The Manager

Last night Shaquille O'Neal scored his 28,000 point and is not the fifth player to do so. After the game he spoke to the NBA Fastbreak crew and told the guys about how his father called him right afterwards and said, "I'm not gna tell you congratulations...if you would've hit your free throws, dummy, you would've had 33,000"

As humorous as that is, it's also true--Shaq has missed 5,218 free throws in his career; the only person who has missed more is Wilt Chamberlain (who's fourth on that all-time list).

But pass the milestone Shaq has reached, he said something else last night that I thought was extremely bold, he said;

"As his manager, I will only allow 'Bron to do the dunk contest if Vince Carter comes back out. 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.

"I'm saying it now. 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."

Shaq, or LeBron's agent, decided to try and revive what the dunk contest was meant to be--the Jordan and Dr. J highflyers should participate. The dunk contest has devolved into good dunkers doing their thing, not the best ones.

When you play a basketball video game that has the option of the All-star weekend; would you pick Derozan, Gordon or LeBron? Let's be real here, the contestants on your fantasized screen are mix of James, Bryant, Carter, Richardson, Stoudemire, Howard, Iguodala and I guess I'll throw in Krypto-Nate for good luck. And even that list is extended--you always have James, Bryant and Carter as the three of your four candidates.

But we haven't seen a galactic star-gazing Sprite Slam Dunk show down since forever. What Shaq highlights is more than just a funny big man being outspoken--it's true.

Obviously the NBA will not just drop the other three candidates Gerald Wallace, Nate Robinson, and Shannon Brown (and the other Slam Dunk-in winner), but I would wish that they could incorporate the big dunkers too.

Imagine seeing James, Bryant and Carter dunk to donate money for Haiti. It doesn't only give them great publicity, but it will make this dunk contest memorable. I can't remember the last time I was actually hyped to watch a dunk contest. It doesn't happen because well the participants aren't the best dunkers in the league.

Obviously there is the whole factor of getting injured, etc--but it's a dunk contest for the fans, not a fight with Hopkins or Mayweather. These players do fancy dunks during practice; just do it for the fans.

What I love about what Shaq said is that he incorporated Haiti in this idea. Everyone is well aware of what has happened in Haiti; and to make this dunk contest partially donated to Haiti makes this a truly global event.

Think of the potential. There can be a donation station in Dallas, Dalembert could be on the court congratulating the winner and being a judge, try to bring back the greatest dunkers of all time to judge, and have meaningful speech about helping the world in times of trauma.

It's there. Everything the NBA would want is there. A great story. A great moment. A great dunk contest. And most importantly, a meaningful memorable event.

Make it happen. If the NBA wants great publicity and show that the "NBA Cares," then go out there and recruit Bryant, Carter and James--and lets donate to Haiti.