Penalties Could Come Today

Rick Fox did not practice Saturday, and the NBA did not issue its sanctions for Friday night’s fights, and so the Lakers and Sacramento Kings stood about where they did when Fox and Doug Christie were pulled apart, each defiant and disgusted.

The Lakers figure on a suspension for Fox, who fought Christie twice during Friday’s exhibition game, once on the court and again after running 100 feet or so through a hallway, past a handful of security guards. They also fear a short suspension for Shaquille O’Neal, who left the bench to defend an outnumbered Fox in the far tunnel at Staples Center.

Christie, who during the first altercation threw a closed-fisted punch that connected with Fox’s chin, also would seem to be destined for a suspension, as would many of his teammates, who left the bench area when the second fight began.

According to the NBA rule book, during an altercation “all players not participating in the game must remain in the vicinity of the bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game.�

The league would stagger those suspensions for the Kings.

A league spokesman said Saturday that Stu Jackson, NBA vice president of operations, would rule today at the earliest after reviewing tape and referees’ accounts of the incidents. Fox, the Lakers’ starting small forward in all three championship seasons, could be out five games or more and be fined a substantial sum (not exceeding $35,000, according to NBA guidelines), and the other suspensions should lessen from there.

And so the final weekend of Laker training camp was spent mulling the fall-out of a Pacific Division rivalry turned violent and what it meant in the short term for a Laker team already without O’Neal for perhaps the first few weeks.

Assuming his ailing lower back is sound, fourth-year player Devean George presumably would start Tuesday, opening night, in place of Fox. Tracy Murray, who shot well late in camp and appears to be recovered from April hip surgery, would get most of the reserve minutes at small forward. Swingman Kobe Bryant, who has always preferred small forward to shooting guard, could also play there.

Coach Phil Jackson ordered Fox to take Saturday and, perhaps, today off.

“To get his mind straight,� Jackson said.

Though he called for suspensions for involved King players and granted that Fox and O’Neal should be similarly accountable, Jackson declined to address Fox’s actions.

“I don’t want to muddy the water around the situation by giving the league something to work with and saying something I’d regret because I don’t know all the details of the situation,� he said. “Obviously I don’t condone fighting and that’s very important that our players understand that and that the fans understand that as well.

“These players are too big to be fighting. It’s not a game that’s enhanced by fighting.