Hedda Hopper-Louella Parsons gossipy Hollywood. All you have to do is trace the Lakers' season, one in which they often lost games they should have won. Because they played defense as if their opponents had radiation poisoning. Fisher, who suffered from a stress fracture in his right foot, sat out most of the season. I don't think so.
Fisher plays terrific defense.
He knows Phil Jackson's triangle offense. He is a calming influence in this ocean of egos. And he has become a better shooter. Portland, which lost its brakes long ago, is an embarrassment to a league that is an embarrassment unto itself. But the Lakers are back atop their game because they are playing defense again, which is why they won last season, which is why their obvious lack of it often allowed so many points during the regular season.