Tonight marks the official debut of Shaquille O’Neal in a Phoenix Suns jersey. In a media hyped acquisition that can only rival Sir Charles Barkley’s arrival in Phoenix, the Suns feel like O’Neal is the final piece of the puzzle. He brings a defensive and rebounding mentality to the Suns, something that the team has lacked all season, ranking last in team rebounding. That’ll improve with O’Neal who asserts that he’s not expecting to be the superstar on the Suns, instead leaving that duty to the likes of the Canuck at point guard and Amare Stoudemire.

So now the table is set for O’Neal’s triumphant debut against, wouldn’t you know it, Kobe Bryant and the new-look Los Angeles Lakers. I hearken back to the days when the young Bryant was throwing lobs to the unstoppable O’Neal and the Lakers were racking up titles like it was nobody’s business. Remember Reggie Miller’s Pacers? Bryant and Shaq did them dirty in six games. Or how about the Allen Iverson led 76ers? The Lakers polished them off in five. Then there was Jason Kidd’s Nets team that got punished in a four game sweep. Yeah, Kobe and Shaq were a mighty combo.

Then the fall out happened. ESPN jerked it to the fact that Kobe demanded an ultimatum of keeping either him or Shaq. Shaq went to Miami and won a ring while Kobe stayed in LA and took first round playoff exits. The feud is over between the two, “allegedly”, and now it seems the only people who care about it live in Bristol, Connecticut and work for ESPN.

Tonight’s game should be a great one, but not for the story line. Here’s a line to follow; the Suns have the best record in the West and the Lakers are a mere game behind them. So when you tune into tonight’s game, don’t tune in for the fabricated story line of Shaq returning to face the Lakers. Tune in because, with O’Neal and the Lakers acquisition of Pau Gasol, both teams feel as if they’ve taken the necessary step to win a title. It should be a doozy.