O’Neal May Try to Pull a Power Play

Sunday, 11 NBA teams will draw for draft rights to Shaquille O’Neal.

But O’Neal has said he wants to play for one of the Los Angeles teams, and since neither is in the lottery, he is considering threatening to sit out the season to force a trade.

The 7-foot-1, 290-pound O’Neal, considered the top player to come into the league in years, is assured of being the No. 1 pick.

The team that draws his draft rights will have a year to sign him. If O’Neal were to actually sit out for a season, that team might prefer a trade to merely surrendering the rights.

The NHL has a similar impasse now between Eric Lindros and the Quebec Nordiques.

Lindros refused to report after he was drafted last spring, choosing instead to play for the Canadian Olympic team. The Nordiques are reportedly resigned to trading him.

O’Neal couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.

“If Shaq is selected as the first player in the draft, it’s certainly an honor for him,” O’Neal’s agent, Leonard Armato said. “We’re more than excited about that. Beyond that, we will take a look at the situation and his options when all the relevant factors are in.”

Since deciding to forgo his senior season at Louisiana State, O’Neal has split time between his home in San Antonio and Los Angeles.

He sat with Laker owner Jerry Buss and Magic Johnson at a Laker game. He visited the Laker dressing room. He said he had always been a fan of Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and wanted to play for the Lakers. He played a pick-up game at Pauley Pavilion with Johnson.

“He’s going to be something,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s just going to be shaking their heads, like I was shaking mine.”

O’Neal shattered a backboard at SportsClub L.A. while taping a show for NBC on Wednesday.

O’Neal’s options reportedly include living off his endorsement income for a year.

He has reportedly signed a $1-million contract with a trading-card company and is negotiating with several shoe companies. A rival agent says O’Neal could make $5 million in commercial deals in the next 12 months.