Shaq wants stars to dunk

[February 04, 2010]  CLEVELAND (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal has a plan to save the NBA's All-Star dunk contest: Bring back the superstars and do it for devastated Haiti.

Following Tuesday night's win over Toronto, O'Neal was asked if he would like to see teammate LeBron James participate in this year's event. That's when he offered his idea. He would like to see former dunk champion Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant and others take part along with James.

"As his manager, I will only allow 'Bron to do the dunk contest if Vince Carter comes back out," O'Neal said. "If Kobe comes back out and if another big name comes back out. If we could get a big prize and have half of the money go to the people of Haiti and the other half to the winner.

"The guys that are in it, no disrespect to them, but there won't really be any competition for LeBron. I want to see Kobe. I want to see Vince and I will allow my client to enter."

Could he make it happen?

"I'm saying it now," O'Neal said. "So tweet it. Facebook it. E-mail it and hopefully it gets out. Vince, we're calling you out. Kobe, we're calling you out. We're calling everybody out. If those guys step up in the dunk contest, then I will allow my client to step up."

James has decided to skip next month's event in Dallas after originally saying he would participate.

[Associated Press; By TOM WITHERS]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.