LOS ANGELES – It figures things would work out this way on Christmas. All that came before yesterday's Lakers-Heat game resembles what is wrong with the NBA. All that came during resembles what can still be so fantastic about it.
What a concept: The game might have actually outshined the hype.
It's over, thankfully, this first meeting between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal since their notorious split after eight seasons and three championships. No punches were thrown. No brawls ensued. Just a microcosm of each team's season: Miami was good enough; the Lakers were not.
Miami won its 11th straight by prevailing 104-102 in overtime before 18,997 at Staples Center, winning what was advertised as the biggest regular-season game in league history.
For all the wrong reasons, mind you.
And, sadly, all the obvious ones.
We read about it and watched it and debated what really might happen if a Corvette met a brick wall because we love a circus. We crave the drama. We yearn for more of the jealously and contention, the defiance and recrimination.
Whether it is Bryant being accused of rape or slamming O'Neal to police officers in the process or Shaq rapping about the player he believes forced him out of the Hollywood lights and onto the South Beach sand, it's the kind of reality show we can't abandon.
Someone actually suggested that such off-court theatrics might damage the NBA's credibility.
It still has some?
The major story (miracle) here is that an NBA regular-season game carried some significance, ridiculously infantile as it was.
"I'm glad it's over," O'Neal said. "I don't have a hatchet to bury. I play on a good team with unselfish guys, good character guys. You guys keep the (Bryant issue) going more than him or me. I'm over it. I'm tired of it. It's old news to me.
"I wasn't thinking about doing anything crazy. I think it was 89.2 percent cheers for me and 11.8 boos. It was fun. I'm sure the NBA made a lot of money. Merry Christmas."
Has there ever been this many television cameras positioned to shoot a layup line of the visiting team? The setting had a playoff atmosphere from the outset, one the average Lakers might not experience very long this season. So much was made of how O'Neal and Bryant might greet each other beforehand that an attempt at peace could have been made with a historic snapshot.
Put it this way: It hardly rivaled Arafat and Rabin shaking hands on the White House lawn in 1993.
Introductions were announced – preceded by a video tribute to O'Neal and thunderous ovation for his time with the Lakers – and the former teammates met at midcourt. There was no eye contact, just O'Neal offering a tap on the back.
O'Neal: "Being married, I didn't want any interplay or foreplay with anyone else. I have a wife."
Bryant: "Anyone who knows myself and Shaquille knows the reason we won three championships is because we're both obsessed with competition."
Miami lives by the defensive doctrine of no layups and dunks, made much easier to execute with the mammoth O'Neal inside. But a big Shaq doesn't always mean a smart one. He fouled out with 2:15 left in regulation of a tie game, committing his final two (and three of his six) infractions against an attacking Bryant. "No layups, no dunks for everybody, but especially him," O'Neal said.
Get the idea? There isn't much middle ground left for how Bryant is viewed by players and fans alike. That love-him or hate-him tag now clearly defines his image. He is the one many believe a rat and cheater and also the one that last week had more All-Star votes than Tim Duncan and LeBron James.
Yesterday, there was no question which side of the hardwood most stood. The sellout gathering continued to chant his name as Bryant scored a season-high 42 points. But he tired late, again forced shots that weren't there, didn't score in overtime and the Lakers couldn't overcome the play of Dwyane Wade (how good is this guy?) and Eddie Jones.
Bryant did have an off-balance three-point attempt to win it at the buzzer in overtime.
He missed left.
"I wasn't thinking about it because I knew it wouldn't go in," O'Neal said. "It's called Shaq O'Neal fate . . . I don't miss two or three people in (L.A.), but I can't tell you who they are. I have erased them from my memory bank."
Said Bryant: "I hope this is all behind us now and we can just move on and talk about basketball."
Forget that. Give us more drama and jealously.
Isn't it about time one of these two flirts with the other's wife?
Oops. Sorry. Wrong NBA soap opera.
Ed Graney: (619) 293-2203; ed.graney@uniontrib.com
