the Lakers, Kings and Clippers only can take the frequent- flyer miles and hope the same fate doesn't befall them as Magellan.

In 1521, the Portuguese explorer was killed on a Philippines island. His crew of 18 had to complete the voyage back to Spain without him the following year.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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