Kobe, Shaq End Feud Before Game at Staples Center

Shaquille O'neal made peace with Kobe Bryant at midcourt before tip-off last night at Staples Center. The Lakers won 100-92.

After the game, the two spoke to the media about their reconciliation.

Shaq: "His wife's having a baby and my wife's having a baby, so I just went up to him and said congratulates on the baby. We'll see each other again when you guys aren't around. We'll sit down and have a conversation."

Kobe: "It made me feel good. We've been through so many wars together. It feels good to be able to enjoy that again and now just be able to move on, and for this organization and the city to move on and focus on building this team, and wishing him all the best with his team down in South Beach."

Bryant added later that he is looking forward to sitting down with O'neal somewhere in South Beach or Newport Beach during the offseason to further mend their rift.

Kobe: "Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. We'll probably talk about tricking out cars; like putting hydraulics on a '53 Impala. We'll be talking about fun stuff."

I bought a copy of the L.A. Daily News and the L.A. Times today and cut out the front pages of the sports section and pinned them on my living room wall.

Crowd at Clippers Game Turns in Favor of Kobe

Smush Parker and Kobe Bryant engage in a chest-bump celebration after a victory over the cross-town rival Clippers.

Ever since the Lakers and Clippers moved to Staples Center, I've really looked forward to watching the two teams play against each other. Especially when it's a Clipper home game. There's something about a sold-out Clippers crowd rooting against the Lakers — L.A.'s more popular hoops team.

It's like the little brother trying to trump the big brother, at the little brother's home turf, with all his friends wildly cheering him on.

As I was watching tonight's matchup at my apartment, I saw something at an NBA game that I've never seen before.

In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter Kobe Bryant hit two three-pointers in a row. Then a well-defended pull-up jumper. Then another three. The Clipper crowd was in a frenzy. They began chanting "Ko-be,Ko-be, Ko-be."

In the first half, he got booed whenever he got the ball.

It was freakish to hear the Clippers' crowd cheering emphatically for a player on the opposing team.

The Purple and Gold went on to win the game 112-109. Bryant finished with fifty points.