Mountain rescue squad

The number of mountain climbing accidents and wilderness disasters in Lego Land has risen steadily in recent weeks. (See photo above) Because of this, Shaq and some of the other NBA stars have decided to form a mountain rescue squad to help out during outdoor emergencies. (See photo below)

Shaq and the others have raised thousands of dollars by selling autographs and personal memorabilia on the internet, and, with this money, they were able to buy the parts so that Steve Francis could build a rescue helicopter in his workshop. Steve Francis had never built a helicopter before, but everyone is impressed with what a good job he has done.

Today, the NBA stars/mountain rescue squad have their first emergency call. A mountain climber has injured himself and needs help getting off the mountain. Steve Francis and road Kobe Bryant head out to help the injured person. They have to use a special stretcher that is attached to a long rope to reach the climber.

Below: Road Kobe Bryant uses the megaphone to communicate with Steve Francis down below.

Below: Steve Francis has loaded the injured mountain climber into the stretcher. It is a wild ride back up to the helicopter.

Below: The stretcher is almost up to the helicopter.

It turns out that the injured mountain climber is not a mountain climber at all. It is Gary Payton, who had gone out all by himself searching for Yetis. Luckily, he is not very badly injured. Mostly he is just a little scared and a little cold-- nothing that can not be cured by a nice steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Road Kobe Bryant and Gary Payton have a long talk about what happened and what Gary Payton can do differently the next time he goes out into the wilderness. Gary Payton now understands why it is so important to always take a buddy with you. Next time, he promises that he will make sure that Vince Carter comes along.

Playing soccer

Today the NBA All-Stars have decided to take a break from playing basketball, so they are playing soccer instead. They have been joined by two world-famous soccer stars -- Alexandre Pato of Brazil and Gennaro Gattuso of Italy. (See photo below - Pato is on the left next to Allen Iverson and Gattuso is on the right next to Shaq.)

Both Pato and Gattuso play professionally for AC Milan, a club that is considered so important that it is owned by Italy's long-time Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. All of the NBA stars are quite excited that they are getting the chance to play with two soccer stars as famous as Pato and Gattuso.

Here are some photos of today's historic match:

Below: Kevin Garnett gets ready to take a corner kick.

Below: Allen Iverson commits a handball inside the penalty area.

Below: Pato gets ready to take the resulting penalty kick.

Below: Pato scores on goalie Jalen Rose.

Below: Later on, Pato is fouled by Tony Parker.

Below: Gattuso and Dirk Nowitzki are fighting. Shaq and Antoine Walker rush over to break it up.

Special thanks to Dorothy for her assistance in creating this post.