Kobe, Shaq Reunite to Lead West to Blowout Win

It is always fun to watch Kobe and Shaq. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal reunited as teammates for the first time since 2004 to lead the Western Conference to a 146-119 victory over the East in the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game.

During pregame introductions, Shaq emerged wearing a white plastic mask — the trademark look of the JabbaWockeeZ dance troupe — and he danced with them for two minutes before the rest of the West team was introduced.



Bryant and O’Neal, who won three straight NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-02, helped the West outscore the East 74-52 during the second half.

The two shared the MVP award as Bryant, who is still with the Lakers, finished with a game-high 27 points. O’Neal, now with the Phoenix Suns after 3 1/2 seasons in Miami, added 17 points and five rebounds.

Bryant, a 6-foot-6 guard, and O’Neal, a 7-foot-1 center, played together with the Lakers from 1996 to 2004 before their falling out led to O’Neal leaving the team. While they’ve been publicly critical of each other in the past, Bryant and O’Neal said they had fun playing together again.

“It felt like old times,” O’Neal, who played 11 minutes, said in a televised interview. “We did that for eight years. We were the best little-man, big-man tandem ever created.”

Watch the highlights