Rodman Might Resurface Today

Absent forward Dennis Rodman is believed to have boarded an LAX-to-Orlando flight Saturday afternoon--after missing at least one earlier flight--and was expected in Orlando sometime near midnight.

After missing the first four games of this six-game trip because of personal problems, Rodman is expected to play in today’s nationally televised game against the Magic, who are coached by his mentor, Chuck Daly.

The Lakers, who won all nine games Rodman has played, are 1-3 on this trip without him.

Rodman, who left the team last Saturday saying he needed to deal with personal issues and was seen in Las Vegas during his eight days away from the Lakers, was not with the team for Saturday’s practice in Orlando.

A team spokesman also said that Coach Kurt Rambis tried to return an apparently urgent call from Rodman’s agent, Steve Chasman, passed along by the Philadelphia 76er public relations staff late Friday, but couldn’t reach him.

One Laker, Shaquille O’Neal, had been making it very clear that he had grown tired of the daily round of questioning about Rodman’s disappearance.

“I’m not a baby-sitter,” O’Neal said. “I’m already underpaid, so I don’t get paid enough to baby-sit and answer questions about all that stuff.”

But O’Neal also has repeatedly said the Lakers will embrace Rodman when he returns.

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O’Neal, set today to play his second game in Orlando since leaving as a free agent after the 1995-96 season, said he doesn’t care if the fans taunt him as wildly as they did in his first trip last season.

“No matter what happens, I built that arena,” O’Neal said. “That’s why they call it the ‘O’-rena. No matter what happens the rest of my career, I built that arena. I built that city.”

This will be O’Neal’s first game in Orlando against Penny Hardaway, his erstwhile teammate, who was injured when Nick Anderson scored 30 points, including the winning three-point basket, as the Magic beat the Lakers, 96-94, on Feb. 22, 1998.

O’Neal was injured for the Lakers’ trip to Orlando during the 1996-97 season.

“Sure, I’m not going anywhere,” O’Neal said when he was asked if he plans on maintaining his home in Orlando. “I’m like grass--you can cut me, you can pull me up, but I’ll be back. You like that?”

TODAY at Orlando

9:30 a.m. PST, Ch. 4

* Site--Orlando Arena.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 17-9, Magic 18-7.

* Record vs. Magic (1997-98)--1-1.

* Update--The Magic is rested, having not played since beating the Knicks on Thursday. Magic point guard Darrell Armstrong has averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 assists in the last two games.