• Shaq shines as East beats West • Free junior tennis clinics Shaq shines as East beats West DENVER tertainer gave — Primping, preening, playful and preposterous, The Big En-the NBA All-Star game a supersized dose of personality — though
• Shaq shines as East beats West
• Free junior tennis clinics
Shaq shines as East beats West
DENVER tertainer gave — Primping, preening, playful and preposterous, The Big En-the NBA All-Star game a supersized dose of personality — though he wouldn’t go so far as to do it while wearing a shoe phone.
For the second straight year, Shaquille O’Neal made people laugh, applaud and appreciate his oversized way of doing everything, infusing an other-wise nondescript All-Star game Sunday night with just the right amount of precociousness.
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 — 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 360-pound, 7-foot behemoth who was making his 12th appearance in the league’s showcase event.
O’Neal’s display of showman-ship 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.
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 and Bryant ignored each other but exchanged hugs and hand slaps with the other starters as they 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.
Free junior tennis clinics
Junior tennis players, aged 8-18 years old, are specially invited to three dynamic skill building clinics sponsored by Kaua‘i District Tennis Association.
These free clinics will be held from 2 p.m. at Hanapepe Tennis Courts on Saturday February 26. Interested players can also enroll in Kaua‘i Junior Tennis Teams that day. For more information, contact Darlene Joseph at 742-2551.
Final NSSA surf contest
The National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA) will present their final regular-sea-son contest at Pinetrees in Hanalei Bay, February 26-27 (alternate dates, March 5-6), starting at 8 a.m.
Hawai‘i’s best, young amateur surfers will be jockeying for final points to qualify for the year-end state regional contest in March.
Kaua‘i will be hosting the its first state championship event in March, also at Pinetrees. Interested surfers may pick up entries at Progressive Expressions, Nukumoi Surf Company, and Hanalei Surf Company.
