Funny how no one gripes about foreign workers when they’re athletes. Consider the current Los Angeles Lakers:

There’s a Spaniard playing in the low post. A man from Serbia and Montenegro stands on the perimeter. Meanwhile, a Slovenian, a guy from Martinique by way of France and a fellow from the Congo by way of Belgium wait their turns on the bench.

This season, Southern California’s favorite professional basketball team looks and sounds a great deal like Southern California. The Lakers are one very large tossed salad, just like the city and the region they call home.

Most nights, almost half of the Lakers’ active roster hails from someplace outside the United States. Many times, the dominant language spoken in the locker room is something other than English.

“Every day before practice starts we go into the film room and Phil puts in a Rosetta Stone DVD and we go through everyone’s language,” veteran guard Derek Fisher said with a wry smile. “We try to pick one or two words to communicate with Pau or Sasha or Ronny or DJ and Vlade. Even Kobe throws in some Spanish or Italian.”

No, not really.

Fisher, who was born and raised in Little Rock, Ark., was only joking about Lakers coach Phil Jackson’s pre-practice routine.

There’s no need for Jackson to hire translators for his players.

Pau Gasol (Spain), DJ Mbenga (Congo), Vladimir Radmanovic (Serbia and Montenegro), Ronny Turiaf (Martinique) and Sasha Vujacic (Slovenia) each speak fluent English, even though their native tongue is something else.

Bryant learned Italian and Spanish as a child living in Europe while his father, Joe, played abroad after ending his NBA career. He has picked up more Spanish since the Lakers acquired Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies on Feb.1. Bryant and Gasol often speak Spanish on the court, the better to confuse opponents whose only language is English.

“We were in New Jersey (in early February) and (the Nets’) Marcus Williams is guarding me and Kobe said something to Pau and Williams said, `This dude is speaking Spanish now?”‘ said guard Jordan Farmar, a former standout at UCLA and Taft High of Woodland Hills.

What’s more, Turiaf and Mbenga have helped Bryant with his French. Vujacic and Radmanovic have taught Bryant to cuss out referees in Slovenian and Serbian, the better to avoid technical fouls. Bryant says he prefers French because its tone is softer.