Thriving on competition, Farmar steps up to lead Lakers bench



EL SEGUNDO - He was not fearful of the competition. In fact, Jordan Farmar's attitude was to bring it on.

So when the Los Angeles Lakers used their first-round draft pick on a point guard, the same position Jordan Farmar plays, and when they signed Derek Fisher to shore up that position, Jordan Farmar viewed it as a challenge.

Jordan Farmar didn't win the starting job in training camp; that went to the veteran Fisher. But Jordan Farmar has become the first guard off the bench, and he works hard every day to put himself in position to one day be the starter.

"I know I can play," said Jordan Farmar, 20. "And I'm not afraid of competing with anybody, on another team or on our team. I push Fisher every day, help him get better. Competition is what this country is built on and what I've gotten to this point on, and I thrive by it."

It wasn't long after the Los Angeles Lakers used their No. 19 pick to select Javaris Crittenton out of Georgia Tech back in June that Jordan Farmar showed up at the practice facility to work out.

Observers smiled, guessing that Jordan Farmar was feeling some heat, that he knew there now was competition for him from another young, skilled point guard.

Jordan Farmar had been the golden boy when the Los Angeles Lakers selected him out of UCLA with the 26th pick in the 2006 draft. As a rookie he started the last two regular-season games and all five playoff games.

The Los Angeles Lakers were moving forward without guards Smush Parker, Aaron McKie and Shammond Williams, and General Manager Mitch Kupchak wanted Jordan Farmar to know he was still in their plans, and to not read anything into their drafting Javaris Crittenton.

"Mitch came and pulled me aside and thought I would be offended or something," Jordan Farmar said. "He was like, 'We're still rolling with you. You're still our guy. We just drafted the best player available.' That's their job."

Said Kupchak: "His head is shaking 'yes' before I finished my statement. That's Jordan. He knows exactly what you're going to say it before you say it. I gave him a pat on the butt and that was it."

All it did was make Jordan Farmar work harder. He just went back to what he calls his "laboratory," working out in the gym six or seven days a week.

"It would have pushed me, no matter what the GM said," Kupchak said. "He went about it in a silent fashion this summer. I encouraged him to come in. When I didn't see him at the facility, I'd give him a call and he's say, 'Don't worry about me,' and I don't worry about him because I know he's a gym rat."

The hard work has paid off. Jordan Farmar had had a good start to the season, averaging 7.6 points and 2.6 assists in 19.8 minutes. He's shooting 47.1 percent from the field and leading a bench that's outscored the opposition's reserves 183-136 in the Los Angeles Lakers' first five games.

"Jordan's always had kind of that chip on his shoulder," Kobe Bryant said. "I've liked him from Day 1 because of that."

Fisher said he likes Jordan Farmar's "poise and his savvy for somebody that's really going into his senior year in college.

"He has a great feel for the game. He wants to work hard. He wants to be successful. His attitude is great. And he has confidence for somebody who is still feeling his way out, but he doesn't really want to let you know that."

Confidence is one thing Jordan Farmar has never lacked. But he seems more humble now, more understanding of what it takes to be successful in the NBA.

"I'm just trying to grow as a player every day," Jordan Farmar said. "I stepped up a notch since last year and I'm looking forward to keep making those leaps and bounds."

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