O’Neill still king of the hoop

O’Neal helped the Western Conference to a 136-132 victory over the Eastern Conference. In one of the game’s most memorable moments, the seven-foot, one-inch O’Neal ran the ball from one end of the court to the other in a second-half display of brute force basketball that sent defender and New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd scurrying away.

‘‘I didn’t move just a little bit. I moved all the way out of the way,’’ said Kidd, who took charge of the Eastern Conference’s fast-break game in the losing effort. ‘‘You’ve got to think of your family.’’

O’Neal ended his coast-to-coast run with a slam dunk and then came crashing down into the lap of American Idol’s Ruben Studdard.

It was also O’Neal that provided the comic relief. At one point, he picked up a photographer’s camera from courtside, appeared to look for a flattering angle and then snapped a picture of himself.

‘‘I don’t think people are really aware of how good-natured (Shaq) really is,’’ said Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders who coached the Western squad.

San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan said that playing with O’Neal at his peak simplified the West’s planning. ‘‘He’s a dominant force. It’s hard not to play the right way with him. You kind of give him the ball and get out of the way,’’ Duncan told reporters. (Reuters)