Reunited for the first time in five years, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal relived their dominant connection of the three-peat era in being named Co-MVPs at the 2009 All-Star Game.
“It felt like old times,” O’Neal told reporters. “I miss those times. He was really looking for me.”
Bryant led all players with 27 points, while shooting 12-of-23 and collecting four rebounds, four assists, four steals and three 3-pointers.
Meanwhile, O’Neal scored 17 points on and 8-of-9 clip in only 11 minutes off the bench to help the Western Conference to a 146-119 victory.
The game was held in O’Neal’s then-current city of Phoenix. The West was unable to get going until the two were sharing the floor together.
Trailing 27-20, Bryant and O’Neal powered an outburst of 19 unanswered points for the West to secure a lead it would never let go of.
Chris Paul (14 points, 14 assists), Amar’e Stoudemire, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming joined Bryant in the West’s starting lineup.
The East countered with LeBron James (20 points), Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard.
Even the coaching matchup was an interesting one, as the West’s Phil Jackson led Bryant and O’Neal to three titles in the early 2000s. The East’s Mike Brown later coached Bryant and (briefly) Howard in Los Angeles.
Kobe performances on this day in history:
