The Shaq Shoe Phone was not the most outrageous thing displayed at the NBA All-Star game.
That distinction belonged to The Big Entertainer himself.
PHOTO: EPA
For the second straight year, Shaquille O'Neal made people laugh, applaud and appreciate his oversized way of doing everything, infusing Sunday night's otherwise nondescript All-Star game with just the right amount of precociousness.
PHOTO: AFP
He danced as he was introduced, struck a pose before missing a foul shot and goofed with the rap stars and hip-hop artists who lined the front-row seats across from the Eastern Conference bench.
All that showmanship didn't win O'Neal MVP honors -- that award went to Allen Iverson, who had 15 points, nine assists and five steals as the East beat the West 125-115. But if MVP stood for Most Vibrant Personality, this one was a runaway decided squarely in favor of the 162km, 2.13m behemoth who was making his 12th appearance in the league's showcase event.
PHOTO: AFP
"When I was young I was on punishment a lot and I used to watch a lot of TV, and I asked myself a question: `How come people like Mike? How come they like Magic? How come they like Bird? How come they don't like the big guys?'" O'Neal said, referring to former stars Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
PHOTO: AFP
"So I just throw a little bit of what they were doing. You smile, you act crazy and silly. And I think people like me because I'm different. I've always been a class clown type of guy. It comes natural."
O'Neal finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.
PHOTO: AFP
His showmanship displays came after he unveiled his size-22 red and white shoe phone in the locker room before the game. An actual working telephone mechanism is built into the sneaker, and an antenna pops out near the toes.
"It's big, you can take it anywhere, make people look at you," O'Neal said. "And it prevents muggers. Kick them right in the [behind] with that Shaq shoe phone.
"There's an addition at the top where you can pull out the strings and make it a Shaq-shoe handbag and phone all-in-one."
The silliness O'Neal displayed and the reception he received were in stark contrast to the way things went for his former teammate, Kobe Bryant.
Bryant finished with better numbers and was the most intense player on the court during the fourth quarter, but this show was clearly not his.
Bryant, who was accused of rape in Colorado two summers ago before the charges were dropped last September, was the only player booed during pre-game introductions. O'Neal, Iverson and Vince Carter received the loudest ovations, and O'Neal played to the crowd by strutting down the runway wearing a huge smile.
"Leave it to Shaq to do something like that," Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade said. "He's always doing something to keep fans involved."
O'Neal and Bryant ignored each other but exchanged hugs and hand slaps with the other starters as the players stood at the center circle for the opening tip. They first came into contact with each other midway through the quarter when O'Neal poked the ball away from Bryant as he drove, only to be called for a foul.
O'Neal nearly howled in disgust, yet another of the many contortions his face and body made throughout the night.
Allen Iverson, Most Valuable Player, was also Allen Iverson, Elder Statesman.
Feeling no need to take things over -- only to play hard, distribute and let other guys do their thing, Iverson was selected MVP of the All-Star game Sunday night, helping the East to a 125-115 victory.
"I'm playing with the greatest players in the world and I'm playing with four other All-Stars," Iverson said. "So, I mean, in a game like this, you just let it come to you."
Not that his line was anything to scoff at: 15 points, nine assists, five steals and the producer of as many oohs and ahhs as anyone in the gym.
He added this MVP award to the one he won in 2001, the last time the East won this game. Back then, he scored 15 points over the final nine minutes to lift his team to a stirring comeback victory from 21 points down.
This time, there was no need for that kind of drama, and no need to score 60 points the way he did earlier this season with the struggling 76ers.
Nope. All he had to do was get the ball to Shaq, or LeBron, or Vince Carter or Zydrunas Ilgauskas. His 10 assists were distributed to eight players. Seven players on the East squad finished in double figures. What better tribute to a point guard than getting all his teammates involved on offense?
"He was the guy who just kept pushing other guys verbally and with his energy," East coach Stan Van Gundy of Miami said. "He really wanted to win, and he's a very, very competitive guy, as we all know."
Maybe too competitive -- at least back in the day.
On this night, though, he played and talked like a cool veteran.
He took to the floor and played a game-high 32 minutes despite waking up woozy and lightheaded, a likely victim of altitude sickness in the thin air of Denver.
Afterward, he spoke of conversations with James, who is on his way to being the NBA's next great player, the way Iverson once was.
"LeBron James is on top of the world," Iverson said. "I just told him to never forget that the guys who put you on the top of the world can put you under, too."
He dedicated the victory to his best friend, whose mother passed away recently.
"He was always there for me when I was down and he's going to be there for me when I'm on top," Iverson said.
In the first and likely only start of his career, Patrick Davidson set the emotional tone for Duke. He manhandled Wake Forest guard Chris Paul on the opening possession, bumping him wildly before a foul was called.
He left the game after two minutes to a rousing ovation and got a warm embrace from Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, who left no doubts about how important this game was.
"It's something I'll never forget," Davidson said.
J.J. Redick was pretty memorable himself.
The junior guard scored a career-high 38 points after Coach K shook up the starting lineup, and reserve Lee Melchionni added 15 to lead the seventh-ranked Blue Devils past No. 5 Wake Forest 102-92 Sunday.
Duke (19-4, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off consecutive losses for only the fourth time in the past eight seasons, had its way with the Demon Deacons in the second half. After trailing by two at the break, the Blue Devils shot 61 percent in the final 20 minutes to reach their highest point total of the season.
"It was as good as our offense has looked all year, and it wasn't one guy or just me," Redick said. "It was everybody."
Chris Paul had 27 points and Trent Strickland scored 17 for Wake Forest (22-4, 10-3), which fell out of a first-place tie with North Carolina.
Duke center Shelden Williams more than held his own in the matchup with Eric Williams, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. And Melchionni, a junior who played very little during his first two seasons, came up with big play after big play when the Blue Devils needed it most.
He came in averaging only 6.8 points a game, but beat that total during a 90-second span of the second half. The left-hander swished a 3-pointer for a five-point lead, jumped in the passing lane for a steal that led to his own dunk, then spun in the paint for a short jumper.
"It was the most competitive game we've been in in maybe a couple of years," Krzyzewski said.
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