Lakers brought showtime to Hawaii in training camp visits

The islands got a taste of the tail end of Showtime at Blaisdell Arena and later a full blast of the Shaq Attack at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii became the second home of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Pat Riley were still the headliners. In the first of 13 preseason training camps here, the Lakers practiced at the University of Hawaii’s Klum Gym and played exhibition games in front of sellouts at the Blaisdell.

“Everyone over there seems to be a Laker fan,” team owner Jerry Buss said at the time. “Since the people of Hawaii have seemed to adopt the Lakers, it only seems fitting that the Lakers adopt the state of Hawaii as their home, at least for training camp.”

By 1994, scrappy forward Kurt Rambis was the only player left from the team that won five NBA championships in the 1980s. Riley was gone, too, with Del Harris the new coach. With the new on-campus arena not ready, former UH star guard Trevor Ruffin scored 12 points in 14 minutes as the Lakers beat the Kings, 110-103.

When they finally did play games at UH, in 1996, the Lakers’ transformation to a new dynasty with new names on the marquee was complete. Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson were now the brightest lights. In his first appearance after arriving from the Orlando Magic, Shaq scored 25 points with 12 reboundsbefore a full house of 10,000-plus at the on-campus venue .

Seven years later the Lakers arrived in Hawaii with four future Hall of Famers.

With O’Neal and Kobe Bryant leading the way, LA had won three of the previous four NBA titles. The players assembled in Manoa in 2003 combined for 21 championship rings. None, however, belonged to Karl Malone or Gary Payton — two veteran superstars who joined the Lakers in the offseason.

Bryant did not play in Hawaii this time as he dealt with off-court issues. Packed houses at the SSC saw the Lakers split with the Golden State Warriors. Payton would have to wait until 2006 to win a championship with the Miami Heat, and Malone never did in his 19-year career.

After 2007, the Lakers took a vacation from paradise until 2015 and the prelude to Bryant’s final season.

A different galaxy of NBA stars from LA, the Clippers, has since held its preseason camp here and also filled the UH arena for preseason games.

“The Lakers hope to return to Hawaii soon and reconnect with the island spirit,” current Lakers owner Jeannie Buss told the Los Angeles Times in August.

If it happens within the next few years it would be with another all-time NBA great, LeBron James, in purple and gold.