Laker Intrigue Is the Real Star

Sights and sounds from All-Star Weekend, a.k.a. the Black Super Bowl

At last, finally, the All-Star game. And a good one at that. The West’s 136-132 victory was another example of why this game can be the best of any sport’s get-togethers. It has the potential to showcase all of the athletic ability and creativity of its players, while also providing some competitive drama.

It isn’t like the zero-defense policies in the NFL and NHL, or baseball’s limited at-bats and pitch counts.

You want a Vince Carter dunk or an Allen Iverson crossover? You got it.

Last year’s game went into overtime. This one included last-minute intrigue.

Favorite plays from this one were Iverson’s off-the-backboard pass to Carter for a cock-back hammer dunk, Tracy McGrady’s off-the-backboard pass to himself -- in traffic -- for a dunk, and Shaquille O’Neal’s coast-to-coast dunk, followed by a bearhug of Ruben Studdard. He made a similar advance on a fan sitting baseline in Miami last Wednesday. There’s clearly a pattern developing here, so Jimmy Goldstein and Joe Smith, watch out.

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Another great sight was George Gervin checkin’ out Snoop Dogg in concert at the Players’ Assn. party Friday night. Talk about being in the presence of greatness.

It made me realize that it’s time to make a couple of additions to my list of men who men think are cool. The Iceman and the Doggfather join Hugh Hefner, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington and Michael Jordan.

“He’s one of my favorites,” Gervin said. “Snoop, Biggie and Tupac.”

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Heard the Beverly Center was out of control on Saturday. Packed with women in five-inch heels and men in throwback jerseys. One person described it as “a nightclub gone bad.”

At least the mall didn’t have to shut down because of overcrowding, as Lenox Square did last year in Atlanta.

L.A. did a good job overall. Tough traffic problems, but excellent venues, great parties, and, of course, ideal weather.

A Staples Center official estimated the economic impact on the city will hit $50 million. He could give an accurate account for at least $2 million of the windfall: sales of league and team merchandise at the two official stores.

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Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers gets so much attention for his bad behavior, we should point out how great he was with the fans at the open practice session Saturday.

At the end of practice, he kept tossing the ball into the stands, encouraging the fans to throw him long-range alley-oops. Most didn’t have the arm strength to make it, but for those who could at least get the ball to bounce near the basket he would catch it on the way up and slam it home.

Before leaving the floor, Iverson took off his shoes and threw them to the crowd.

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Why did Chris Rock have to bring his comedy tour to L.A. during All-Star weekend? Couldn’t make it out to any of the shows, but at least Yao Ming broke out some of his best material. When asked if he liked any American music, Yao said: “I like the national anthem. I listen to it at least 82 times a year.”

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Can’t wait to see what happens when the Lakers reconvene today. All that’s happened since they were last together was, the franchise started careening out of control.

Their drama is going past soap opera and is about to turn Shakespearean.

Remember, the difference between this go-round and all of the previous times is that several of the key participants could be gone after this season. That changes the whole perspective. As one team member put it, Kobe Bryant is now like a high school senior who has already been accepted to college and doesn’t have to worry about his grades.

Championship teams need common goals, and there are far too many agendas right now.

There are too many players with uncertain contract status, including Bryant. Players are wondering what Bryant’s motives are, if he’s playing to showcase for other teams, or if he’s plotting to get Coach Phil Jackson dumped and bring in his own guy so he can assume control of this franchise.

O’Neal was the one who went to management to get Jackson here five years ago. They’ve fallen in and out of love, and it’s interesting to see just how much O’Neal’s stance has changed since training camp. Back then, O’Neal was unusually cold when asked about Jackson. In comments that sounded a lot like what Bryant had to say about the coach this weekend, O’Neal said: “I ain’t gotta like him, but I’ve gotta respect him. And I do respect him.”

Lately he has backed Jackson more, even giving Jackson most of the credit for the team’s three-peat. The main thing that’s changed in the interim was an interview four weeks ago in which Jackson plainly stated that the Lakers are O’Neal’s team and Bryant must accept that. O’Neal liked that, Bryant didn’t and now they stand on opposite sides when it comes to Jackson.

O’Neal said he has not met with owner Jerry Buss to speak on behalf of Jackson and his stalled contract negotiations, but he reserves that right.

“If it gets ugly, I’ll have to step up,” he said.

Nice All-Star game aside, I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of this. The Lakers had better come out of the gate strong. Otherwise it will get ugly.

As one player said over the weekend: “We’re at the cliff.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.