NOTEBOOK

NOTEBOOK
NBA All-Star Game
Magloire: New Orleans center Jamaal Magloire was a surprise selection to his first All-Star game. He had 19 points and eight rebounds, and took a team-high 16 shots, three more than Jermaine O'Neal. "I felt in my heart that I am an All-Star. This won't be the last time I will be an All-Star," he said. "I don't worry what the critics say. Every year there's going to be media or critics that have their opinion as far as who should be playing in the game and who shouldn't." A lot of NBA players who aren't chosen as All-Stars still show up to party and socialize during the weekend. Magloire had never previously allowed himself that pleasure. "I always made a deal with myself that I wouldn't go to an All-Star game unless I was playing in it," he said.
Working wife: Shaquille O'Neal wasn't the only member of his family working at the All-Star game. His wife, Shaunie, was a special correspondent for "Access Hollywood" during the weekend. The gig allowed her access to a place she never could go as a wife: the locker room. Dressed in a black leather skirt and jacket, she carefully picked her way through the mobbed room in black spike-heeled shoes. Her segments will air on today's edition of the syndicated entertainment show.
Trash talking: What's an All-Star game without some trash talking to go with the streetball? Minnesota's Kevin Garnett jawed at Philadelphia's Allen Iverson on the free throw line. Garnett was coy about the conversation. "Just a little chat. Nothing I can really say on TV or to you guys," he told reporters. "You can ask him. Maybe he'll give you the G-version. He almost airballed it." Orlando's Tracy McGrady made some shots over Garnett, then took a few verbal ones. "He gave me a little graphic insight on what he just did," Garnett said. "I'll let him give you the G-version of that, too." Garnett didn't get a break from the yapping of Timberwolves teammate Sam Cassell, either. "Sam is going to talk a hundred miles an hour for 48 minutes while he's playing, and it wasn't any different," he said.
Dribbles: The crowd of 19,662 was the 10th-largest in All-Star history. ... Los Angeles joined Philadelphia as the only cities to host the game in three different arenas: the Sports Arena, 1963 (14,838); the Forum in 1972 (17,214) and again in 1983 (17,505). ... Bryant's 20 points made him the active All-Star scoring leader ahead of Allen Iverson (18.8 points), who had just three points. ... The East and West combined to shoot .543, a record for highest combined field-goal percentage. The old record was .536 in the '83 game. ... The West's five free throws made were an All-Star low; the old mark was nine by the East in '92. The West also set a record for fewest free throws attempted with 10, surpassing the old mark of 12 by the East in '90.
-- Associated Press