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NBA

Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal Named 2009 NBA All-Star Co-MVPs

Posted Feb 16, 2009 12:35AM By Brett Pollakoff (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Lakers, Suns, NBA All-Star Game, NBA Press Box

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PHOENIX -- The 2009 NBA All-Star game was largely lacking in the amount of exciting plays that we're used to seeing from the midseason exhibition. But the few that did happen came mostly from Shaquille O'Neal, so despite playing just 11 minutes, he was named the game's co-MVP, along with the evening's leading scorer, Kobe Bryant.

The West beat the East by a score of 146-119, but that was beside the point. The story going in was the fact that Shaq, Kobe, and Phil Jackson were reunited together for the first time since O'Neal's ugly divorce from the Lakers after the 2004 season. And honestly, the only time the game was remotely exciting was when Shaq was on the floor, which seemed like it wasn't very long at all.

For the first half of the game, there was really no flow and the referees were a little too whistle-happy to let anything get started. Shaq opened the game's introductions by performing with the dance group Jabbawockeez, mask and all, and for a while it looked like that was going to be the highlight of the entire evening. Teams were in the penalty with 5:09 remaining in the half -- It was that bad.

While Kobe came out firing from the opening tip, and took 13 shots to get 13 points by halftime, Shaq impacted the game in spurts. Kobe played 30 minutes and led everyone with 27 points, but Shaq's 17 on 8-of-9 shooting in limited action were by far more exciting to watch.

"We wanted to be aggressive," Bryant said. "We lost last year and we wanted to make sure we came out here and played the game hard, and come out with a win."


It seems that in these games, the MVP is up for grabs to anyone that wants to play a little harder than everyone else. That was Kobe in this one, but it didn't quite work out that way, at least 100 percent. That's because Shaq showcased his ball-handling skills, which culminated with a give and go between him and Chris Paul that ended up being the game's signature highlight.

After the trophy was handed out (Kobe is letting Shaq take the award home) and the two sat side-by-side at the post-game press conference, naturally the question came up of whether or not the two wished that they could still be playing together.

"No," Kobe said, to a room full of laughter. "No," O'Neal immediately followed, without missing a beat as the laughs continued.

"It felt like old times," O'Neal said. "I miss those times. He was really looking for me, especially when we went to a pick-and-roll and they had [Rashard Lewis] on me."

Kobe, however, immediately put a damper on the idea of the night becoming overly sentimental.

"We're not going to go back to the room and watch Steel Magnolias or something like that," Bryant said. "You know what I'm saying? Crying and all that stuff. We had a good time. That's all," he said with a smile.

Players splitting the MVP trophy is by no means common at All-Star games, but neither is a situation where two of the game's biggest stars -- who engaged in a very public feud for at least a couple of years -- are reunited after winning three championships together. But for at least one night, everything was just fine between Kobe and Shaq.

And since the two are no longer actual teammates, the authenticity of their friendship is something that needn't be questioned.

Tags: Kobe+Bryant, KobeBryant, nbaallstar09, Phil+Jackson, PhilJackson, Shaquille+ONeal, ShaquilleOneal

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