There are good days and bad days in Rick Fox's rehabilitation from a rare brand of foot surgery, but by Friday, they'll all look quite pleasant.

Fox can't play basketball yet, and probably won't until January. So his training camp agenda in Honolulu might differ slightly from that of his Lakers teammates.

"Lay out in the sun. Drink pina coladas. Really enjoy Hawaii the way it's meant to be enjoyed," Fox said with a chuckle. "Outside of that, I'll be getting a crash course in being a general manager, sitting in the stands with Mitch Kupchak."

It has been four months since Fox underwent surgery to repair a torn tendon and realign the heel in his left foot. His surgeons believe Fox is the first NBA player to undergo this type of surgery and attempt to resume his career, and they cautioned at the time that he would need at least six to nine months of rehabilitation.

That conservative timeline is proving accurate. Fox ditched his walking boot in August, three weeks ahead of schedule, but can't run yet and probably won't for at least a few more weeks.

For now, Fox is trying to regain strength and balance, through marching and skipping exercises that will "re-train" his foot's movements.

"I don't think I'll be jumping for a while. I don't think I'll be playing for a while," Fox said. "I'm hearing January (to return to the court).' If it takes that long, I think I'll probably be bald by then. I'll probably pull out my hair."

It wasn't always an easy ride for Phil Jackson.

"That last stretch was tough, about 480 miles into the wind," Jackson mused last week in a telephone interview about returning on his motorcycle, across the Dakotas, to his Montana home over the summer. "I'd usually do the 600 miles in one day, but all the way into the wind it was dirty, dusty. I had to stop after 480."

That was only a fraction of the miles Jackson traveled last summer on his motorcycle. He made a big loop around the Rocky Mountain states and the Plains to attend a high school reunion in Williston, N.D. He saw friends and the backwoods and the soaring beauty of America.

It was an eye-opening trip for Jackson, who was given another view of life after heart surgery last spring. Familiar sights seemed clearer.

It was during that span--June 30--that Jackson happened to land for the night in tiny Eagle, Colo. It seemed like an ideal place to stop. The town is high in the mountains, seemingly closer to the brightest stars.

Jackson had no idea how close.

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was there as well. The events of June 30 would eventually lead to sexual assault charges being brought against Bryant in Eagle.

"Unbeknownst to me, he was just six miles down the road," Jackson said. "We weren't aware of the fact. We knew he was looking for medical clinics to appraise his knee and the situation. But it caught us by surprise."

The paths of Jackson and Bryant will cross again this week as NBA training camps open. But a season that looked so promising for the Lakers, who signed All-Stars Gary Payton and Karl Malone, won't be an easy ride.

"I'm certain I look at every year as a great challenge," Jackson said. "But this is going to be one of the most challenging years I can see."

There was a time when Pat Riley's name was synonymous with beautiful basketball, when Magic Johnson led the greatest fast break ever, when James Worthy finished with statuesque dunks, when the half-court set was the domain of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's majestic sky hook.

It was the game at its finest, Showtime in Los Angeles, and Riley, with his slicked-back hair and Armani suits, presided over it perfectly as the stylish architect of it all.

But over the past 12 years, Riley beat that image into the ground and buried it, his teams in New York and Miami using a brutal type of thuggery that was palatable only because it produced victories.

Now, after failing to make the playoffs the last two seasons, Riley is ready to revert. When the Miami Heat opens training camp this week, Riley will introduce his team to a poor man's version of Showtime. It will be a crude copy to be sure, but Riley nonetheless plans to run and play pretty again.

The key to Miami's transformation will be two young players the team acquired this off-season, the free agent Lamar Odom and the first-round draft pick Dwyane Wade. Barring injuries or new revelations during training camp, Riley will start Wade and Odom alongside Caron Butler, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant.

That lineup features no true point guard and no true center, just four extremely versatile and athletic players (none smaller than 6 feet 4 inches) and one hardy rebounder in Grant.

