This, my friends, is what Chris Webber gets for expressing a desire to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. From the L.A. Daily News’ Ross Siler.

Phil Jackson had a question of his own when asked about reports that free-agent forward Chris Webber (above) has a wish list of five teams for which he would like to play, the Lakers being one of them.

“Did he give it to Santa?” Jackson quipped. “It’s a little bit late for that.”

After reaching agreement on a buyout, Webber was waived Thursday by the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers could offer Webber a prorated contract for the veteran’s minimum of $1.117 million, of which $433,797 would be covered by the NBA.

“We’ve always respected Chris Webber’s game and he’s a great player,” Jackson said.

The New York Post’s Peter Vescey insists San Antonio is the best fit for Webber (“if he’s able to stay healthy and contribute 15-20 points and eight-to-10 rebounds on a regular basis, it’d elevate San Antonio to the plutonium plateau where the Mavericks are operating,”), writing of C-Webb’s jones for purple and gold,

The Lakers were the first team on his lips last night when interviewed on TNT, other than to dispute the network’s earlier report the Pistons were the clear-cut favorite. Only a person with a basketball “HiQ” and an enormous ego would feel he can speed-learn Phil Jackson’s triangle offense on the fly and, in chorus, figure out how to co-exist with Kobe Bryant and fit in with Lamar Odom.

That pretty much sums up Chris Webber.

For the 2nd time in less than a week, Jersey spotted Da Bulls an 18 point lead, but the Nets came back to claim the 86-83 victory, led by Jason Kidd’s 82nd career triple double. If Kidd (23 points, 11 assists, 14 rebounds) is in any way distracted by his public spat with wife Joumana, neither Dave D’Alessandro nor Paul Lo Duca can tell.