Mike Celizic

Kobe Bryant can, after all, share a court with Shaquille O’Neal and still thrive. As they showed in the NBA All-Star Game, they can play spectacularly together. They can share the ball. They can even conduct a joint post-game press conference.

Granted, defense is as much a part of the All-Star Game as bipartisanship is a part of Congress. But Shaq and Kobe looked good together, good enough to make you wonder why the Lakers don’t put them back together again.

It can be done, and whether it does depends on whether the Lakers think they’re better off with Lamar Odom starting at center for the injured Andrew Bynum than they would be with Shaq at center. Any deal that brings Shaq to the Lakers has to involve Odom departing. The salary cap numbers don’t work any other way.

It also depends on whether Kobe can swallow his pride and admit that the more help he has around him the better shot he has at adding to the three rings he won the last time he and Shaq shared a locker room. Despite his denials since, it’s no secret Kobe didn’t like sharing the credit with Shaq, and that is one of the reasons the big man was sent to Miami and the Lakers stopped winning championships.

But that seems like eons ago, and it’s no longer a matter of sharing the credit. Kobe’s the man now. There’s no question about that, and even if Shaq returned to L.A., no one — including the Diesel — would deny that it’s Kobe’s team.

Besides, no matter who’s on the team, if the Lakers win, somebody is going to share credit with Kobe. It’s a team game. That’s the way it works. So why not an older role-player Shaq? At least you know he knows how to get the job done.

You know that Shaq would jump at the chance to return to the scene of his greatest triumphs. He’s all but hung a neon sign around his neck advertising his desire. For him, it’s all about snagging a fifth ring and maybe a sixth. He knows his career is almost over, and he can’t wait for a good team to be built around him in Phoenix. To get that ring, he’s got to go someplace else, and the best possible destination is L.A.

There are rumors of Shaq going to New York, which wouldn’t help him or the Knicks a lick. The only way something that could happen would be if Isiah Thomas were still the general manager.

There aren’t many other destinations available for an aging superstar with an enormous salary and one year left on his contract. And there are none that make as much sense and would provide as much theater as a return to the Lakers.

The only real question remains whether Kobe can live with the inevitable critic who will rub in the fact that Kobe needed Shaq around to win. If he can’t, he’s a fool. If he can, he’s a champion.

Here’s the deal that could get it done: The Lakers give the Suns Odom, Chris Mihm and DJ Mbenga, and the Suns send Shaq back to Los Angeles. It’s making the rounds of the rumor mill and it fits under the salary cap. The Lakers might substitute another secondary player, but Odom has to be part of any deal to make it work under the cap.

It’s a tough question if you look at Odom’s last few games. After playing indifferently for most of the season, the center stepped up big time when Bynum went down early this month. In his last game before the All-Star break, he went for 19 points and 19 rebounds against Utah. The game before that, it was 12 points and 18 boards against Oklahoma City, and before that it was 28 and 17 in a huge win over Cleveland. The 13.2 rebounds he’s been averaging over the past five games is nearly double Odom’s season average of 7.1 and more than four over his career average of 8.8.

If the Lakers felt they could count on those numbers for the rest of the year, they probably keep the 29-year-old Odom and forget about Shaq, who turns 37 on March 6. But they went to the playoffs last year with Bynum injured and Odom in the middle, and they were no match for Boston in the finals.

But the Lakers have beaten the Celtics twice this year, the second time without Bynum and with Odom playing a vital role. They may feel they’re fine they way they are with Odom and Pau Gasol in the middle and Kobe performing like the best player in the NBA.

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It’s a question of certainty. The Lakers still don’t know what they will get from Odom in the playoffs. They know what they’d get from Shaq. He’s what the Lakers need — a big man who can play defense, get rebounds and pull defenders away from Kobe.

Best of all, the Lakers have Gasol to provide a totally different look. And as far as the free throws go, Shaq is actually shooting slightly better this year than Odom — 62 percent to 61 percent.

Next year, Bynum will be back and the Lakers would be looking to move Odom anyway. It makes more sense to have Shaq, who will be in his final contract year next year and could be a mentor and back-up to Bynum before riding off into the sunset.

It can be done, and it’s all up to Kobe. If he wants it, you have to believe the Lakers will do it.

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