Rodman Decision Coming Monday?

Wearing bright floral headgear the size of a small sofa, Dennis Rodman popped up on an ESPN interview show Friday afternoon, drew adolescent giggles from the host, and announced that, while he would “love to” play for the Lakers, a final decision whether to sign with the team might not come until Monday.

“I think the latest will be Monday morning,” said Rodman, who scheduled a news conference Monday at Planet Hollywood in Beverly Hills and complained that the new labor deal would force him to take a salary far below his market value. “I’ll have a press conference, I’ll say, ‘Great, this is my decision, this is what’s going to happen. This is it, no more.’

“I’m going to take this weekend and really put my mind at ease and at peace and then firmly say whatever the hell I’ve got to say and then go from there.”

What was the Lakers’ response to his appearance?

“Well, he had an interesting look,” Coach Del Harris said.

Any other comments?

“I’ve got my quote,” Harris said with a smile. “No more.”

Shaquille O’Neal, one of Rodman’s leading Laker advocates, said Rodman shouldn’t be complaining about the salary structure since Rodman created the situation by briefly retiring--and therefore losing his “Bird” rights.

As an unattached free agent, Rodman, who has earned a combined $18 million the past two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, can only be offered the veteran minimum, now pro-rated down to about $500,000, by Lakers, who are over the salary cap.

“He shouldn’t have retired, then,” O’Neal said. “He should’ve forced a trade. You want to be a businessman, be a businessman, you know?”

Magic Johnson says he’s tired of it.

“It’s like a circus now,” Johnson, a part-owner and vice president of the Lakers, said on David Letterman’s show Thursday night. “We are a first-class organization. We do things the right way, and right now, he’s like trying to hold us hostage. . . . He’s driving me crazy because he’s hurting the team, he’s hurting the organization, so I would love us just to say forget it.”

Rodman indicated that the Lakers weren’t his only option--and suggested that he might also sign with the Miami Heat, although the Heat has already publicly and privately announced that it is not interested.

“It ain’t about Dennis Rodman trying to be greedy, it’s not about that,” Rodman said. “The fact of it is you’ve got a bunch of young guys in this league making a lot of money and you’ve got guys like me that’s stuck and all of a sudden now I can’t get out.

“If I play basketball, it’ll be between two teams, the Lakers and Miami. I want to play for the Lakers, I would love to come here and bring spice to their life. I could be the new Spice Girl.”

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Forward Robert Horry, who sat out his third game in a row Friday because of a heartbeat irregularity, will definitely be out at least through the Lakers’ three-game trip that ends Tuesday in Vancouver, and the earliest he might return to action is Thursday night against the Clippers.

Rookies Sam Jacobson (broken finger) and Tyronn Lue (back spasms) were put on the injured list as the team met the deadline to reduce its active roster from 14 to 12.