Shaq, Kobe renew spark on and off court

Feb 16, 2009 - 3:08 PM By Anthony Olivieri PA SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor

On this Valentine's Day weekend, which doubled as the NBA's All-Star celebration, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant acted like a pair of scorned lovers who rekindled a long-doused flame.

"It was fun to interact," Bryant said. "We were just having fun. In terms of being nostalgic, we are not going to the room and watch 'Steel Magnolias' together. We had a good time - that's all."

And thank God for that.

Bryant, though, said those words while unveiling a toothy grin - which, for those who read between the lines, conveyed the real message.

They watched "The Notebook" instead.

All right, maybe they just went home to their respective families after being named co-MVPs in the Western Conference's 146-119 demolition of the East in Sunday's All-Star Game. But what's the fun in that?

Bryant and O'Neal, who now each own three MVPs at the event, have had a rocky relationship that has been distorted by constant media intrusion. So, who's to stop us from exaggerating their reconciliation?

For the purposes of a juicy story, the once-bitter feud had a happy ending, culminating in an all-smiles trophy presentation Sunday, with the stars raising their prize in unison.

The duo provided the NBA's most gripping reality television over the years. But now, they claim the long-standing gripe was nothing but a scripted soap opera.

"Big chief marketer," Bryant said of O'Neal. "He used to say that all the time."

Shaq and Kobe, winners of three consecutive championships with the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of the decade, rubbed elbows at practice Saturday and joked and laughed throughout the main event.

They were teammates for the first time since O'Neal was dealt to the Miami Heat after the 2003-04 season, when the star-studded Lakers - who boasted Karl Malone and Gary Payton as role players - flamed out in the Finals against the Detroit Pistons.

It was a premature ending to a great era.

"Those two guys together are a deadly combination," Eastern Conference coach Mike Brown said. "If they had stayed together, there is no telling how many rings they would have had for their fingers and toes."

O'Neal, for his part, suggested that those appendages would be covered.

"We are the best little-man, big-man tandem," said the current Phoenix Suns' center, who cracked a wry smile before letting out the truth behind his relationship with Bryant.

"All I know is, if we had our own TV show, it would have been the No. 1 TV show ever."

Maybe so. But at All-Star Weekend, it wasn't exactly must-see TV.

Shaq and Kobe didn't seem to be the bitter enemies that they have been portrayed as over the years, taking this opportunity as teammates to have some good old-fashioned fun.

The pair engaged in a playful game of 1-on-1 during pregame warm-ups and sat side-by-side on the bench.

Most impressively, they showed off their famous two-man game while on the court - a combination that the rest of the NBA is lucky no longer exists.

"It felt like old times," said O'Neal, who had 17 points and five rebounds in just 11 minutes. "I miss those old times. He was really looking for me and, especially when we went to the pick-and-roll and they had Rashard Lewis on me, he was really looking for me."

It was a pure moment in the relationship between the future Hall of Famers, whose checkered history is hard to forget.

In years past, despite their success, Bryant and O'Neal feuded over leadership of the Lakers, their counterpart's comments to the media and a host of other things. Coach Phil Jackson even made their relationship a central topic in his book about the trio's final season.

O'Neal, perhaps most famously, was asked to get on stage last summer at a New York City club and freestyle rap for the audience. The rap, which came long after the two had supposedly buried the hatchet, contained references to Bryant's role in O'Neal's divorce.

Bryant stated in a report during his infamous 2003 Colorado rape case that he "should have done what Shaq does ... Shaq would pay his women not to say anything." Among the lyrics in Shaq's rapping were: "I'm a horse, Kobe ratted me out, that's why I'm getting divorced."

But Shaq, who has since reconciled with his wife, may have the same forgiveness for Kobe.

There is one thing, though, that can be agreed upon - Bryant and O'Neal, on the court, are a deadly combination.

"Big legendaries," O'Neal said during the MVP presentation.

"I couldn't say it better than that right there," Bryant added.

Finally, harmony.