A center for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and the woman who is accusing Kobe Bryant of sexual assault want to quash efforts by Bryant's defense team to review notes and other records taken by a victim's advocate.

Bryant attorneys Hal Haddon and Pamela Mackey this month issued a subpoena for those records, as well as training manuals and any other notes taken in connection with the Bryant investigation.

But in separate motions Wednesday and Thursday to quash the subpoenas, attorneys for the woman and The Resource Center of Eagle County asked the court to reject the defense's request, claiming the notes of any conversations between advocates at the center and the alleged victim are "expressly privileged by statute and case law."

"The subpoena issued is merely another discovery attempt from the defendant for information to which they are not entitled," wrote Avon attorney John Clune, an attorney for the accuser.

In the center's motion to quash, Inga Haagenson Causey, attorney for the resource center, wrote that the accuser has not waived her right to keep such records confidential.

The sexual assault charges against Bryant, a 25-year-old NBA all-star, stem from a June 30 encounter at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera near Edwards, where he was staying while undergoing knee surgery. The Eagle County woman, at the time an employee at the lodge, subsequently said Bryant sexually assaulted her. Bryant has said he had consensual sex with the woman.

Bryant's attorneys also have asked the court to rule whether the woman has waived privacy rights to other medical records, including those kept at a student clinic at the University of Northern Colorado, where she was previously enrolled as a student.

The Los Angeles Lakers anticipate Kobe Bryant will be reporting for the start of preseason training next week in Hawaii, despite his next scheduled court date in Eagle.

"Right now, we expect he'll be showing up for the start of practices Oct. 2 with the other veterans," said Lakers Director of Public Relations John Black.

"Do I know that he will? No, I expect it. I expect that I'll wake up tomorrow, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow gets here."

Prosecutors sided with media organizations Tuesday in requesting that Kobe Bryant's preliminary hearing in Colorado remain open, an indication that Dist. Atty. Mark Hurlbert believes Bryant's accuser will not have to testify despite increased pressure from the Laker star's attorneys.

In a separate but related 13-page filing, the defense asked Eagle County Judge Frederick Gannett to uphold a subpoena requesting that the woman appear at the Oct. 9 proceeding, saying she is the only witness with "competent evidence" that a crime occurred.

Gannett, who also is considering several other motions, is not expected to rule on either issue for several days.

Bryant, 25, faces four years to life in prison on a felony sexual assault charge stemming from his stay June 30 at a hotel in Edwards, Colo., where his accuser worked. He admits they had sex but says it was consensual.

Hurlbert said the preliminary hearing should be open to the public and the media because the evidence he plans to introduce would not threaten Bryant's right to a fair trial. He also contends that attempts by the defense to justify closing the hearing by pointing out that court files in the case have been sealed are "comparing apples to oranges."

Prosecutors plan to show a videotape of the woman's statement to investigators and call as a witness only the detective who took her statement. Bryant's attorneys object, saying that would eliminate an opportunity for her to be cross-examined.

Bryant's attorneys have argued that closing the preliminary hearing would eliminate the apprehension the woman feels about appearing, thus removing the reasons her attorneys have expressed for not wanting her to testify.

Brian Shaw, the sturdy guard who had a hand in each of the Lakers' last three NBA championships, will announce his retirement as a player today. He will remain with the organization in other capacities.

The Lakers had offered him a place on their training-camp roster. Shaw, who turned 37 in March, near the end of his 14th NBA season, declined after consideration, and instead will serve the franchise in scouting, development coaching and consulting.

He played four seasons for the Lakers, earning a reputation for selflessness, leadership and perspective in a locker room that often required a veteran's touch. Shaw averaged only four points in 284 games as a Laker, but his banked three-pointer against the Portland Trail Blazers late in the third quarter of Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference finals was among the memorable plays of that remarkable comeback, igniting the organization's run of championships.

Shaw also developed an on-court relationship with Shaquille O'Neal, frequently drawing O'Neal's praise as a passer.

