Reggie Evans knows what it’s like to play on an NBA team challenging for the spotlight in its own city.
Evans spent last season playing for the Clippers,who share Staples Center — but little of the Los Angeles spotlight — with the Lakers. But when asked if he thought acomparison could be made to the dominance the Lakers hold in Los Angeles to what the Knicks hold in NewYork, the veteran forward said he didn’t see it.
“You can’t really do the comparision [between the Lakers and Knicks] when you’ve got Magic [Johnson], [Michael] Cooper, Kareem [Abdul Jabbar], Shaq [O’Neal], Kobe [Bryant],” Evans said. “The New York Knicks have…Willis Reed? Walt Frazier? You’ve got to go back,[while] the Lakers, you can keep on going.
“It’s a different ball game when you’re talking about the comparison. You can’t really compare the Knicks to the Lakers, because the Lakers have how many rings? Compared to two [for the Knicks]? There’s no resemblance.
“At the end of the day, we want to be champions of the world, not champions of the city. Who can care less about that? You don’t get no trophy for beating the New York Knicks. That’s what, bragging rights? I could care less about bragging rights. We’re just going for championships, that’s it.”
* The Nets suffered their first injury before training camp even began. Rookie point guard TyshawnTaylor suffered a strained right quad last week when participating in some track workouts with teammates. Thanks to the injury, Taylor, whom the Nets grabbed with the 41st selection in June’s draft following a draft night trade with Portland, was held out of practice.