WHAT'S RODMAN'S RUSE?

04/21/1999 at 12:00 AM EDT

Dennis Rodman hasn't even signed with the Los Angeles Lakers (as is anticipated) and already he's providing a distraction. Sources have told the Los Angeles Times that Rodman scheduled a meeting with Lakers owner Jerry Buss, indicating that he wanted to scoop his own agents and work out a deal for himself. The latest Rodman soap opera has been such a preoccupation within the Lakers organization that coach Del Harris has asked Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the players not to talk about it in public anymore.