Like Ron Harper before him, Shaw became a heady, reliable guard in Coach Phil Jackson's triangle offense. While higher profile teammates sometimes bickered over having the ball and scoring opportunities, Shaw often filled his line of the box score with assists, steals and blocks.

Shaw, who played at UC Santa Barbara, was taken by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 1988 draft and played for seven NBA teams and one Italian League franchise.

In his new role, Shaw apparently will be based in Oakland, reporting variously to General Manager Mitch Kupchak and Jackson, and working as both a professional and amateur scout.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said Monday that Kobe Bryant should continue to play for the Lakers this season, even as Bryant faces a potential trial for a sexual assault charge in Colorado.

"Absolutely," Stern said. "We don't have a Patriot Act in the NBA. That means that you're innocent until proven guilty. If every time someone was accused and there were allegations, they were required to stop their life, that wouldn't be a good thing. That could be their choice, but they shouldn't be forced to [stop]."

Bryant is accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman from Eagle, Colo. Bryant says the sex was consensual. Bryant has a preliminary hearing scheduled Oct. 9, at which a judge will determine whether there will be a trial.

Stern said the Bryant case, one of the most-discussed news stories of the summer, "certainly hasn't escaped our notice, is what I would say."

Stern said that for the NBA, "Our preparations are purely [administrative], having to do with security and public relations, communications access. Everything else is business as usual.

"Will there be some media distraction? Yes. But I doubt very much whether there will be any basketball distraction."

One thing that makes the Bryant case unusual, even by celebrity-trial standards, is that few public figures face as much regular exposure to reporters as NBA players. They are expected to be available to the media after practices and games, and for a 45-minute period before games. Although Bryant rarely conducted pregame interviews in recent years, he could be counted on to answer questions afterward, win or lose, and at practice.

The Lakers still have not announced media guidelines for interviewing Bryant, who is expected to be with the rest of the Laker veterans when they begin training camp Oct. 2 in Hawaii. At least 30 reporters ? about six times the normal number ? are expected to be there.

Stern said the league would not impose restrictions on access to Bryant, but would instead rely on expectations of common sense and respect for privacy on legal matters.

"I think there's a difference between media access, which will remain complete, and what any particular player chooses to respond to," Stern said. "I can't imagine that it would be constructive or fair or even, in some ways, court-approved, if there were to be dialogue and questioning about the case. My guess is ? and it's only a guess from a distance ? is that it should be off-limits."

At least a half dozen teams will have begun training camp by Saturday so it's not too soon to wonder about the 2003-04 NBA season.

Does Kobe Bryant need to spend the next seven months playing or praying?

The Sonics haven't had a decent center since Jack Sikma. What took him so long to join the club as a coach and commit to helping those stiffs?

Should we be surprised that owner Bob Johnson is winning over the Charlotte market?

Did the Grizzlies get better than Golden State, Seattle and Houston?

Speaking of getting better, just who will lead these Grizzlies?

Did the Lakers or Timberwolves (see: T-wolves) have the better offseason?

How is it that Milwaukee got rid of Ray Allen, Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson, and held on to Anthony Mason?

"So let the sideshow begin. Hurry, hurry, step right on in."

Appropriately enough, there's a huge blue-and-gold circus tent outside Staples Center right now. But don't think that the show will stop when the Cirque du Soleil leaves town.

As if the addition of future Hall of Famers Gary Payton and Karl Malone to O'Neal and Kobe Bryant would not attract enough attention, the whole saga will be played under the specter of a sexual assault charge against Bryant.

Along with the usual assortment of Laker beat reporters heading to Hawaii at the end of the month, national sportswriters from Associated Press, USA Today and television crews from shows such as "Access Hollywood" and "Extra" will make the trip. Everywhere they go this year, the Lakers can expect an abundance of fans, media and maybe even protesters.

O'Neal has experienced NBA Finals, All-Star games and even a stint with Dennis Rodman ? and he knows they were nothing like what's in store.

"My life has always been crazy, but it's been basketball crazy," O'Neal said. "Of course, this year it's going to be off-the-court crazy. We have to develop a simple system and stick with that."