Los Angeles ? Never again will Shaquille O’Neal wear gold and purple. And if that wasn’t stunning enough, consider the idea of Kobe Bryant clad in red.

“We have no idea whether Kobe will come back,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak acknowledged Wednesday after completing the trade that sent O’Neal to Miami. “We’re hopeful that he’ll re-sign, but we don’t even know that.”

Wasn’t it just recently that the Lakers were being called — rightly or wrongly — a dynasty? A better term these days might be “train wreck.”

Another chapter in the disassembly of that so-called dynasty was completed Wednesday, the NBA office giving final approval to the deal sending O’Neal to Miami for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future No. 1 draft pick.

“The Eastern Conference, outside of Jermaine O’Neal, it’s not going to be that difficult to me. So I look forward to it,” Shaq said.

The plot line and the date of the next chapter of “As the Lakers Unfurl” will become known soon, though no one — except perhaps the publicly silent Bryant — is certain exactly when.

By trading Melvin Ely and Eddie House to Charlotte for two second-round draft picks, the Clippers have cleared enough salary cap space to offer Bryant a maximum-salary contract of about $100 million over six years.

The Lakers can offer Bryant a seventh season in a package worth an additional $30 million, but whatever contract Bryant signs will presumably have an opt-out clause after the fifth season — making the financial value of the two offers much more comparable.

“My guess at this hour is we’ve done everything we can do,” said Kupchak, who reiterated what he said earlier this summer — that the Lakers will not consider any sign-and-trade deals for Bryant. “I’m hopeful that he’ll make a decision sooner rather than later.”

Elsewhere around the league, Rasheed Wallace continued to negotiate with the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, and Erick Dampier was stalling on accepting lucrative offers from Atlanta and Denver in the hope that the New York Knicks would be able to acquire him from Golden State.