PHOENIX – The NBA All-Star game on Sunday reminded us why it is sometimes beneficial to suit up a handful of players by popularity as opposed to talent and productivity. That contest is clearly not about pure talent and competition, it is about entertainment and entertain is exactly what Shaquille O’Neal did in front of his hometown fans in Phoenix.With his better years way behind him, who would have thought Shaq would end up putting down 17 points in less than 11 minutes going 8 of 9 from the field. Even more of a stretch was thinking ex-Laker teammate Kobe Bryant and Shaq would be sharing any hardware again, especially an All-Star MVP trophy.

Kobe led the West with 27 points in the 146-119 victory over the East.

When asked about sharing the award with Shaq, Kobe appeared to enjoy the moment but made it clear the players weren’t planning to spend any upcoming holidays together. “We’re not going to go back to the room and watch Steel Magnolias or something like that, you know what I’m saying, crying, all that stuff,” said Kobe. “We had a good time. That’s all.”

“It felt like old times”, said Shaq, “I miss those times”.

One of the game’s lighter moments which made highlight reels around the country was Shaq’s Globetrotter-type bounce-pass through Dwight Howard’s legs followed by a return pass from Chris Paul and a finishing slam dunk by Big Daddy. The play brought a rousing response from the crowd and a row of laughs from both benches.

West starters Phoenix Suns’ forward Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 19 while New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul finished with 14 helpers for the West. LeBron James led the East with 20 points.

For the complete box score visit NBA.com.

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