Why Shaq should enter the Dunk contest

Seven questions for the next seven days:

Now that The Big Promoter has so graciously volunteered the time and the talents of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter for an All-Star Weekend slam dunk contest with real star power to benefit the earthquake relief effort in Haiti, isn't there someone else who could step up to the rim with his backboard-rattling abilities?

Shaquille O'Neal himself.

Forget that he's 37 years old and has never been exactly what anyone would call a skywalker. Never mind that he wouldn't be able to perform any nifty tricks like putting the ball between his legs on his way to the hoop or jumping over someone as diminutive as Nate Robinson.

Shaq brings power. Sheer force, brute strength, the kind of muscle and force that hasn't been seen in the slam dunk contest since Dominique Wilkins was tossing thunderbolts back in the 1980s.

It would be Shaq's chance to reclaim the Superman mantle once and for all from Dwight Howard. It would be the game's most dominant dunker on the biggest stage. As an elder statesman, he still has the respect and the brawn (ask Pau Gasol) to overwhelm and overpower. As a larger-than-life figure for nearly two decades, he has the personality and the star power to bring in an unprecedented TV audience and bring down the house.

If Shaq wants big names to step up, well, there's nobody bigger than him.

Where would the Chicago Bulls be if they'd have listened to the cries for Vinny Del Negro's scalp back in early December. The formerly-embattled coach has his team with a 10-5 record since Dec. 26 and now just two games below .500 and in the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Not a bad trick the Bulls pulled over the weekend in a back-to-back that had them playing the late game on ESPN Friday night, then losing an hour in time difference during the overnight travel to Houston where they were back on the court with less than 24 hours between opening tips. No problem for the Bulls, who whipped the Suns and then led wire-to-wire taking care of the Rockets, even with Joakim Noah sidelined.

My how things have changed since the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets squared off in a first-round playoff series last spring.

In fact, they seem to change on a weekly basis. Now Brandon Roy is back on the always-growing injured list for the Blazers and since the Rockets last trip to Portland in December, Tracy McGrady has asked to be out of Houston altogether.

Still, the Blazers have climbed up to the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference as they pay a visit to Houston on Friday night. Something not in a small way due to the contributions of Andre Miller, who is averaging more than 19 points and just under seven assists in January. Does that mean Miller is no longer trade bait as the Feb. 18 trade deadline nears?

Could it have been something in the egg nog?

Since the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic last crossed paths on Christmas Day, things have gone south for both teams.

The Celtics have gone 6-7 since they won that afternoon and the Magic are just 6-8. They'll meet up again for the third time this season on Thursday night in Orlando. They've split the first two with the road team winning both times.

In the space of three nights, the San Antonio Spurs gave up 60 points and 61 points in the second half of consecutive home games to Utah and 61 to Houston and lost them both. As they crossed the halfway point of the season, the usually-defensive-minded Spurs find themselves confused and ineffective and maybe in trouble.

After closing out their stretch at the AT&T Center this season with games against Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis and Denver this week, the Spurs will head out on their annual Rodeo Road Trip and will have just 12 home games remaining on the rest of their schedule.

The Lakers are not yet halfway through their marathon eight-game road to points East and things are not getting any easier for Kobe Bryant. The Western Conference's leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game is having his lowest-scoring month since 2003. Bryant has been under 20 points in five games in January and is shooting just 39.7 percent. Of course, he was already playing with a broken index finger on his right hand and has recently been bothered by back spasms.

So how long will it be before his teammates (Hello, Lamar Odom) step up to help him out consistently or Bryant will start getting rapped again for trying to carry too much of the offense?

With four straight home games against teams with losing records -- Clippers, Wizards, Sixers, Pistons -- New Jersey would seem to have win No. 4 on the horizon and maybe even their first winning streak, too.

Then again, it seems that the lowly Nets have suddenly become the biggest game on everybody's schedule as nobody wants to lose to the NBA's version of the Washington Generals.

For the record, in their historic 9-73 season back in 1972-73, the Philadelphia 76ers were 4-39 to the Nets' current 3-40.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here.

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