Shaq Rumors Get a New Twist Amid Tampering Reports

Tuesday or Thursday. Lakers or Orlando Magic. An annual salary of $10 million or $15 million.

Whatever the outcome, Orlando center Shaquille O’Neal apparently has it all in perspective as he prepares to become a free agent.

“Hey, my movie [Kazaam] is still opening on July 17, isn’t it?” he said with a shrug and a smile after learning Tuesday morning that the NBA moratorium on contract signings, expected to end Tuesday, had been extended to Thursday because of complications in labor talks between owners and the players’ union, leaving O’Neal’s future up in the air for at least 48 more hours.

Despite rampant rumors to the contrary, a source close to the Lakers insisted that club officials, though intensely interested in signing the 7-foot superstar, have not engaged in negotiations with O’Neal or his representatives, honoring league rules against tampering. Clubs are prohibited from talking to, or publicly about, any free agent until the moratorium ends.

The rumors have been fueled by an agreement the Lakers have already made to trade their own center, Vlade Divac, and by a newspaper report in New York that Magic officials are planning to file tampering charges against the Lakers.

John Gabriel, vice president of basketball operations for the Magic, said that was news to him.

“There’s nothing that has been on our agenda that involved tampering,” Gabriel said. “We have not, at this point, directed energy to anything else outside our own organization other than being aware of the salary-cap numbers to establish our competition.”

Gabriel says he’s not about to flinch every time somebody hits him with a new rumor.

“We’ve heard tons of things . . . but that was there since, gosh, when we drafted [O’Neal],” Gabriel said.

O’Neal certainly didn’t flinch when informed that the moratorium had been extended.

“Things you can’t control, you shouldn’t worry about,” he said. “Now I’ve got two more days to review the situation.”

O’Neal learned of the new deadline here at America West Arena, where he and other members of the U.S. Olympic basketball team are preparing for tonight’s exhibition against the Chinese Olympians.

“I told my agent [Leonard Armato] not to call me until [the moratorium] is all over,” O’Neal said. “I guess that’s why he didn’t call.

“It doesn’t matter though. I should not be thinking about it. I should be thinking about the Olympics.”

Asked about speculation that he will sign with the Lakers, O’Neal reiterated his preference for the Magic.

“I don’t know why there is all this talk,” he said. “I have always said that Orlando is my first option. I have always said I wanted to live there.

“But after [Thursday], I will look at my options and do what is best for me. Not what’s best for Leonard. Not what’s best for [sportswriters].”

Asked if he would rank the chance to be on a championship team ahead of where he plays or what he makes, O’Neal nodded.

“You can have the biggest house in the world but if you don’t win, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It’s just about winning.”

If O’Neal is agonizing, he certainly hides it well. He joked with reporters, answering the same questions over and over.

Times staff writer Scott Howard-Cooper contributed to this story.