Media circus
Shaq and Kobe share top honor
"Storybook" ending
(A Haggy Haiku)
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It's pretty clear that the media fixed the final ballot to ensure that the two former teammates, turned enemies, turned acquaintances shared the stage one last time.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal finished with six votes apiece and were named co-MVPs of the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.
Together they won three straight championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, though the feuds had already begun.
To each, the other was selfish. Both wanted more touches. Neither could lead in the other's eyes.
Following a disappointing effort for a fourth title, the Lakers disbanded. Shaq left. Kobe nearly did the same.
An NBA title of his own in Miami deepened the pool of mockery. Bryant, after the breakup, remained silent.
O'Neal took it a step further -- and too far -- last offseason, with a rap in a New York night club. He mocked Bryant for losing to the Celtics in the NBA Finals by saying, "Kobe can't do it without me" and "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes."
Suddenly only O'Neal was seen as the bad guy, so the public relations monolith quickly reported that it was all a publicity stunt. Everything that had happened between the two, just an act.
Not really, Bryant said.
Or was it?
To be sure, the NBA played it as such as the odd couple reunited in harmonious, gregarious fashion Sunday night, feeding more to the other's ego with every lob and behind-the-back pass. Bryant finished with a game-high 27 points and O'Neal added 17 in 11 minutes.
Fact of fiction, feud ongoing or stopped, the NBA got what it wanted: a perfect ending to an imperfect relationship.
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