LAKER REPORT : Threatt Returns to Fold, Lakers Are Blown Out

The return of Sedale Threatt was as mysterious as his disappearance.

The Lakers’ reserve guard, whose sudden and unexplained departure from training camp last Saturday in Honolulu angered Executive Vice President Jerry West, was back in uniform Friday while conceding that his agent lied to West by saying Threatt walked out to get a contract extension. Threatt, however, refused to shed any light on the six-day absence before the 125-100 loss to the Orlando Magic at the Forum, other than to say the matter is resolved.

“It’s not what y’all think,” Threatt said. “It was something totally personal. I had a long talk with Jerry.

“We worked it out. I’m back to playing basketball.”

And back to his job as the backup point guard.

“You reach an agreement, reach an accommodation, and go forward from there,” Coach Del Harris said.

“At this point, it’s as if he had been on the injured list. That’s it.”

Threatt, who received a lukewarm response from the 10,977 fans during pregame introductions, will be fined, although it is not known if the Lakers will go for the maximum $3,300.

In the first game of the GTE Everything Pages Shootout, Lloyd Daniels scored 21 points off the bench and Clarence Weatherspoon had 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past the Denver Nuggets, 93-92. The 76ers announced earlier in the day that Shawn Bradley will be sidelined four to six weeks because of sprained ligaments in his left knee, meaning the 7-foot-6 center might not play again until the regular season is a month old.

Orlando, which got 32 points from Shaquille O’Neal, will play the 76ers today at 5 p.m. for the championship. The Lakers and Nuggets meet at 8.

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Michael Cooper becomes more impressed with rookie Eddie Jones’ defense every day.

The assistant coach, along with others, noted Jones’ talents in that area when the Lakers drafted him in the first round in June amid comparisons to Cooper in build and ability to run the floor and jump. Now, with Jones battling Anthony Peeler for the starting job at shooting guard and also getting some time at small forward, Cooper rates him a five or six already in defense on a scale of one to 10 while placing most other rookies, especially those who played mostly zone in college, at a one or two.

“He has athletic ability, jumping ability and smarts,” said Cooper, named to the all-defensive team five times in a vote by coaches, and the league’s defensive player of the year in 1986-87. “With those kind of things going for him, he can be a pretty tenacious defender.”