Christmas presence for NBA
Shaq, Kobe, Pacers, Pistons in spotlight
'Tis the season to raise advertising rates for the NBA's Christmas doubleheader.
At 12:30 (EST) in Indianapolis, the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons will play for the first time since an ugly brawl involving players and Detroit fans Nov. 19.
At 3:15 in Los Angeles, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant will play against each other for the first time after eight years of feuding, chaos -- and three championships -- as Los Angeles Lakers teammates.
It may be Christmas, but these certainly don't appear to be goodwill games. And that's not bad news for those hoping to cash in on the drama. According to several published reports, ABC and ESPN have increased the price of commercials and sold a sponsorship to
The Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal, who will be playing for the first time since being suspended for his role in the brawl, just wants his game to be over.
"It's extremely important for both teams to come out and play a nice, hard game that stays on the court," O'Neal said.
The shocking November melee led to commissioner David Stern suspending Indiana's Ron Artest for the season, Stephen Jackson for 30 games, and O'Neal for 25. An arbitrator reduced O'Neal's suspension by 10 games, a ruling upheld by a federal judge Thursday, which allows O'Neal to play while the judge considers a lawsuit brought by the NBA challenging arbitrator Roger Kaplan's authority to hear the grievance.
The All-Star apologized for his role in a brawl that has put a black eye on the league and its players and said he was eager to get back on the court to help his struggling team, which is 5-10 since losing its top three players to the suspensions. In Los Angeles, Bryant, for one, isn't taking the Shaq vs. Kobe meeting too seriously.
"You all really want me to say, you know what, it's going to be very emotional for me, I'm going to have to fight back tears, it's going to be tough," Bryant said with a hint of sarcasm. "I honestly don't have any sentiment either way. I mean, it's just basketball."
It was much more between Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal the past eight years. O'Neal is gone, having been shipped to Miami last summer at his request -- not long after coach Phil Jackson was told his services were no longer desired. Since then, O'Neal has made it clear he's not fond of Bryant, who is still around, having signed a seven-year, $136.4 million contract to stay with the Lakers.
Two things are clear -- the Bryant-led Lakers (14-11) aren't what they used to be, and the O'Neal-led Heat (21-7) are one of the NBA's elite teams.
When asked earlier this week what would happen when Bryant drives to the basket, O'Neal replied: "When you've got a Corvette that runs into a brick wall, you know what's going to happen."
Bryant laughed over that one, saying at one point he was a combination of a Corvette and a Hummer since he's gained some weight since last season.
